Socialite assassin Rebecca Grossman tried to blame NASA and SpaceX after she fatally hit two young brothers with her car, according to prosecutors.
The socialite, 60, was found guilty in February of murder in the hit-and-run deaths of Mark and Jacob Iskander, ages 11 and 8, in 2020 in Westlake Village, outside Los Angeles.
Earlier this week, a judge dismissed his attempt to overturn the murder convictions and grant him a new trial, and Grossman was set to face sentencing on June 10.
Prosecutors have argued that the fact that Grossman fled the scene makes his crimes particularly despicable. They say Grossman admitted in a letter to the children’s parents that he remembered seeing a boy fall from the sky and hit his car.
Grossman reportedly claimed in the letter that he even contacted NASA and SpaceX because he thought something had fallen on his car. No further details about the strange behavior have been shared with the court.
Nancy and Karim Iskander, the parents of the two children, said they received Grossman’s letter on March 13 detailing the strange claim.
Murderer Rebecca Grossman attempted to blame NASA and SpaceX as she tried to escape responsibility for fatally running over two young brothers with her car, according to prosecutors.
Grossman also allegedly “conspired with a friend to contact the Iskanders and plan to give them a necklace,” which had her children’s birthstones on it, and was trying to have them given to her anonymously last month.
Ahead of his sentencing Monday, Grossman’s attorneys have argued that he should receive probation as punishment instead of prison.
But prosecutors say he should receive two consecutive sentences of 15 years to life in prison because, they say, he has shown no remorse and has refused to accept responsibility for his actions.
If given that sentence, Grossman would likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.
“The defendant’s actions from September 29, 2020 to today show a complete lack of remorse and narcissistic superiority that leads to only one conclusion: that she does not deserve any leniency,” said prosecutors Habib Balian, Ryan Gould and Jamie Castro, as reported by Los Angeles Times.
“The defendant has continually demonstrated by her actions that she deserves the maximum punishment.”
They added: “She has lived a life of privilege and clearly felt that her wealth and notoriety would buy her freedom.”
The Iskander boys, Mark and Jacob, ages 11 and 8, died at the scene after Grossman’s Mercedes hit them at high speed.
Grossman allegedly “conspired with a friend to contact the Nancys and Karim Iskander and plan to give them a necklace that had their children’s birthstones on it.”
Prosecutors also allege that Grossman got her family to lie for her during the trial, including her daughter Alexis.
She has already been accused of using dirty tactics to try to overturn her convictions. Prosecutors previously said that from jail she told her husband and daughter to find jurors and witnesses to try to get them to change her testimony and convince Judge Brandolino to grant her a new trial.
Grossman also allegedly told his daughter Alexis to release video from a sheriff’s deputy’s body camera that had been sealed by the judge.
Even though Judge Brandolino sealed jurors’ contact information, at least two jurors reported that Paul Stuckey, a private investigator “for the family,” contacted three other jurors, according to The prosecutors.
Grossman was separated from her husband at the time of the accident and was dating Scott Erickson, who her defense claimed was the one who hit the children.
Grossman’s white Mercedes SUV appears in the photo moments after the accident.
The defense, for its part, has called Grossman a “humanitarian” who helped burn victims and survivors of domestic violence and grew up abused and impoverished in Texas.
Their lead attorney, James Spertus, acknowledged that the Iskanders’ loss was “incalculable,” but added that the Grossmans have experienced a different kind of loss.
Their lead attorney, James Spertus, acknowledged that the Iskanders’ loss was “incalculable,” but added that the Grossmans have experienced a different kind of loss.
Grossman’s son Nick wrote in a letter to the judge: “Nothing compares to what the Iskanders are going through, but since the accident, I feel like the world hates my mother and everyone is against our family.”
“It’s like they just want the worst version of the story and have never investigated who she really is and all the things she has done her whole life, every day. They have turned her into a monster.
The jury found Grossman guilty on all charges in February: two felony counts each of second-degree murder and felony vehicular manslaughter, and one felony count of hit-and-run resulting in death.
Authorities said Grossman, the wife of prominent Los Angeles burn doctor Peter Grossman, fatally struck the brothers while speeding behind a car driven by her then-lover Scott Erickson, a former pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Grossman was not charged with being under the influence, but former baseball player Royce Clayton testified that he had met her and Erickson at a nearby restaurant where Erickson had two margaritas and Grossman had one.
Prosecutors presented evidence that the data recorder in Grossman’s white Mercedes showed she was accelerating at 81 mph and hit the brakes, slowing her to 73 mph, less than two seconds before a collision that deployed her airbags.
Grossman’s lead defense attorney during the trial, Tony Buzbee, repeatedly blamed Erickson for the deaths, suggesting that the retired baseball player’s car hit Jacob, throwing him against the sidewalk, and then hit Mark, throwing him into the path of the car. Mercedes de Grossman.
Prosecutors say she told her husband and daughter from jail to chase down jurors and find witnesses to try to get them to change their testimony and convince Judge Brandolino to grant her a new trial.
A lawyer for Erickson has said the former player denies having contributed in any way to the tragedy. Erickson was initially charged with misdemeanor reckless driving, but it was dismissed after he made a public service announcement.
Nancy Iskander testified that the black van did not hit her children, but could have hit her and her 5-year-old son Zachary. She said she moved out of the way and carried Zachary to safety.
The mother said she did not see Mark and Jacob being hit, but three witnesses testified that they saw a white or light-colored vehicle hit the children.
The wealthy socialite’s lawyers argued that she was entitled to a retrial because prosecutors at her trial four months ago presented “insufficient” evidence to convict her and “misled” the jury.
But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino rejected Grossman’s claims on Monday, telling the court in Van Nuys, California, that he found prosecutors had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that she had acted with “malice.” implicit”.
Gorssman’s attorney, Spertus, accused prosecutors of “misleading” Judge Brandolino by allowing the jury to hear “unfair” testimony from a California Highway Patrol officer, who issued Grossman with a fine for exceeding speed for driving 93 mph seven years before the Iskander children’s fatal accident and warned that speeding could cause serious injury or death.
And she attacked prosecutors for claiming that Grossman was under the influence at the time of the crash due to drinks she had had earlier that day, even though she was not charged with DUI.
“The disability issue was very damaging,” he told the court. ‘The prosecution misused evidence of impairment. This trial had many disability arguments, but this was not a DUI case.’