killer socialite makes a desperate jailhouse call to her 19-year-old daughter and husband, accusing them of “illegal conduct.”
As socialite Rebecca Grossman awaits punishment for the double murder of her brother, eight-year-old Jacob, and eleven-year-old Mark Iskander in Westlake Village, Los Angeles, she has been charged with “illegal conduct” from her cell.
A socialite is suspected of using her husband and teenage daughter to try to sway witnesses and juries into convicting her of double murder. Prosecutors say the socialite engaged in “illegal conduct” while she was in jail. The socialite killed two little brothers in a hit-and-run accident.
On the evening of September 29, 2020, at Westlake Village, a city on the western fringe of Los Angeles County, Rebecca Grossman struck Mark Iskander, age 11, and his brother Jacob, age 8. Evidence given in court revealed she reached speeds of 81 mph (130 kph) while speeding behind the vehicle of her then-lover, retired Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson.
The 62-year-old mother struck the boys and fled the scene. She was found guilty of two felonies each of second-degree murder and gross vehicular manslaughter, as well as one felony of hit-and-run driving resulting in death. She could spend the next 34 years of her life in prison.
A request was submitted on Monday by Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould and his colleague Jamie Castro, outlining the numerous talks that Grossman had with her husband Peter and daughter Alexis, 19, following her arrest on February 23.
Court records indicate that Grossman might have requested that the two locate potential witnesses and jurors in an effort to persuade Judge Joseph Brandolino to grant her a fresh trial. She is also charged with requesting that her daughter release a body-camera video that was sealed by the judge and worn by a deputy.
Gould and Castro claim that three other jurors were notified by at least two of them that Paul Stuckey, a private investigator, had made contact with them. Prosecutors said in the application that the investigator had misrepresented his identity by calling himself a “private investigator for the family.”
Prosecutors claimed that the only way they could have located the jurors was if they had gotten hold of their private records, which Judge Brandolino had sealed.
“The only ways in which the defence could have obtained this personal juror identification information were either by photographing the jury list that was presented to counsel during jury selection or copying the names off this same list,” the prosecutor wrote. “The defence is actively attempting to engage in jury tampering … and illegally in possession of jury personal identifying information.”
Furthermore, it is believed that Grossman corresponded with Nancy and Karim Iskander, the parents of the boys for whom he was found guilty. Grossman’s ability to contact the prosecutors has been prohibited by the judge’s order.
Gould and Castro reportedly want Grossman to be prohibited from using phones or accepting guests who aren’t on her legal team, according to the LA Times. They also wish to check her mail.
“The defendant started engaging in completely improper or possibly unlawful behavior while in detention as soon as she was given phone privileges. Gould and Castro stated in the complaint that “these calls include admissions of violating the court protective order regarding the disclosure of evidence to the press and on the internet.”
“Many possible criminal conspiracies are also documented by these phone recordings, including discussions about different ways to sabotage witnesses and their testimony, requests for additional protected discovery, and attempts to influence his honor in relation to sentencing.”
Grossman is incarcerated in Twin Towers jail, awaiting sentencing, and the jail records all phone calls. Prosecutors allege that during a chat on February 23, Grossman recommended that her daughter and husband release body-camera footage taken by a sheriff’s deputy at the crash scene.
“I want you to unblock the videos,” the convicted murderer said to her daughter. “I will,” Alexis responds. Peter, Grossman’s spouse, then continues, saying, “Honey, please let us know what you want us to publish. We will fully expose everything. In response, Grossman says, “I want you to release everything.”
Grossman encourages her husband to phone the court to request a fresh trial in another chat with a man she recognizes as Tom. She also informed her daughter on February 24 that “we can get us a new trial if we can get witnesses to come forward and say they were told to say things.”
Grossman instructed Alexis to locate and speak with a witness who claimed to have seen a black car—not a white one—hit the boys. This witness was not called by the defense. “A true narrative must be told about everything that happened prior to us, everything that was left undone, everything that was withheld from the jury, and how the media swayed the entire trial and disseminated this information to the media in an attempt to paint me as a monster, all of which we know affected the jurors,” Grossman stated.
In response, her daughter said, “Mom, I’m going to do everything for you. All of it. So is Dad.
When all 12 jurors were found guilty, Grossman told her daughter, “I was so in shock.” These jurors were the worst. As a lousy juror, I knew them. For us, the entire jury selection process was a complete failure. From the start, they weren’t on my side. I simply had a gut feeling. “Every witness has a unique story,” she continued. How was it possible that there was no reasonable doubt?
Grossman mentioned her ex-boyfriend Scott Erickson, whose black Mercedes SUV she was driving when she hit the road, in a discussion on February 25. “You ought to give Scott Erickson a call and request that he appear on camera and make a confession,” she said.
“I know he needs to confess, but at this point, I can’t even discuss the case,” Peter retorted. But it drives me mad that he needs to know you’re in jail for him. “Tell him to [make] a video and confess,” Grossman said to her husband. My household consists of members.
Throughout the case, Grossman’s primary defense attorney, Tony Buzbee, continually laid the responsibility for the deaths on Erickson, claiming the former baseball player’s vehicle struck Mark, sending him flying into the path of Grossman’s Mercedes, and then struck Jacob, sending him into a curb. The former pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers disputes having anything to do with the catastrophe.
Although Nancy Iskander and her five-year-old son Zachary were not struck by the black SUV, it was able to strike them. She claimed that after darting aside, she grabbed Zachary to safety.
Three witnesses stated that a white or light-colored car struck Mark and Jacob; the mother did not see the incident. Grossman is scheduled to be sentenced on April 10 and could spend 34 years to life behind bars.