Rebecca Grossman | Socialite Kills Two Boys While Racing Lover on Residential Street

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[00:00:30] This is True Crime Psychology and Personality where we discuss the pathology behind some of the most horrific crimes and those who committed them from a scientifically informed perspective.

[00:00:49] I'm Dr. Todd Grande, I have a PhD in counselor education and supervision and a licensed professional counselor of mental health. Dr. Todd Grande that's my YouTube channel.

[00:01:01] Today's question is can I analyze the case of Rebecca Grossman? First a look at the background of this case moved to the timeline of the crime then offer my analysis.

[00:01:12] Rebecca Grossman was born on June 14, 1963 and lived in Hidden Hills, California at one point she owned a medical marketing business. Rebecca married a plastic surgeon named Peter Grossman who was the medical director of the Grossman Burn Center.

[00:01:30] In 2007 Rebecca and Peter established a charity called the Grossman Burn Foundation. Rebecca has been repeatedly described as a socialite who had a prominent position in the community.

[00:01:42] By 2020, Rebecca and Peter had separated and were dating other people they continued to live in the same residence. Rebecca was romantically involved with a former Los Angeles Dodgers baseball player named Scott Erickson.

[00:01:57] Now moving to the timeline of the crime. On September 29, 2020 Rebecca Grossman and her lover Scott Erickson went out to a restaurant for dinner. Rebecca was driving a white Mercedes SUV specifically a GL-E43 AMG.

[00:02:14] Scott was also driving a Mercedes SUV but his was black in color and a different model. It was a GL-63 AMG both SUVs are considered to be high performance vehicles.

[00:02:27] When dinner was over Rebecca left the restaurant and started driving home in her white Mercedes SUV. She was on Trianfo Canyon Road in West Lake Village, California.

[00:02:39] The speed limit here is 45 miles per hour. Scott was in his black Mercedes SUV and allegedly the two lovers were racing on this residential street.

[00:02:50] At the same time Nancy and Karim is Schender, we're in the area with their four children. Nancy was with her three sons 11 year old Mark, 8 year old Jacob and 5 year old Zachary.

[00:03:03] Karim and his young daughter were some distance away. Nancy was on rollerblades and Zachary who was right by her was on a scooter.

[00:03:12] Mark and Jacob were just a few feet behind her, one of them was on a skateboard and the other on rollerblades.

[00:03:19] At about 7-10 pm Nancy and her three sons entered a crosswalk on Trianfo Canyon Road. While they were still in the crosswalk, Nancy saw two vehicles coming toward the family traveling at what she referred to as an insane speed.

[00:03:36] She could see a black SUV slightly ahead of a white SUV. It appeared as though they were racing, changing lanes back and forth as if they were playing.

[00:03:46] Nancy put her hand up in the air to signal to the two vehicles to slow down. In order to dodge the black SUV she grabbed Zachary and dove in the direction she and her son were traveling.

[00:03:58] The black SUV barely missed them. The white SUV entered the crosswalk and struck both Mark and Jacob who again were a few feet behind their mother.

[00:04:10] Emergency responders arrived on the scene not long after the collision. Mark's body was found 254 feet from the crosswalk. He probably died within a few seconds or minutes after being struck.

[00:04:22] Jacob was found 50 feet away and was still alive but he died a few hours later after being taken to a hospital. Both boys died from blunt force trauma injuries.

[00:04:33] Here's what the police found during the course of investigating this fatal collision. Rebecca's white Mercedes SUV was about three tenths of a mile from the scene of the impact.

[00:04:45] Rebecca Grossman was standing next to it when the police arrived. The vehicle had significant front end damage and the airbags were deployed.

[00:04:53] She told the police their SUV had been disabled by Mercedes. She had hit something but she did not know what.

[00:05:01] A breathalyzer test registered a blood alcohol content for Rebecca of 0.076%. Three hours later a blood sample was taken from Rebecca.

[00:05:12] It returned the result of 0.08% which is the legal limit of intoxication in California. Rebecca also had volume and her system.

[00:05:22] After being taken to a hospital emergency room, Rebecca complained that the safety system in her Mercedes prevented her from driving the SUV after the collision.

[00:05:32] She said quote, if they didn't disable my car I would have been at home in my garage right now.

[00:05:39] There was no debris from a black vehicle found at the scene of the fatal collision data extracted from the computer in Rebecca's vehicle indicated that she was initially traveling 81 miles per hour.

[00:05:51] She tapped her brakes and slowed to 73 miles per hour less than two seconds before a collision triggered her airbags.

[00:05:58] Two witnesses at the scene of the impact saw a white or light colored vehicle hit at least one of the victims.

