Matthew Eappen should have lived a happy and privileged life in the upscale Boston suburb of Newton. Today he’d be twenty-six years old, would probably have graduated from college, and maybe had a family of his own. But Matthew didn’t live to his first birthday.
Both his parents were physicians. His father, Sunil, was an anesthetist and his mother Deborah was an ophthalmologist. The family had Matthew and a two-year-old son, Brendan. They lived in a highly desirable, and wealthy community noted for its proximity to Boston and Cambridge and everything those cities had to offer. The Newton school system is one of the top-rated systems in the country.
With such a privileged life ahead of him, what happened to Matthew?
The Nanny
In 1996, Louise Woodward, an 18-year-old English girl, wanted to have fun and live in the United States. She signed up with a Swiss firm that placed nannies, or au pairs, internationally. Louise had no experience with infant or child care and the agency provided minimal training.
She first worked for another family but left because they had too many rules. She was then placed with the Eappen family. By November, the Eappens were unhappy with her staying out late at night and presented her with a list of rules to follow.
