Death penalty recommended for stepdad (Fort Myers, Florida)

The jury has recommended the death penalty for stepdad JUSTIN GRODIN in the murder of his stepdaughter in 2000. The death occurred while the mom was at work and stepdad was babysitting. Stepdad had a history of violence against his wife and children, including the wife's older son and their own infant. Contrary to stereotype, the "mental health" excuse has played a prominent role in the stepdad's trial--something moms are usually blamed for using.

http://www.lohud.com/article/2009906240355

Jury suggests death for Chappaqua native
Jonathan Bandler

Long before he was a child killer, Justin Grodin had regular run-ins with police in New Castle every time his parents couldn't control him. There were arrests, and unsuccessful referrals to counselors who could help.

"He was prone to violence. He tried to intimidate (his family) into doing what he wanted to do. When that didn't work, he got abusive," retired Detective Sgt. James Carroll recalled last night. "A lot of times, people grow out of that behavior as they get older. Justin Grodin did not. He only got worse. He became a murderer."

Yesterday, a Florida jury recommended the death penalty for Grodin, 35, in the killing of his stepdaughter nearly a decade ago.

Grodin's fate now rests with a judge who will decide during the summer between lethal injection and life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The jury convicted Grodin last week of first-degree murder in the death of Gretchen Grodin, who was killed in April 2000, just a few weeks shy of her first birthday. The trial's penalty phase was conducted yesterday and included testimony about Grodin's earlier abuse of his infant son in Arizona and a doctor's description of Grodin's mental illness and troubled childhood.

The defense also offered into evidence Grodin's Chappaqua school records as well as records of treatment at two Westchester psychiatric hospitals during his teen years.

Jurors took only a few hours to decide 10-2 that Grodin should be executed. Lee County Circuit Judge Edward Volz Jr. will sentence him following an Aug. 17 hearing.

In the spring of 2000, Grodin and his wife, Mary, were living in Florida, on the lam from Arizona, where they were wanted on charges that they had abused their young son. Late that April, Mary Grodin was at work when her husband called and said Gretchen wasn't breathing. When she arrived, the baby was dead.

They wrapped her body in a blanket and garbage bag and buried her near a Fort Myers apartment building where Justin Grodin's parents were living. The body was discovered several days later and the Grodins were arrested in Seattle the following week after a nationwide manhunt.

At the time, it was believed that Justin was Gretchen's father, but DNA testing revealed that they were not biologically related. That detail was never made public until a few weeks ago at the trial.

Mary Grodin pleaded guilty in the case and received a 10-year prison sentence in exchange for her testimony against her husband. She was the prosecution's key witness and told of an abusive relationship in which Justin would beat her and their kids. The defense tried to make her an equal partner in the killing to limit Justin's culpability in the minds of jurors.

The murder case was delayed for years over questions about Grodin's mental competency, but he was found fit to stand trial in the spring. He acted out several times during the trial, and the judge at one point ordered him out of the courtroom.

Grodin grew up and was educated in Chappaqua, and police were frequently called to his parents' homes in the late 1980s and '90s because he had become abusive toward them and his brother. On three occasions, his parents got orders of protection to keep him away from them.
The family lived in the hamlet until 1992, then moved across town to a condominium in Millwood. Later, Grodin lived in Shrub Oak before moving in 1996 to Arizona, where he met Mary.

In Arizona, Grodin and his wife were first accused of beating Mary's older son and then their own infant in 1998.

There are still active arrest warrants from New Castle related to assault and criminal contempt charges in 1996 after he violated one of the protection orders and attacked his brother. Authorities don't expect to prosecute him on those because of the severity of the Florida case, but they will remain active in the event Grodin is ever freed on appeal, said New Castle Detective Sgt. James Wilson.

Carroll had lost track of the case over the years, ever since Florida authorities reached out to his department earlier this decade for records of Grodin's arrests. He hadn't realized it had gone to trial until yesterday.

He said last night that he recalled being "really surprised and yet not so surprised" when he learned Grodin had been tied to the Arizona abuse and later to Gretchen's killing.

"I can't say I'm happy if he gets the death penalty because I'm not sure what that will serve in this case," Carroll said. "But I can't help but think of that child who was killed ... I hope justice is served for her."