Au Pair Gets Life Term in Baby’s Death

A teenage au pair was given a mandatory life sentence Friday for murdering her 8-month-old charge as outrage over her conviction spread across her native Britain.

Louise Woodward, who won’t be eligible for parole for 15 years, was sentenced after again denying that she shook or slammed young Matthew Eappen to death in a fit of frustration.

“I never hurt Matty, and I don’t know what happened to him,” Woodward said in a trembling voice during the sentencing hearing.

The 19-year-old kept her composure during the brief sentencing, in contrast to the night before when she erupted in loud sobs upon hearing the verdict of second-degree murder.

At the sentencing, the child’s parents got their chance to speak out, with Deborah Eappen reading a moving statement saying Matthew was “beaten by hands that were supposed to have been caring for him.” Woodward “didn’t seem like a child abuser, or a monster or a murderer,” she said.

Sunil Eappen was unable to hold back tears as he described how he hoped Woodward would find forgiveness, despite his “disdain” for her.

The case, with no eyewitness and conflicting medical opinion, was closely followed on both sides of the Atlantic, and many were stunned and outraged by the verdict and swift sentence.

In Woodward’s rural hometown of Elton, Britain, people held vigil in The Rigger pub and sang “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

Britons were fiercely critical of American justice. About 100,000 people called a Sky Television phone-in line, the overwhelming majority of them insisting that Woodward had an unfair trial.

In The Rigger, the phone buzzed with sympathetic calls from the United States and across Britain.

In London, the U.S. Embassy reported a steady stream of critical calls.

“We hope you are all hanging your heads in shame,” said one British couple in a fax sent to the U.S. ambassador in London and to the attorney general in Massachusetts.

Residents gathered for prayers at St. John’s Anglican Church to support carpenter Gary Woodward, his wife Susan and their younger daughter Victoria. Susan Woodward told British television that the jury had “made a horrendous mistake” in her daughter’s case.

There was a flicker of hope for Woodward’s supporters when the judge explained that one option on appeal was to seek a manslaughter verdict, because there is no minimum sentence for manslaughter.

Superior Court Judge Hiller Zobel set a hearing for Tuesday to consider defense motions to set aside the verdict, order a new trial and reduce the charge.

Woodward was led out of the courtroom and taken to the women’s state prison in Framingham, Mass. Under a treaty agreement, she could someday be transferred to a British prison.

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After the Verdict

Excerpts from the unofficial text of statements read to the court Friday by Sunil and Deborah Eappen, parents of 8-month-old Matthew, and British au pair Louise Woodward before the judge in Cambridge, Mass., imposed a life sentence on Woodward for the infant’s death.

SUNIL EAPPEN, father: I think that Louise has done a horrible thing to my life, to my family’s life. My friends’ lives have all been dramatically changed as a result of her actions, and we will forever view our world and the people in it with darker glasses on.

I feel that the jury’s decision is just and the state’s mandated punishment is deserved, and despite my hatred for the actions of Louise and my current disdain for her, I really, truly hope that she can face up to what she has done and gain forgiveness.

And I truly hope that she may someday find the peace of God in her life again. Thank you for the option to deliver our message to you.

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DEBORAH EAPPEN, mother: I get flashbacks of what I envision happened to my innocent, defenseless baby Matthew. I am sickened to think he was crying for help but was instead beaten by hands that were supposed to have been caring for him.

She didn’t look scary to me. She didn’t seem like a child abuser, or a monster or a murderer. We had no idea that she would harm our kids.

I’m scared now when I hear an ambulance. I have nightmares. I’m afraid to answer the phone or door. We are not safe....

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LOUISE WOODWARD au pair: I’d just like to maintain my innocence. I never hurt Matty, and I never did hurt Matty, and I don’t know what happened to him. I’m not responsible for his death. I didn’t kill Matty. That’s all.