Louise Woodward case
| Killing of Matthew Eappen | |
|---|---|
| Location | Newton, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Date | 9 February 1997 |
Attack type | Child homicide by blunt trauma, infanticide |
| Victim | Matthew Eappen, age eight months |
| Charges | First-degree murder |
| Sentence | 9 months and 9 days in prison; reduced from life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 15 years |
| Verdict |
|
| Convictions | Involuntary manslaughter |
| Convicted | Louise Woodward |
| Judge | Hiller B. Zobel |
Louise Woodward, born in 1978 (age 47–48), is a British former au pair, who at the age of 18 was charged with murder, but was subsequently convicted of involuntary manslaughter (reduced from the jury trial verdict) of eight-month-old baby Matthew Eappen, in Newton, Massachusetts, United States.
Eappen died from a fractured skull and subdural hematoma, and had a previously unnoticed fractured wrist. Although Woodward was initially found guilty of second-degree murder, Judge Hiller B. Zobel reduced her conviction to involuntary manslaughter during a post-conviction relief hearing, leading to her release after serving 279 days.
After her return to the United Kingdom, she began a career in law, and later ballroom and Latin dance teacher. In 2022, a Channel 4 documentary revisited the case, with a civil rights lawyer questioning the validity of the 'shaken baby syndrome' accusation.