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Rebecca Grossman 'tried to blame NASA and SpaceX after striking and killing two young brothers,' as prosecutors brand her narcissist who should get long jail sentence
Killer socialite Rebecca Grossman tried to blame NASA and SpaceX after she fatally struck 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, 11 and 8, in 2020 in Westlake Village, outside Los Angeles.
Earlier this week a judge threw out her attempt to have the murder convictions overturned and be granted a new trial, with Grossman facing sentencing on June 10.
Prosecutors have argued that the fact that Grossman fled the scene makes her crimes particularly despicable. They say Grossman admitted in a letter to the boys' parents that she remembered seeing a boy fall from the sky and hit her car.
Grossman reportedly claimed in the letter that she even reached out to NASA and SpaceX because she thought something had come down on her car. No further details on the bizarre behavior have been shared with the court.
Nancy and Karim Iskander, the two boys' parents, said they received the letter from Grossman on March 13 detailing the bizarre claim.
Murderer Rebecca Grossman tried to blame NASA and SpaceX as she tried to escape responsibility for fatally striking two young brothers with her car, according to prosecutors
Grossman also allegedly 'conspired with a friend to contact the Iskanders by scheming to give them a necklace,' which had their sons' birthstones, and was trying to have them anonymously delivered last month.
Ahead of her sentencing on Monday, Grossman's lawyers have argued she should receive probation as punishment instead of prison time.
But prosecutors say she should receive two consecutive 15-years-to-life sentences because, they say, she has shown no remorse and has refused to accept responsibility for her actions.
If hit with that sentence, Grossman would likely spend the rest of her life behind bars.
'The defendant’s actions from September 29, 2020, through today show a complete lack of remorse and narcissistic superiority that leads to only one conclusion, that she is not deserving of any leniency,' said prosecutors Habib Balian, Ryan Gould and Jamie Castro, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
'The defendant has continually shown through her actions that she is deserving of 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, 11 and 8, died at the scene of the accident after Grossman's Mercedes hit them at high speed
Grossman allegedly 'conspired with a friend to contact the Nancy and Karim Iskanders by scheming to give them a necklace, which had their sons' birthstones
Prosecutors also allege Grossman got her family to lie for her during her trial, including her daughter Alexis.
She has already been accused of using dirty tactics to try to get her convictions overturned. Prosecutors previously said that from jail she told her husband, and daughter to hunt down jurors and seek out witnesses to try to get them to change their testimony and sway Judge Brandolino into giving her a new trial.
Grossman also allegedly told her daughter Alexis to publicly release a sheriff’s deputy’s body-camera video that had been sealed by the judge.
Despite Judge Brandolino sealing the jurors' contact information, at least two jurors reported three other members of the jury were contacted by Paul Stuckey, a private investigator 'for the family,' according to prosecutors.
Grossman was separated from her husband at the time of the crash and was dating Scott Erickson, who her defense claimed had been the one who hit the boys
Grossman's white Mercedes SUV is pictured moments after the crash
The defense, on its part, has framed Grossman as a 'humanitarian' who helped burn victims and survivors of domestic violence and grew up being abused and impoverished in Texas.
Her lead attorney James Spertus acknowledged the Iskanders's loss was 'incalculable,' but added the Grossmans have experienced a different type of loss.
Her lead attorney James Spertus acknowledged the Iskanders's loss was 'incalculable,' but added the Grossmans have experienced a different type of loss
Grossman's son Nick wrote in a letter to the judge: 'Nothing compares to what the Iskanders are going through, but ever since the accident, it’s just felt like the world hates my mom and everyone is against our family.
'It’s like they just want the worst version of the story and have never looked into who she really is and all the things she’s done her entire life, every single day. They’ve made her into a monster.'
The jury found Grossman guilty on all counts in February: Two felony counts each of second-degree murder and gross vehicular manslaughter, and one felony count of hit-and-run driving 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 then-lover Scott Erickson, a former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher.
Grossman was not charged with being under the influence, but former baseball player Royce Clayton testified he had joined 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 speeding at up to 81 mph and tapped her brakes, slowing her to 73 mph, less than two seconds before a collision that set off her airbags.
Grossman’s lead defense attorney during the trial, Tony Buzbee, repeatedly blamed Erickson for the deaths, suggesting the retired baseball player’s car hit Jacob, hurling him to a curb, and then hit Mark, throwing him into the path of Grossman’s Mercedes.
Prosecutors say that from jail she told her husband, and daughter to hunt down jurors and seek out witnesses to try to get them to change their testimony and sway Judge Brandolino into giving her a new trial
An attorney for Erickson has said the former ballplayer denies contributing in any way to the tragedy. Erickson was initially charged with a misdemeanor count of reckless driving but it was dismissed after he made a public service announcement.
Nancy Iskander testified that the black SUV did not hit her sons but could have hit her and her 5-year-old son, Zachary. She said she dived out of the way and pulled Zachary to safety.
The mother said she did not see Mark and Jacob being struck but three eyewitnesses testified they saw a white or light-colored vehicle hit the boys.
The wealthy socialite’s attorneys argued that she was entitled to a trial do-over because prosecutors at her trial four months ago produced ‘insufficient’ evidence to find her guilty and ‘misled’ the jury.
But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino rejected Grossman’s pleas Monday, telling the court in Van Nuys, California, that he found prosecutors had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that she had acted with ‘implied malice.'
Gorssman's attorney Spertus accused prosecutors of ‘misleading’ Judge Brandolino into allowing the jury to hear ‘unfair’ testimony from a California Highway Patrol officer – who gave Grossman a speeding ticket for driving 93mph seven years before the Iskander boys’ fatal crash and warned her that speeding could cause serious injury or death.
And he attacked prosecutors for claiming that Grossman was impaired with alcohol at the time of the crash from the drinks she’d had earlier in the day – even though she was not charged with DUI.
’The impairment issue was so prejudicial,’ he told the court. ‘The impairment evidence was misused by the prosecution. This trial had a lot of arguments about impairment but this was not a DUI case.’