Rebecca Grossman tells judge she’s already suffered enough before sentencing

US News

By Ronny Reyes

A Los Angeles socialite who was convicted of murder for killing two young boys with her car during a chase with her lover cried to the judge that she had suffered enough before her sentencing Monday.

Rebecca Grossman, 60 — who killed her brothers Jacob, 8, and Mark Iskander, 11, in a hit-and-run in 2020 — made a desperate plea to Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino to be lenient with her as prosecutors demanded she receive 34 years to life in prison.

Her lawyers believe she should benefit from probation.

“I am not a murderer and I ask that you acknowledge this true fact,” Grossman wrote in a letter to the judge — despite being convicted of second-degree murder in February.

“My pain, my recognition of the pain that the Iskanders are suffering and the pain that I see my family endure are punishments that I already suffer and will suffer for the rest of my life,” she added.

“Please consider this suffering when considering what further punishment to impose on me in this matter.”

Her husband, famed plastic surgeon Dr. Peter Grossman, daughter Alexis and son Nick also submitted letters to the court, along with about three dozen of Grossman’s supporters, asking for a probation sentence.

All three also arrived in court Monday for sentencing.

Peter Grossman stood by his wife throughout her trial, despite revelations that she was drinking with her then-lover, former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, before the accident.

Rebecca Grossman also continued to dodge responsibility in the letter, saying that while the “tragic accident” that killed the brothers continues to haunt her, she “didn’t see anyone or anything on the road” on the day his car hit Jacob and Mark. .

Prosecutors say she was racing Erickson in her Mercedes GLE 43 AMG and reached speeds of up to 81 mph before the fatal crash.

“I can only imagine the pain that (the boys’ parents) Nancy and Karim Iskander are feeling minute by minute,” Grossman wrote. “I will carry my pain for the rest of my life.”

Grossman maintains she was neither drunk nor disabled when Jacob and Mark were killed.

Prosecutors say the married philanthropist was drinking at brunch with her then-lover, Erickson, and then began chasing him down a residential street, where she punched the boys and then the scene erupted.

“The voices demanding vengeance and retribution are responding to the tragic loss of Mark and Jacob, but they do not accurately portray me or who I am. I’m not a murderer,” she concluded.

The letter to the judge was notably similar to one she wrote to Nancy and Karim Iskander, in which the family claimed she had made the letter about her and suggested she buy a house and remodel it in a family center for burns and trauma dedicated to them. son.

Prosecutors called Grossman a narcissist who believed “her wealth and fame would buy her freedom,” adding that she tried to blame Erickson for the fatal crash.

“From the beginning, the facts were twisted and distorted, turning this tragic accident into a murder and me into a cold-blooded killer,” she added.

“The defendant’s actions from September 29, 2020 to the present show a complete lack of remorse and narcissistic superiority that lead to only one conclusion, namely that she deserves no leniency,” prosecutors said .

Along with the letter to the judge, a website was created called “Notes on Behalf of Rebecca,” urging readers not to form a “biased opinion” of her and including testimonies from anonymous people imploring the state to ‘have pity on her.

“This image of my mother being a rich woman seems absurd to me because she is the most humble and selfless woman I have ever met,” Alexis wrote in court.

“[A probationary sentence] would allow him to live out his memories to the fullest through his service and contributions to society, especially in ways that honor the memory of the Iskander children,” Peter wrote.

Grossman was convicted in February of two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter and one count of hit-and-run.

Prosecutors said Mark and Jacob were crossing the street at the crosswalk with their mother and younger brother when Grossman crashed into them and fled, leaving the boys for dead.

The socialite hit the boys with such force that the older brother flew more than 250 feet.