The Killing of Lisa Steinberg

Hedda Nussbaum was on the stand for seven days. Each day brought new and disturbing revelations about her torturous life under Steinberg's Svengali-like control. But it was her testimony concerning the night of November 1, 1987, that had the jury's undivided attention. Her description of Lisa's death was critical to the prosecution and would determine Joel Steinberg's fate.

Nussbaum told the court that Steinberg awoke about 3 p.m. She said that she had not slept at all the night before. "The first thing that I remember is that Joel asked both Lisa and myself if we had drunk enough water that day…Joel always explained that I didn't drink enough water," she said. When she told him that she did not, Steinberg made Hedda and Lisa eat hot pepper. According to Hedda, Steinberg then stated that he was going out for dinner. A few minutes later, Lisa asked Hedda "Do you think Daddy is going to take me with him tonight?" Hedda said she replied to Lisa, "Well, go in and ask him yourself!"

Lisa went into the bedroom where Steinberg was getting dressed while Hedda went to the bathroom. According to Hedda's testimony, Steinberg then walked into the bathroom holding Lisa, who was unconscious. Hedda said this occurred about 6:00 p.m. "She was lying in his arms limp," she said, "And I said 'What happened?' He said, 'What's the difference what happened? This is your child. Hasn't this gone far enough?'" They laid the unconscious girl on the bathroom floor while Hedda attempted to revive her. But Lisa was not responding.  While she continued her efforts at first aid, Hedda said, Steinberg went to the bedroom and finished dressing for dinner with his friend.

At about 7:00 p.m., Steinberg was ready to leave. Hedda testified that he told her "Relax. Go with her. Stay in harmony with her." Nussbaum stated that she was worried about Lisa but listened to Steinberg when he "promised he would get her up when he got back." She told the court that Steinberg called the apartment while he was out and asked how Lisa was. While he was on the phone, Steinberg gave Hedda permission to eat. She said she told him that Lisa was still lying on the bathroom floor unconscious. Hedda said that she still tried to revive her but nothing worked. "I realized no matter what I did, it didn't seem to make much difference," she told the court, "so I didn't need to work with her every minute. And I wanted to keep busy. So I rearranged Joel's files."

When Steinberg returned later that evening, Hedda said, they freebased cocaine. Freebasing cocaine was the predecessor of crack and required special paraphernalia to burn the drug properly. "You put the crystallized cocaine, the free base, in the top part of the pipe," Hedda testified, "put water in the pipe and then you draw through a tube. Mr. Steinberg smoked for a couple of hours until the cocaine was, that we had, was gone and I smoked a small amount." Hedda testified that while they freebased Steinberg mentioned Lisa. "One thing he said was about Lisa, 'I knocked her down and she didn't want to get up again. The staring business had gotten to be too much for her," she said. "Joel had been saying that I was staring at him and that both of the children had been staring at him." Hedda said that they continued to smoke cocaine until about 4:00 a.m. When they checked on Lisa again, she was still unconscious. They picked her up and placed her on the bed while Hedda looked through a medical dictionary for advice.

Hedda said that Steinberg remained awake and read books to see if he could find out what was wrong with Lisa. At about 6:30 a.m., Hedda said, Steinberg called out for her and yelled, "She stopped breathing!" Hedda said she wanted to call 911 but Steinberg told her to wait a few minutes while he tried to give her CPR. When that failed, Steinberg finally told Hedda to call for help.   By that time, Lisa had been on the cold, bathroom floor for nearly 12 hours.

"I thought Joel would be able to restore her," Hedda told the court, "I feel horrible. It's something I'll have to live with and regret for the rest of my life."