As Time Goes By (5 page)

She wanted to slam the door on her way out but did not. Instead she went down in the elevator to the lobby and out to the sidewalk, unaware of the bustling pedestrians going in both directions around her.

It was one hour later before she realized that her seemingly aimless walking had brought her uptown. She was on Fifth Avenue in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral. She hesitated, then went up the steps. A moment later she was kneeling in the last pew in silent prayer. “I'm so frightened. Please help me” were the only words that went through her mind.

J
ury selection took five days. Many prospective jurors had been excused because they could not commit to the three to five weeks the trial was expected to take. Others had told the judge that they had already formed opinions about Betsy's guilt or innocence. Most expressed the view that based upon the extensive media coverage they thought she was guilty. In the end, the final fourteen jurors, seven men and seven women, had all indicated that while they had read about the case, they could start from the beginning without any preconceived beliefs and be fair to both sides. The judge had explained to them during the selection process that fourteen jurors would be selected and at the end of the case, just prior to deliberations, two names would be drawn at random and those jurors would be alternates.

It was 8:50
A.M.
on Tuesday morning and the trial was about to begin. Eighteen months had elapsed since Dr. Edward Grant had died. Delaney sat with other reporters in the front row, which was reserved for the press. The court stenographer was already seated at her station.

The door opened and the defendant, Betsy Grant, entered the courtroom, her head held high, flanked by her three attorneys. The lead prosecutor, Elliot Holmes, the chief of the trial section and a twenty-year veteran of the office, was already seated at the state's table.

Delaney had seen television clips and Internet photos of Betsy Grant, but she was still surprised at how young the forty-three-year-old defendant appeared.

Betsy was wearing a navy-blue suit with a light blue camisole. Her jewelry consisted of a narrow pearl choker and matching earrings. Delaney had heard through the grapevine that Robert Maynard had advised her to dress conservatively and had specifically warned her not to wear the forty-thousand-dollar solitaire diamond that had been her engagement ring. He had told her that it would be appropriate to wear her wide gold wedding band, telegraphing to the jury that she was loved by her husband and was in deep mourning for him.

Next Delaney studied Robert Maynard. He carried his seventy-five years well, she thought, with his silver hair and military carriage even while he was seated. His two associates looked to be in their early thirties.

The visitor pews were already packed, not surprising because of the notoriety of the case. Two sheriff's officers stood at opposite ends of the courtroom.

Exactly at 9
A.M.
, the clerk proclaimed, “All rise for the court,” and Judge Glen Roth exited from his chambers and stepped onto the bench.

“Good morning, counsel,” he said. “This is the matter of
State v. Betsy Grant.
We are about to begin the trial. Are you both ready to proceed with your opening statements?”

“Yes, Your Honor,” they both replied.

The judge turned his head toward the sheriff's officer standing by the jury room door and said, “Please bring in the jury.”

The fourteen jurors filed into the jury box. Judge Roth greeted them and told them that the attorneys would now begin their opening statements. He explained that whatever the attorneys said to them was argument, and not evidence. He told them that because the prosecutor has the burden of proof in a criminal case, the prosecutor would proceed first with his opening statement. Then he looked toward the prosecutor and said, “You may begin.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” Elliot Holmes said as he rose from his chair and walked toward the jury box.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Elliot Holmes and I am a chief assistant prosecutor in the office of the Bergen County prosecutor. During the next couple of weeks I will be presenting to you witnesses and other evidence in the matter of
The State of New Jersey v. Betsy Grant.
The judge has already informed you of the charges, but it is appropriate during the opening statement that the prosecutor read to the jury the indictment that has been returned by the grand jury.”

Delaney listened as Elliot Holmes read from the indictment that, on or about March 22nd, eighteen months ago, Betsy Grant did purposely or knowingly cause the death of her husband, Dr. Edward Grant. “This, ladies and gentlemen is a murder charge.”

In a conversational tone, addressing the jury, Holmes said the evidence would show that Betsy Grant had married Dr. Edward Grant, a widower, nearly seventeen years ago. “The state does not dispute that for a very long time it was a happy marriage. Dr. Grant was a successful orthopedic surgeon and the couple lived a very comfortable lifestyle in their home in Alpine. You will hear that the defendant was a high school teacher and took a leave of absence about two years before Dr. Grant died.

“But the evidence will further show that, tragically, about eight years ago, Edward Grant began to display symptoms of forgetfulness and severe irritability which were totally inconsistent with his prior behavior and his prior demeanor. Neurological testing resulted in a devastating diagnosis—early onset Alzheimer's disease.

“It was devastating for Dr. Grant because it quickly advanced, and within months he was no longer able to function as a surgeon. As the years went by, tragically, he was no longer able to function in any independent way. He lived at his home in Alpine with Betsy Grant and was attended to by a caregiver who in his final years bathed him, dressed him, and fed him.

“This diagnosis and steady decline were also, of course, devastating for Betsy Grant. Again, the state does not dispute that this was a happy marriage for a long time. But the evidence will show that this tragic diagnosis and the ever-increasing decline of Edward Grant resulted in Betsy Grant wanting it to end. And when it ended, she would inherit half of his substantial estate as a co-heir with Alan Grant, his thirty-five-year-old son from his first marriage. And she would also be free to pursue a personal life that had so very much changed while he was ill. You will hear, ladies and gentlemen, that during the two years prior to Edward Grant's death, the defendant had been quietly but regularly seeing another man.

