The trial of a pharmaceutical executive and socialite worth millions who purposely fed her young son an overdose of fatal drugs began today in NYC.
Gigi Jordan, 54, forced a cocktail of crushed pills and booze down the throat of her 8-year-old autistic son Jude Michael Mirra in a $2,300-a-night suite at Manhattan's posh Peninsula Hotel on Feb. 4 , 2010.
She then balanced her checkbook and called her financial advisor to transfer $125,000 from her son's trust into her account as he lay on the bed slowly dying next to her, the prosecution stated in their opening argument.
Tragic end: Gigi Jordan (right) force-fed her son Jude Michael Mirra (left) booze and pills back in what she calls a mercy killing
Heartless killer: Lead prosecutor Matthew Bogdanos says Jordan (above, with defense lawyer Allan Brenner) had no regard for her child, and even balanced her checkbook as he lay dying next to her
Jordan has never disputed giving the fatal dose of drugs to her son, calling it a mercy killing.
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After forcing the pills down the boy's throat with a syringe and spending the night with his body, Jordan then attempted to take her own life by consuming the same mixture of pills and vodka she gave her son, but was foiled when members of law enforcement kicked down the door to the room and found her on the floor incoherent and babbling.
She immediately said to one officer, 'I want a lawyer.'
Lead prosecutor Matthew Bogdanos scoffed at the notion of this being a mercy killing in court earlier today however, saying Jordan just wanted to live the life of the socialite and not be tied down by a young son who required so much attention with his special needs.
In fact, he believes she had no regard at all for her child and is a cold and calculated killer.
'Ms. Jordan is so distraught, so emotional, so emotionally disturbed that she balances her checkbook in that room on her bed with her dead child only a few feet away,' he told jurors.
He then described the terrifying scene law enforcement officers walked in on when they found the two back in 2010, saying 'there were enough [drugs] in that room to fill a pharmacy shelf.'
Murder suicide: After taking the life of her autistic son, Jordan attempted to kill herself, but was unsuccessful
Site of the crime: Jordan was found babbling and incoherent by law enforcement officers in a $2,300-a-night suite at Manhanttan's posh Peninsula Hotel
Defense attorney Allan Brenner painted a much different picture in his opening statement though, one of a caring, loving and devoted mother who was terrified of the suffering her son was going through.
In addition to his medical condition, Jordan alleges that her son's biological father, and her second husband, Emil Tzekov, had been sexually abusing the boy since he was an infant.
She also alleges that her first husband, Ray Mirra, had threatened to murder her and the boy if she turned him in to authorities for selling black market prescription drugs.
Neither Tzekov or Mirra have ever been charged with a crime.
'She brought him the peace she couldn’t give him during his life. She protected him from the animals that she couldn’t keep from his door before then,' argued Brenner.
Brenner plans to argue that Jordan killed her son while in the grip of an extreme emotional disturbance, which would allow the jury to convict her of manslaughter rather than murder.
Killing a person to save them from future abuse has never been a recognized defense to murder in the state of New York.
Jordan, who according to the New York Times has gone through 11 defense lawyers since she was charged over four years ago, faces up to life in prison if convicted.
The trial is expected to last until November.
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