Why socialite Rebecca Grossman’s top burn doctor husband stood by her despite the horror crash that killed angelic brothers after two-margarita lunch with lover Scott Erickson
After killing two angelic young boys in a boozy hit and run crash and callously refusing to apologize to their shattered mom, Rebecca Grossman has few people left in her corner.
But the socialite-turned-pariah, 61, can at least count on the continued support of her estranged husband Peter Grossman – one of the nation’s top burns doctors – as she begins a 15-year prison sentence, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Peter, 61, surprised onlookers by attending court in stoic solidarity with his wife of two decades even as jurors heard their marriage was effectively over and Grossman was with a new lover the day she wiped out brothers Jacob, eight, and Mark Iskander, 11.
Close friends say the plastic surgeon was appalled by the 2020 deaths but made a promise to his own children, Alexis, 19, and Nick, 17, to stick by their mom until the bitter end.
‘Peter was shocked when he heard about the accident and the kids were devastated,’ a source told Dailymail.com.
Famed Doctor Peter Grossman is standing by his convicted child killer wife Rebecca because he promised his children he’d stick with their mom until the bitter end
Rebecca was sentenced to 15 years to life for the murder of 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his 8-year-old brother Jacob
Alexis Grossman told the judge her mother had been abandoned by her father and molested as a child and
‘He put his work on the back burner for the first time to be with the kids. The children pleaded with him to help save their mom and out of love for his children he agreed to stand by their mother.
‘Peter comes from a strong Jewish family, who were always there for each other. He was taught to rally around family members. He wasn’t raised to bail out,’ added the source.
‘Now that Rebecca is behind bars, Peter is vowing to be there for his kids and his friends and co-workers are vowing to be there for him.’
Grossman was convicted in February of two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter and one count of hit and run with fatality.
LA Superior Court heard she was speeding through Westlake Village as fast as 81mph in a 45mph zone before slamming into the two boys on a crosswalk as their mom, Nancy Iskander, looked on in horror.
Grossman was following a car being driven by her new flame, the former World Series-winning pitcher Scott Erickson, after the pair drank margaritas over lunch.
She didn’t stop until a safety feature on her Mercedes SUV cut off the fuel, prosecutors told a six-week trial.
Later that night Grossman bumped into Nancy at the hospital after the mom had made the heartbreaking decision to take Jacob off life support.
She said nothing to her, the court heard.
Grossman sobbed as she was jailed Monday, finally extending a belated apology to Nancy and her husband Karim four years later, claiming she would give her life to bring Mark and Jacob back.
Prosecutors asked for two consecutive terms of 15 years-to-life plus four years for fleeing the scene. But she got less than half that as Judge Joseph Brandolino ruled the terms should run concurrently.
She’ll be eligible for parole in six to seven years with good behavior.
The sad episode caps an astonishing fall from grace for Grossman, a philanthropist and well-heeled LA socialite who jointly founded the Grossman Burn Foundation in 2007 to help poor communities across the globe treat burns.
Peter, 61, surprised onlookers by attending court in solidarity with his wife of two decades even as jurors heard their marriage was effectively over and she had a new lover
Sources told DailyMail.com Peter was appalled by the 2020 deaths but made a promise to his own children, Alexis, 19, and Nick, 17, to support their mother
Friends say Peter, worth an estimated 10 to 15 million dollars, stands by his decision to put his groundbreaking work on hold to attend court each day
Friends say Peter, worth an estimated 10 to 15 million dollars, stands by his decision to put his groundbreaking work on hold to attend court each day.
He was also front and center in a slickly produced 30-minute video played by defense lawyers Monday that began with Peter defending his wife but insisting: ‘We don’t compare our pain to theirs.’
It was then Alexis’s turn to describe how her mom was abandoned by her own father and molested as a child.
In a letter to the court Nick added: ‘Nothing compares to what the Iskanders are going through, but ever since the accident, it’s just felt like the world hates my mom and everyone is against our family.’
Grossman’s lawyers told the court that Erickson, who won his World Seres ring when playing for the Minnesota Twins in 1991, was the driver who hit the boys but jurors didn’t believe her.