[00:06:05] They also saw a black SUV go through the crosswalk without striking anyone.

[00:06:10] The police determined that Rebecca's vehicle struck and killed Mark and Jacob. Scott's vehicle did not.

[00:06:17] Rebecca Grossman was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit and undriving resulting in death.

[00:06:28] Scott Erickson was charged with one misdemeanor count of reckless driving but it was dismissed after he made a public service announcement.

[00:06:36] At Rebecca's trial her defense offered an unconvincing theory about what happened. They suggested that Scott was the one who struck Mark and Jacob.

[00:06:46] The collision propelled Jacob to the curb and forced Mark into the path of Rebecca's SUV.

[00:06:53] She struck Mark as a result of Scott's actions which explains how her vehicle came to be damaged.

[00:07:00] The defense suggested that Scott pulled over, hid in the bushes and watched the police conduct their investigation.

[00:07:07] The police didn't see anybody hiding in the bushes. Scott may have been a baseball player but it was the defense who struck out.

[00:07:14] They threw a curveball by never bothering to call Scott as a witness. Evidently the jury felt that the defense did not step up to the plate.

[00:07:22] On February 23, 2024, Rebecca was convicted of all five counts including the two counts of second-degree murder.

[00:07:30] Her sentencing is scheduled for April 10, 2024. She is facing 34 years to life in prison.

[00:07:38] After Rebecca went to jail the state became troubled by her conversations with family members.

[00:07:44] Rebecca encouraged her 19 year old daughter to track down witnesses and get them to say they were told to testify in a certain way.

[00:07:52] Rebecca said, quote, we have to get a real story out there about everything behind us and everything that wasn't done

[00:08:00] and all the things that were hidden from the jury and how the media influenced the entire trial and how they were releasing all this stuff to the media just to make me look like a monster

[00:08:10] and that we know that the jurors were influenced by it.

[00:08:15] This made it look like Rebecca was paying the victim and highly invested in run-on sentences.

[00:08:22] Rebecca was not a big fan of the jury. She stated quote, these were the worst jurors. I knew they were bad jurors.

[00:08:29] That whole jury selection thing didn't work for us at all. They weren't on my side from the beginning. I just knew it.

[00:08:36] Unquote. Rebecca's conversation with her daughter wasn't the only one that upset the state.

[00:08:41] She also spoke to her husband telling him to call her former lover and alleged racing competitor Scott Erickson.

[00:08:48] Rebecca wanted Scott to make a video where he confessed to striking the victims with his black Mercedes SUV.

[00:08:55] In addition to the troubling communications, prosecutors said at least three of the jurors have been contacted by a private investigator

[00:09:03] even though the court sealed the personal information of the jury members.

[00:09:08] It sounds like Rebecca is doing everything possible to obtain a favorable outcome.

[00:09:13] She is leveraging her status as a socialite, her connection to family members and her money. Now moving to my analysis.

[00:09:21] Rebecca Grossman maintains her innocence and clearly she is willing to do just about anything to get out of prison.

[00:09:27] Maybe even activities that are going to lead to further trouble with the law.

[00:09:31] Rebecca has a few supporters. They argue that she was maliciously prosecuted

[00:09:36] and they have accused law enforcement of engaging in a cover-up. It appears as though Rebecca is not conceding any guilt.

[00:09:44] She's not even admitting to the manslaughter part rather she is promoting this idea that she's completely innocent.

[00:09:50] The state of course is happy with Rebecca's conviction. They believe that Rebecca was guilty of second-degree murder, as well as the other charges.

[00:09:58] Before analyzing this case as far as guilt or innocence I think it's important to explain how the state pursued second-degree murder charges.

[00:10:05] Usually the charge of second-degree murder involves an intentional but not premeditated homicide.

[00:10:13] So a person kills another person in the heat of the moment. They meant to kill the person but they did not plan it.

[00:10:20] In the state of California prosecutors can apply the second-degree murder charge if they believe that a person has was referred to as implied mouse a fourth thought.

[00:10:31] This means that there was a state of mind where the perpetrator knowingly engaged in an act that was inherently dangerous to human life, but they conscious this regard for that danger.

[00:10:42] Engaging in the dangerous act was intentional but an intent to kill was not necessary to get a conviction for second-degree murder.

[00:10:50] The charge can be applied even if the person did not specifically desire a death to occur.

[00:10:57] But this in mind, let's take a look at the evidence both for and against the idea that Rebecca Grossman is guilty, starting with the inculpatory factors.

[00:11:06] Rebecca accumulated four speeding tickets in the 20 years preceding the fatal collision.

[00:11:11] In 2013 she was pulled over on the 101 freeway after driving 92 miles per hour.

