Amy Grossberg

Background

Amy Grossberg (born 1978) dated Brian C. Peterson while both were students at Ramapo High School in Wyckoff, New Jersey. They grew up in an affluent suburb and their relationship continued as they started college.

Grossberg hid her pregnancy from her parents for the nine months leading up to the birth, including avoiding her parents during the course of the pregnancy in order to shield it from her mother. She did not seek help through a hospital before the birth.

In September, Grossberg enrolled as a freshman at the University of Delaware. Peterson enrolled at college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

The offence

In November 1996, Grossberg gave birth to an unnamed child at a Comfort Inn in Newark, Delaware. According to Grossberg and Peterson, they believed the infant was stillborn. They wrapped the infant in a garbage bag and disposed of him in a dumpster.

An autopsy later indicated that the infant was delivered alive. It stated that the cause of death was several head fractures and Shaken Baby Syndrome. The cause of the injuries was inconclusive.

Investigation

After the birth, Grossberg returned to school and began having severe seizures related to not having expelled the placenta. She was taken to a hospital, where doctors determined she had recently given birth. Police officials and the hospital later linked the hospital incident with the motel delivery.

The bloody sheets were discovered by a cleaning woman, who contacted police. K-9 police dogs found the body in the dumpster.

Police initially faced conflicting accounts from the couple. Their claim that the child was stillborn was rejected.

In addition to the motel-related evidence, the investigation found damp and bloody sheets, clothes, and sanitary napkins in Grossberg’s room.

Arrest

After Grossberg was released after five days in the hospital, police arrested her. Police charged her with first-degree murder. Peterson also faced criminal scrutiny tied to the handling of the infant.

Trial

In December 1996, Grossberg and Peterson were indicted for the murder.

Peterson stated that Grossberg told him to “get rid of it!” Grossberg claimed Peterson acted alone in putting the boy into the dumpster. As the case proceeded, both continued to blame each other.

In March 1998, Peterson pled guilty to manslaughter in exchange for testimony against Grossberg at her trial. Peterson stated in his testimony that he tried to get Amy to a hospital but she refused.

On April 22, 1998, Grossberg agreed to a plea bargain. She admitted to unintentionally causing the death of the infant and said that she and Peterson never planned to kill the baby.

During preparations for trial, a concern for both defendants’ attorneys was that pictures of the infant’s head would be displayed in court and could lead to more severe penalties.

Sentencing

Grossberg was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison on July 9, 1998. Peterson was sentenced to two years.

Aftermath

Brian Peterson later married and lived in Florida.

Amy Grossberg started a high end greeting card business with her parents.

Amy Grossberg was released from prison after serving two years of a 30-month sentence for manslaughter. Officials said she was released early from the Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution for good behavior and because she participated in prison education programs.

Grossberg’s lawyer, Robert Gottlieb, handed reporters a note handwritten and signed by Grossberg. Gottlieb declined to answer questions but said Grossberg planned to continue her education.

When she arrived at her home in a Bergen County suburb, Grossberg did not speak to reporters when she left the prison or when she arrived at home. She completed a 5 1/2-month parole, served two years’ probation, and performed 300 hours of community service in New Jersey.

Beth Welch, a spokeswoman for the Delaware Department of Correction, said Grossberg was a model prisoner and had earned 21 college credits, mostly in computer classes. Welch stated that Grossberg was behaved, did not receive write-ups, obeyed rules and regulations, and participated in the programs she was supposed to and took some others on her own. Welch also stated that Grossberg took classes in life skills and decision-making and worked as a janitor, mopping floors and washing windows.

Welch said that when Grossberg arrived at prison, she was held in protective isolation because officials worried she might be targeted by other inmates who would resent the nature of her crime. After authorities were convinced she was not in danger, she was moved into the general population.

Peterson was released in January after serving 20 months of a 24-month sentence. He issued a statement in which he said he was sorry for his part in the tragic events that occurred three years earlier.

Other details

A journalist named Doug Most covered the case for The Bergen Record of Hackensack, New Jersey for more than two years and depicted the events in a non-fiction crime book titled Always in Our Hearts: The Story of Amy Grossberg, Brian Peterson, The Pregnancy they Hid and the Child they Killed. Kirkus Reviews called it a “true crime page turner.” Booklist said: “Teens will be drawn to this examination of a horrific crime committed by two bright college students.”

Writer T. Coraghessan Boyle fictionalized Peterson and Grossberg’s story in “The Love of My Life,” which appeared in his collection of short stories After The Plague. Law & Order devoted a story to the case in Season 8, Episode 2, “Denial.” In the episode, the two teens were acquitted. The Practice and Homicide: Life on the Street also did episodes based on this case.

Constatine Maroulis, identified as a Grossberg family friend, told NEWSWEEK: “They were two wealthy kids who had so many options in life.”

Amy Lucibello, who worked for a summer with Grossberg at the Market Basket gourmet-food store, told NEWSWEEK: “It was probably about as serious as a teenage relationship gets.”

Seth Chorba, identified as a student who lived on the same floor of Thompson Hall as Grossberg, told NEWSWEEK: “She wore tight shirts--she didn't hide it.” Chorba also said: “Nobody approached her because we kind of respected her privacy.”

A quotation from NEWSWEEK included multiple statements attributed to people, including:

• “get rid of it!” (attributed to Peterson regarding what Grossberg told him)
• “gotten rid of” (Peterson’s comment as described by police to a student-residence counselor)
• “She was the sweetest girl you ever met. It's like Barbie getting busted,” attributed to Maroulis
• “How can I give my only born child to the state to die?” attributed to Zuchowski (Peterson’s mother, Barbara Zuchowski)
• “We take the position that he did not murder,” attributed to Hurley
• “I think her concerns are the major thing that led them to where they ended up,” attributed to Hurley
• “She was totally concerned with not letting Mom find out,” attributed to Hurley
• “Time after time we see teenagers who don't fully understand the consequences,” attributed to James Fox
• “They understand cognitively that murder is wrong. But emotionally, they're immature,” attributed to James Fox
• “There's a lot of pressure in a neighborhood like that, especially with the girls, to be the perfect princess. She must have built up in her mind how terrible it would be if her mother found out, how everybody would look down at her. Image is everything,” attributed to John Daley