Peter’s decision to lay on a top-shelf legal defense for his estranged wife despite learning of her fling with the former Orioles, Dodgers, Yankees, Mets and Texans player raised eyebrows.
But the top doc wasn’t blindsided by the fling because they had agreed to an amicable, informal split the year prior, according to friends, and he was aware she was back on the dating scene.
‘It became apparent in late 2019 that Peter and Rebecca wanted different things from life at this point, and Rebecca brought up the subject of divorce,’ our source said of the split.
‘But Peter didn’t want to put their kids through that, and after 20 years of marriage, he was advised it could end up being a messy divorce.
‘So, the couple agreed on having an open marriage instead. They owned two homes and Rebecca agreed to move into the one in Westlake Village. The kids would spend time with each parent.
Grossman was separated from her husband at the time of the crash and had been dating World Seroes-winning pitcher Scott Erickson, who she then attempted to blame for the boys’ death
The couple had agreed to an amicable, informal split the year prior to the crash, according to friends, and he was aware she was back on the dating scene
Grossman plowed into the boys at more than 70mph in a 45mph zone, in a luxury Mercedes
‘Peter was busy with work and not interested in dating. His top priority was the kids and caring for his patients.
‘With Rebecca gone, he had more time to do the things he valued in life.’
Monday’s hearing also heard from Zubaida, an Afghan woman whom the Grossman’s took into their home as a ten-year-old girl when she was set alight in an accident involving a kerosene lamp.
Their foundation spent more than a million dollars treating burns that Peter described as the worst he had ever seen. Zubaida, now an adult, said Grossman was like a mother to her.
She was one of numerous patients helped by Peter and his father, Dr. Richard Grossman, who founded the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks, where they treated firefighters, children, and celebrities such as Richard Pryor and Jay Leno.
‘Peter comes from a family of physicians who spent their lives treating disfigured and burned patients,’ the family friend explained.
‘As a child, he would follow his dad around while he made rounds at the hospital and from the age of eight he knew he was going to be a doctor like his father and his father’s two brothers, Jack and Joel.’
Peter joined his dad’s burn center about the same time he met and married Rebecca.
He was a ‘nose to the grindstone kind of guy’ while she relished the glitz and glamor of being a famous doctor’s wife.
Friends say this may eventually have led to the downfall of the couple’s marriage around 2020.
By then they had accumulated a fleet of swish cars, boats and multiple homes, including a nine-bed, $10 million mansion in swish Hidden Hills and the $2.5 million property where Grossman was living at the time of the crash.
‘Rebecca loved the social side of being a celebrity doctor’s wife. She loved the parties, expensive cars, and shopping sprees,’ the source added.
‘Peter did take time off to support their two kids but he wasn’t interested in hobnobbing with the rich and famous the way Rebecca was.’
Grossman had no prior criminal record and her attorneys asked Judge Brandolino to consider probation or a suspended sentence which he duly rejected because of her ‘incredibly selfish behavior.’
Grossman sobbed as she was jailed Monday, finally extending a belated apology to Karim and Nancy Iskander, sayingshe would give her life to bring Mark and Jacob back
The brothers were crossing the street when Rebecca was speeding through Westlake Village at up to 81mph in a 45mph zone before slamming into the two boys on a crosswalk
She is currently languishing in the notorious Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown LA as inmate number 6755799 but will be transferred to state prison within weeks.
Peter is no stranger to lengthy court battles himself, having spent the best part of a decade contesting his father’s will after he died in 2014, aged 81.
In 2014 he and his brother Jeffrey accused Richard’s fourth wife Elizabeth Grossman of manipulating her ailing husband into changing his final trust papers two years earlier to disinherit them while claiming his $18 million estate for herself.
The case was settled four years later with each complainant receiving a chunk of the inheritance, according to local paper, the Daily Acorn.
Rebecca Grossman, acting as guardian for her children, and Jeffrey, then sued Peter Wakeman, the attorney who drafted the will, for malpractice.
A 2022 jury trial found in their favor but allegations of financial elder abuse and a claim for punitive damages were thrown out, the Acorn reported.
