Posted on 06/29/2004 5:16:22 AM PDT by presidio9
On the eve of Joel Steinberg's parole from prison, the foreman of the jury that put him behind bars thinks the cold-hearted child killer should rot there until his 25 years are up. "It was a truly reprehensible thing he did, and the penalty he's thus paid is not sufficient," ex-juror Jeremiah Cole told the Daily News yesterday.
"The judge in the case recommended he serve the full sentence and I thought, under the circumstances, that was an excellent recommendation."
Steinberg, 63, will be freed tomorrow from the Southport Correctional Facility in upstate Chemung County after serving the required two-thirds of a maximum 25-year sentence for manslaughter.
It has been 16 years since the beating death of his adopted daughter, Lisa, stunned the city, yet many of those involved in the case think it's far too soon for him to walk.
"I knew the day would come, but it's unfortunate," said John McCusker, one of the Manhattan prosecutors who tried Steinberg.
"I don't think he is the least bit remorseful," said McCusker, now in private practice in New Jersey. "I don't think he ever accepted responsibility, and I don't think he ever will."
Cole still remembers in acute detail the "dark penetrating eyes and curiously flat affect" of the coke-snorting lawyer, the misshapen face of his battered girlfriend, Hedda Nussbaum, and the horrifying details of little Lisa's death.
He recalls the eight days of jury deliberations, each fractious debate that led the deadlocked panel to a compromise verdict: acquitting Steinberg of second-degree murder and convicting him of manslaughter.
Justice Harold Rothwax's words at sentencing - "Istrongly recommend against parole" - ring in his ears eventoday.
"That Joel Steinberg could have beaten Hedda Nussbaum into a gargoyle made it pretty easy to conclude he could smash a little girl into a wall," Cole said. "As far as I'm concerned, he hasn't paid enough of a price for what he did."
Nussbaum would likely agree. She recently wrote an unpublished memoir about her life with Steinberg titled "Surviving an Intimate Terrorism" - but she's not talking.
As the date of her ex-lover's release neared, she quit her job at a Westchester shelter for abused women, started talking about leaving New York and went underground. Her lawyer said she will make no statements.
Lisa's biological mother, Michele Saunders, who now lives in Pennsylvania, also had no comment. Last year, she won a $15 million judgment against Steinberg in civil court.
"While Steinberg may have evaded the full measure of criminal justice, I am confident that the civil judgment ... will have the effect of holding him accountable for this crime for the rest of his life," her lawyer, Wayne Schaefer, said.
The family of the little boy who survived Steinberg's house of horrors vented their frustration that he's getting out early.
"There is no truth in sentencing in the State of New York," said Graceann Lamberta, the grandmother of Travis Smiegel.
Smiegel was just 17 months old when police found him tied to his excrement-covered playpen inside Steinberg's apartment. His birth mother later won custody of him, and he is headed to college in the fall.
"Wednesday is going to be the real 'hump' day," said Lamberta, who became a crime victims' advocate after the Steinberg tragedy. "But then we will go on with our lives. This is the time to give up the anger."
Vincent Daluise, the first cop to arrive at Steinberg's apartment and find Lisa's body, is still angry at Nussbaum.
"I didn't think Hedda should have been released," said Daluise, now retired and living in Florida. "I thought she was just as guilty as him."
Steinberg's civil attorney, Darnay Hoffman, did not return calls. But he has offered Steinberg a free Central Park apartment and a $250-a-week internship with the cable show "New York Confidential."
The defense lawyer who represented Steinberg at trial, Ira London, thinks he should turn down both offers and get out of town.
A TV gig "may only irritate people who still feel that he's not been punished adequately," he said. "And there are people who feel that way, although I think they're wrong. He's served the maximum amount of time he can be forced to serve."
Does that mean Lisa will breath again tomorrow? This POS should NEVER see the light of day.
I often think of little Lisa........the horror of it all. The "dropped balls" in this case especially in the Child Welfare department. I think someone could have saved this little girl.............and Joel Steinberg? Put him and O.J. Simpson in a box and take them out to sea for a "live" burial. But, that's just me............:(
Yeah, but I'm also with the person quoted above that Hedda should take her share of the blame, too. "He beat me so I acted stupid" is not a defense in my world.
Lisa would be a beautiful 23 year-old woman tomorrow when Joel walks out of prison a free man.
That is disgusting.
crime pays
I agree with you 100% percent. He should have been given life with no chance of parole.
And his stupid wife too.
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
"That Joel Steinberg could have beaten Hedda Nussbaum into a gargoyle made it pretty easy to conclude he could smash a little girl into a wall,"
I remember this case. This is one sick wife beater and child killer. His latest reward: a free central park apt. and a job with NY confidential. I'm gonna be sick...
New Yorkers love their criminals. As do most on the left.
I had little sympathy for the mother then and now. Although she was obviously abused, she put her own safety above that of her child, which is unacceptable in my book.
As for the vermin who is being released, he'll probably find another woman to abuse, father a child with, and then murder. So it goes.............
It would be a shame if Joel was found dead in an alley. New York's a big city, stuff like that happens all of the time.
Or maybe he'll get elected to a political office. Happens all the time.
"It would be a shame if Joel was found dead in an alley. New York's a big city, stuff like that happens all of the time."
It's not your responsibility friend. Go out and vote and change the system. Don't take law into your own hands, nor suggest anyone else does. We don't live in that type of country nor do we wish to.
You are talking about anarchy and that is a bit too far to the left for the Free Republic.
Elect more liberals.
Until Americans scream at their elected "lawmakers" to expand the death penalty for sewer-sucking scum like this, our streets will be larded with these subhumans.
...and that's the trap we've gotten ourselves into, by abandoning our Judeo-Christian roots. What does remorse have to do with it? If he murdered a human being, he objectively did a wrong, and there is an objective penalty to it that is irrespective of his feelings about his action.
If I steal $25 and then feel genuinely remorseful about it, do I still have to give the $25 back? Of course I do.
If you take a life, you can't give it back. Your own life is forfeit. Irrespective of "feelings of remorse" or their absence.
Check my tag-line; it very much applies here.
Dan
I will never forget Lisa.......she reminded so much of a little girl I used to keep (who's now 21) and it broke my heart to see Lisa's pictures and it breaks my heart......no it PISSES me off that that demon Steinberg is walking the streets. I hope the rest of his miserable life is hell......just like Nausbaums'. I hope she is haunted for the rest of her life too. Shame on those who would try and help this devil in his "free life"........they have problems too. He deserves nothing but total abhorrence and isolation!
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