“The evidence will further show that on the evening before Edward Grant died, Betsy Grant invited Edward's son and two other doctors, who had been in the surgical practice with him, along with their wives, to have dinner at their home. You will hear from these witnesses that during the evening Edward Grant was agitated and angry and did not recognize his former colleagues. You will hear that as they sat at the dinner table Edward Grant suddenly and without provocation lunged across the table, and as Betsy Grant tried to restrain him, he slapped her in the face. You will hear that Edward Grant was taken to his bedroom by his caregiver and one of the doctors. This bedroom was located on the first floor of the home and the caregiver's bedroom was adjacent to it. During these last months of acute decline Betsy Grant had also moved to a room on the first floor, rather than sleeping upstairs in the master bedroom. They calmed him down and he was given an appropriate sedative. His caregiver then prepared him for bed and he went to sleep.

“You will further hear that Betsy Grant, bruised and shaken from this forceful slap, remained at the table and sobbed, ‘I can't take it anymore. I just can't.'

“You will also hear that the doctors and their wives and Edward Grant's son, Alan, left soon thereafter. The caregiver will testify that she ordinarily would have stayed overnight in a room adjacent to where Edward Grant slept, but that she suddenly felt ill and left to go to her own home at about 9
P.M.
She will tell you that Betsy Grant assured her it would be all right if she left and that she would take care of her husband if he needed any assistance.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the caregiver will tell you that she felt better the next morning and that when she went back to the home at approximately 8
A.M.
the alarm system was on. She will tell you that she immediately went to check on Edward Grant and that he was lying in his bed as if asleep, but was lifeless and cold to the touch. She immediately dialed 9-1-1 and rushed to Betsy Grant's bedroom to tell her what she had found and that she had called the police.”

Elliot Holmes paused. “Ladies and gentlemen, the events that morning and in the next couple of days revealed that Edward Grant did not die of natural causes. You will hear from the responding police officer, who will tell you that he did not observe any obvious injuries on Edward Grant and that he had been told by Betsy Grant and the caregiver that his physical and mental condition had recently greatly deteriorated. The officer appropriately reached out to Dr. Grant's primary physician, who confirmed this information.

“You will hear that Edward Grant's body was picked up by Paul Hecker, the director of the Hecker Funeral Home, and transported there. Mr. Hecker will tell you that as he prepared the body for embalming, he noted that at the back of Edward Grant's head his skull appeared to be extremely soft, not bloody, but extremely soft, which he recognized as an indication that there had probably been serious injury to that area, possibly from blunt force. This, ladies and gentlemen, was the first sign that Dr. Edward Grant had not died from Alzheimer's disease, had not died from natural causes.

“The medical examiner will testify that he received the body from the funeral home and conducted an autopsy. He will tell you that in his medical opinion Edward Grant died from blunt force trauma to the back of his head, which in turn caused fatal internal brain bleeding. He will also explain to you that sometimes with this type of injury, there is no actual external bleeding, which is why the injury was not first noted.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Edward Grant died sometime in the hours following the guests leaving and the time that his caregiver found him the next morning. During that night and into early the next morning, apart from Edward Grant, there was one other person and only one other person in that home. And that, ladies and gentlemen,” turning and pointing toward the defendant, “was Betsy Grant,” he exclaimed.

“Ladies and gentlemen, you will further hear that the home security alarm was on and fully operational the following morning and that there was no sign of forced entry into that home. No broken windows, no broken locks.

“Ladies and gentlemen, you will hear many more details. What I have presented to you is an outline of the state's case. I submit to you that when you have heard all of the testimony, you will be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant Betsy Grant murdered Edward Grant. She murdered him to escape the circumstances that his illness had caused and to go on to a new and much better life.

“I will have another opportunity to address you in my summation at the conclusion of the case. Again, the state thanks you very much for your willingness to serve.”

Holmes returned to his chair.

Judge Roth looked over at Robert Maynard and said, “Sir, you may begin.”

Delaney watched intently as Robert Maynard got up and walked toward the jury box. That was a pretty strong opening statement, she reluctantly acknowledged to herself.

Robert Maynard began, “Ladies and gentlemen, if the evidence was as simple and as powerful as the prosecutor just made it out to be, then you might as well just start deliberating now. Just find her guilty and we can all go home.

“What you didn't hear in the prosecutor's opening statement is that Betsy Grant was an utterly devoted wife and companion to her husband, Edward Grant. She certainly had assistance from the caregiver that the prosecutor referenced, but the undeniable truth is that for seven years, during which there was an unrelenting decline in his physical, mental and emotional condition, Betsy Grant was always, always there for him.

“You will hear that she had been advised by doctors and by friends to put him in a nursing home. As his legal guardian she had the authority to do so, but she wouldn't do that to him. You will hear that his illness had caused him to be both physically and emotionally abusive to her well before that last evening. But she had continued to treat him with love and kindness and understanding. After you hear
all
of the evidence, you will be satisfied that when Betsy Grant said, ‘I can't take it anymore,' the last thing on her mind was ending his life. She had this other option when the burden became too great, as perhaps it did that night,” he said softly, “an option she could have exercised years before, but she loved him and she knew he wanted to be at home. And that option of putting him in a nursing home was still completely available to Betsy Grant when she said, ‘I can't take it anymore.' And no one would have blamed her. So why in the world would she have killed him?