Mom on trial for murder says 8-year-old son wanted to die

NEW YORK - A socialite and former pharmaceutical millionaire testified Thursday that her nonverbal 8-year-old son told her he wanted to die by typing on a BlackBerry, reports CBS New York.

Gigi Jordan is on trial, accused of killing her autistic son, Jude Mirra, who died of a drug overdose in February 2010 at the Peninsula Hotel in Manhattan.

Jordan told jurors that her son learned to communicate by typing on a laptop and BlackBerry. She said that this technique is how he told her that he had been the victim of torture and sexual abuse by his biological father and others. In one of the typed exchanges, Jude supposedly wrote, "I feel so bad. I want to be done with life."

According to the station, Jordan said that when she asked if anything made the memories go away, Jude allegedly typed: "Yes. Sleep."

Jordan denied that she typed all the messages herself. Prosecutors said Jordan brought 5,918 pills to the hotel with her. She then used a pill crusher, orange juice and possibly vodka to make a poisonous cocktail that she forced into her son's mouth using a syringe, according to prosecutors.

Jordan also denied forcing the drugs down his throat and said the bruises on his body reflect her effort to revive him.

Last month, Dr. Edward Barbieri, a forensic pharmacologist, told jurors he found extremely high levels of Xanax in the child's blood -- 19 times what an adult would take. Barbieri said Jude also was fed Prozac and another sedative that reduces blood pressure, which was given to him at a deadly level of 20 to 40 times that of an adult dosage.

Jordan's lawyers say she was convinced her mob-connected ex-husband was going to kill her, leaving the child's biological father - who she claims sexually abused the boy -- to care for him. In her mind, her son would be better off dead, the lawyer said.

The father denies the allegations and has never been charged. Her ex-husband has denied all her allegations and has sued her for slander.

Prosecutors say Jordan had no right to kill Jude, whatever her reasoning. Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos has said that after killing the boy, Jordan got on her computer and transferred money out of her son's trust fund. She also wrote a suicide note.

The nonverbal, often tormented-seeming Jude was initially deemed autistic but later was diagnosed with immune-system abnormalities, post-traumatic stress disorder and other problems, according to Jordan.

Nonetheless, she says, Jude disclosed the abuse to her with gestures, his few words and, later, by typing on computers in a technique known as facilitated communication, with her touching his arm.

Various authorities rebuffed her requests to investigate the abuse allegation, she said. One of her inquiries instead ended with her hospitalized for a psychological examination in 2008. She was released within days.

During their last weeks together, she said Thursday, Jude tapped out messages supporting her plan to kill them both. And on the final night, "Jude and I were typing to each other and saying goodbye to each other," she said.