Boy, 6, tortured on treadmill then ‘killed by dad’ died of a broken heart caused by abuse, court hears: Father is seen ‘crying’ without shedding tears during evidence

A six year-old boy allegedly abused to death by his father suffered fatal heart stress before a final beating fatally-damaged the organ and killed him, a court heard.  

On the fifth day Christopher Gregor’s murder trial, the New Jersey father spent much of testimony glaring at forensic pathologist Dr Thomas Andrew as he shared details of how Corey Micciolo died.

Gregor appeared emotional at times and gave the impression that he was crying – although no tears were visible, prompting some online viewers to accuse him of faking it.  

Andrew said that Corey, who died in April 2021, lost his life due to blunt force injuries to his chest and abdominals, lacerations and contusions on his liver, and a laceration to his heart. 

The pathologist ruled Corey had signs of ‘stress cardiomyopathy’, a heart condition caused by ongoing stress that he testified ‘suggests there was ongoing physiological stress most likely due to mistreatment or abuse.’ 

Earlier in the trial, the court was shown shocking footage of Gregor forcing his son to run on a treadmill, and picking him up off the floor several times when he falls off the machine. 

The footage was taken in a New Jersey gym less than two weeks before Corey died, where he was rushed to hospital dazed and unconscious hours after he was dropped at his father’s home by his mother. 

Corey’s mother Breanna Micciolo – who also testified against Gregor last week – alleged that he had never even met his son until a year before his death, and Corey would routinely return home from his father’s home with fresh cuts and bruises. 

Prosecutors alleged that Gregor showed a pattern of abuse for months before Corey was killed, with the forensic pathologist ruling that his cause of death was blunt force injuries that were administered ‘by another person.’ 

Andrew, who did not perform the autopsy but was enlisted to give his verdict soon after the 2021 death, offered horrific new details of the manner of the six-year-old’s demise.

Beginning with a contusion below Corey’s diaphragm, he said the boy suffered two significant injuries to his liver, including a laceration to the liver tissue that caused blood to pool on his pelvis. 

Andrew testified that Corey’s body was also found to have a ‘pulmonary contusion’ to his lung causing internal bleeding, and several scalp contusions. 

Notably, Corey also suffered a fatal laceration ‘near the tip’ of his heart, Andrew said, which was exacerbated by ‘chronic ongoing stress’ in his life. 

‘The immediate cause of death was blunt force injuries on the day he died,’ the pathologist said. ‘But stress cardiomyopathy suggests there was ongoing physiological stress, most likely due to mistreatment or abuse.’ 

 

Corey’s mother alleges that child protective services ignored her pleas for help for over a year over her son’s abuse, and shared images of the alleged injuries to social media.  

Alongside his testimony, Andrew ran through a series of images of alleged abuse that were not visible to cameras, which drew audible gasps from some of the audience as some were seen crying. 

In conclusion, Andrew said Corey ‘had contusions over a wide area of his body’ that indicated abuse, including ‘on his back, without a pretty clear explanation’ of how the boy could have given himself back injuries by accident. 

‘My concern was not so much the severity of bruising, but the pattern and distribution as being suggestive of child abuse,’ he said.  

Andrew also rejected several theories over how the boy lost his life. 

Early reports indicated that Corey suffered sepsis when he died, but Andrew said there was not ‘one scintilla of evidence’ that sepsis was the cause of death. 

Some had speculated that Corey’s injuries were caused by paramedics conducting CPR on him to try and save his life, however Andrew testified that although he had injuries sometimes found with CPR, he did not rule that that was the cause. 

The pathologist testified that on two liver injuries, one is common with CPR, but ‘there was a second more significant injury to the right side of the liver’ that went ‘deep into the tissue.’ 

‘It was not a super fresh injury, so it could not be’ caused by CPR, he said, adding he had never seen an injury of that type caused by CPR in his career. 

Questioned over a timeframe for when Corey suffered his fatal injuries, Andrew said that his two major liver injuries were inflicted ‘roughly’ between four and 12 hours before he died. 

Given that he was in hospital for some time – with footage showing Gregor carrying his son’s unconscious body to hospital – the pathologist narrowed the timeframe down to between 9am and 1pm on the day he died, in his opinion. 

Breanna was the first to testify at the trial, and broke down as she detailed the sickening abuse allegedly inflicted on her son. 

Gregor only entered the boy’s life when he was five-years-old, and on their first meeting, Corey allegedly returned home to his mother with a ‘busted lip’, according to Jersey Shore Online. 

Micciolo didn’t believe Gregor’s excuse that he accidentally kicked their son while playing soccer, but said a DCPP caseworker accepted it and didn’t investigate.

For over a year after that first meeting, she claims that Corey was routinely abused by Gregor, and reportedly suspected the father was using as treadmill as a punishment tool during their visitations.

During that time, his LinkedIn profile says he worked as a realtor and math teacher, with his past work experience also including volunteering at mental health hotline Crisis Text Line for six months in 2015.

Before his arrest, Gregor lived at a sprawling New Jersey estate valued at over $1 million, online records show.

Micciolo set up a Facebook group after Corey’s death in April 2021 called ‘Justice for Corey’, where she shared harrowing pictures of Corey’s injuries while claiming child protective services ignored her reports over the injuries.