[00:11:18] The police officer told her that she could kill or injure someone by driving at that speed.

[00:11:24] Rebecca told the police officer that he better hope that he never needed to go to the Grossman Burn Center.

[00:11:31] She was wishing him ill will, like the Burn Center would not give him treatment because he was doing his job by giving her a well-deserved ticket.

[00:11:39] This demonstrates arrogance and grandiosity on the part of Rebecca.

[00:11:44] Furthermore it shows that she was clearly warned that driving fast could cause death.

[00:11:49] In April of 2018 Rebecca attended a one-day driving course in Monterey County, California.

[00:11:56] The driving academy where she went offered what they referred to as an intense high speed high adrenaline experience which featured six distinct levels that would provide thrill seekers the chance to push themselves and Mercedes-AMG vehicles to the limit.

[00:12:14] As part of this adventure Rebecca was warned that the type of driving in the course was not legal on public streets.

[00:12:21] Furthermore it would be extremely dangerous on the street.

[00:12:24] The jury did not hear this particular piece of evidence about the driving course.

[00:12:28] Even though Rebecca was not charged with DUI she had been drinking before she killed Mark and Jacob.

[00:12:34] The breathalyzer indicated that she was just under the legal limit and the blood test placed her at the limit three hours later.

[00:12:41] One could interpret these data as indicating that Rebecca was over the legal limit at the time of the fatal collision.

[00:12:47] Rebecca may have been racing her lover on a residential street which is consistent with having a requisite regard for human life.

[00:12:55] Street racing is typically viewed as reckless driving in just about every instance.

[00:13:00] When Rebecca's vehicle struck Mark and Jacob she was traveling 73 miles per hour which was 28 miles per hour of the speed limit.

[00:13:07] Less than two seconds before that she was traveling 81 miles per hour which was 36 miles per hour over the speed limit.

[00:13:15] Moving to the ex-cupatory factors it is technically possible that both the breathalyzer and the blood test results were accurate.

[00:13:24] This means that Rebecca's blood alcohol content wasn't on the way down rather it was on the way up.

[00:13:31] She had consumed enough alcohol to be intoxicated but it had not fully progressed into her system at the time of the fatal collision.

[00:13:39] When a person drinks a lot their blood alcohol content does not increase immediately.

[00:13:45] Maybe that's what happened here perhaps Rebecca wasn't legally intoxicated when she struck Mark and Jacob.

[00:13:53] The defense claimed that the computer in the Mercedes was incorrect. Rebecca was only driving at 51 miles per hour when she struck the victims.

[00:14:02] It's worth noting this is still 6 miles per hour over the speed limit but of course that's not nearly as bad as what she was accused of.

[00:14:10] Rebecca's husband said that he had ridden in a vehicle with Rebecca hundreds of times and had no recollection of her speeding.

[00:14:18] She was on Rebecca's level of driving skill and wonder for husband had no recollection because he was traumatized.

[00:14:24] One of the investigators cataloged an item found at the scene of the collision as a fog light cover.

[00:14:30] Rebecca's Mercedes SUV did not have fog lights.

[00:14:34] When considering all the evidence do I believe that Rebecca rose when it was guilty?

[00:14:39] Yes, in my opinion she was guilty of all charges including second degree murder.

[00:14:44] A reasonable person would know that racing on residential streets creates a high risk of death.

[00:14:50] What do I think happened in this case? This is just a theory, my opinion.

[00:14:54] Rebecca Grossman's behavior is consistent with being grandiose, arrogant, impulsive, irresponsible and having a sense of entitlement.

[00:15:02] She is lying to herself to avoid having to face what she did.

[00:15:06] Rebecca is playing the victim as if there was some massive conspiracy to frame her as the killer.

[00:15:12] She is intent on blaming everyone for the tragedy she caused.

[00:15:17] The police, the courts, her former lover, members of the jury, the media, mysterious unidentified drivers.

[00:15:24] In Rebecca's mind, everyone is responsible for wrongdoing, except her.

[00:15:29] As far as a fair sentence for Rebecca, I believe that 40 years in prison would be reasonable but we'll have to see what the court does.

[00:15:37] The sentence ordered by the court will not only dictate how long Rebecca spends in prison,

[00:15:42] but how long she boars to public with constant complaints about how she was cheated by the system.

[00:15:48] Her pronounced lack of insight means that she will never have to face the reality that she killed two innocent people

[00:15:55] and threw away her own life for absolutely no reason.

[00:15:59] She will serve her time trapped in a physical prison and a prison of self-deception.

[00:16:07] This has been True Crime Psychology and Personality from R's Lunga Media.

[00:16:12] This content is for educational and entertainment purposes only. R's Lunga Vita Brebis.

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