Millionaire pharmaceutical executive, Gigi Jordan is set to be released this month, after serving 70% of her sentence for poisoning her son. She was convicted of first-degree manslaughter in 2014 and sentenced to 18 years. She narrowly missed the charge of first-degree murder, by pleading that she was under an extreme emotional disturbance at the time. She admits that she gave her son Jude Mirra a cocktail of drugs and alcohol to kill him. Was she a woman frightened for the life of her autistic son? Or was she a cold-blooded murderer who wanted the single life, without the burden of an autistic child?

Jude’s Murder

In February 2010, Jordan booked into the New York Peninsula hotel with her son. Whilst there, she force-feeds him through a syringe a cocktail of Ambien, Xanax and Vodka. Whilst he laid dying she spent time balancing her chequebook. She then made a phone call to her financial advisor to move $125000 out of his trust fund into her bank account.

She lay with her dead son, before taking the same cocktail, hoping to kill herself. She was found by police, who kicked the door down. She lay on the floor, conscious but delirious. The first thing she said to the police was ‘I want a lawyer.’ Police would comment that the room had enough medication in it to fill a pharmacy. Why then did Jordan not take enough to end her life?

She stated at the time, that she took his life our of ‘a mother’s love.’ She believed that his father would gain custody of him and kill him in the most gruesome fashion.

I want him to be safe and at peace at all cost. — Jordan

The Evidence

There is other evidence that should be viewed when making decisions about this case. After her arrested, the millionaire Jordan hired a team of the cities top attorneys to fight her case. These are the attorneys who have worked tirelessly to find a reason to have her released.

Her defence would be that she was in the throes of fear and panic. She believed her son was the victim of emotional, physical and sexual abuse. She stated, she believed that her ex-husband was going to kill her and as his biological father gain custody of him.

Jordan who trained as a nurse went on to launch several companies who would charge for administering drugs to patients in their own home. When she made an estimated fortune of $40 million, she left her career to travel the country looking for medical answers to cure her son of autism. Prosecutors would claim she killed him when she realised she couldn’t fix his autism. Jordan would state Jude was never a burden.

Jude was a young man who was autistic and non-verbal. Jordan stated that he had learnt to type on her laptop and Blackberry to communicate with her. It was during one of these times that he allegedly reported the abuse to her, from his father. She stated he told her that he was abused in a bizarre satanic way and made to drink animal blood. No saved files of this information were ever presented. His father denied all the charges and no charges were ever brought against him. He went on to sue Jordan for slander. In the past, she had made allegations against both her ex-husbands, no charges have been brought against either of them.

Jordan Freed

On September 20th a Manhattan Federal Judge overturned her conviction. The judge stated that her civil rights were violated during her first trial. He stated that an off the record courtroom exchange had violated her 6th amendment rights — the right to a public trial. The discussion at the time, which was not disclosed, was around online material that had been found.

He ruled that a new trial should be set and she should be released before this. Despite the District Attorney appealing the release decision, it was upheld in November. This has paved the way for her to be released.

Whether a new trial will find Jordan guilty of killing her son, or whether her team of fancy lawyers will result in her being freed remains to be seen. Was she a mother in distress or a cold-blooded killer wanting a socialite life without a disabled child? Can money buy you freedom after you kill? All these are questions that are yet to be answered.