The Trial and Conviction of Louise Woodward

On Feb. 4, 1997, Louise Woodward called the police and said that Matthew Eappen was having difficulty breathing. Woodward had been hired by Sunil and Deborah Eappen to babysit their sons in November 1996. When paramedics arrived at the Eappen household, they found that the baby had a two-and-a-half-inch skull fracture. Matthew's eyes were also bulging, a possible sign of "shaken baby syndrome." The baby spent four days on life support before dying on Feb. 9. The autopsy revealed that in addition to his fractured skull, young Matthew was also suffering from a month-old wrist fracture.
Prosecutors said that Woodward admitted to shaking Matthew and to dropping him on the floor and tossing him on a bed. They alleged that Woodward became so frustrated with Matthew's uncontrollable crying that she began shaking him violently to stop the crying. In addition, state medical examiners said Matthew hit the floor with the "force equivalent to a fall from a second-story window." The injuries from ...