The Christopher Gregor murder trial took an unexpected turn this week when the defense lost one of its biggest witnesses.
Carolyn Gregor had been expected to take the stand in her son's defense on Wednesday in a New Jersey courtroom after appearing before the judge last week once jurors had been dismissed for the day to determine what parts of her testimony would be admissible in the case.
That all changed, however, when Ocean County prosecutorJamie Schron informed the court of new evidence in the case obtained over the weekend.
"The state came into possession of a recording of a phone call between the defendant and his mother that took place I believe last Friday, subsequent to the testimony of Carolyn and David Gregor," Schron said. In that call, "the defendant was coaching his mother with regard to her testimony," Schron said. She then informed the judge that "subject to any rulings from the court," she would be asking questions about this call during the cross-examination of both Gregor and his mother.
Defense attorney Mario Gallucci then addressed the court, and said that after receiving a recording and transcript of the call, the prosecutor's statement about the discussion between mother and son was "very accurate." He then told the court that the "conversation does make me not want to call Mrs. Gregor as a witness in the trial.":
The defense attorney then took time to defend his client's mother and father to the judge as Gregor sat emotionless at the defense table.
"I will say that in every single moment, she had the opportunity to stop her son from speaking about the case and trial strategy, and whatever else he wanted to discuss, she made every attempt to stop him from talking about it but he persisted. And at one point actually even hung up on her son, because he continued to persist and at one point we actually hear his father in the background say 'Stop.' And so as a result of this conversation, I find it necessary not to call Carolyn Gregor as a witness in this case," Gallucci said.
Gregor is charged with murdering his 6-year-old son Corey Micciolo , who died alone in a hospital room on April 2, 2021. His death came just hours after a judge rejected his mother Bre's motion for emergency custody of her son, who had been injured after his father allegedly forced him to run on a treadmill less than two weeks before his death, authorities said.
Corey spoke to hospital staff in the hours before his death about experiencing nausea and shortness of breath, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by Det. Denis Mitchell of the major crime unit and homicide squad in the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.
Corey soon started having seizures, the affidavit says. He died less than an hour later.
The probable cause affidavit alleges that upon learning the news, Gregor got into his car and left the state. He would not return for three months.
An autopsy determined that Corey's cause of death was blunt force injuries including blunt force trauma with cardiac and liver contusions with acute inflammation and sepsis.
In March 2022, prosecutors formally charged Gregor with murder and ordered him held without bond at the Ocean County Jail after police arrested the suspect
The defense disputes the findings of this autopsy report and said in their opening statement that Corey died of pneumonia.
It is a defense that Gregor's lawyer first shared with Inside Edition Digital over a year ago.
"Corey Micciolo died from complications from pneumonia. Our expert and even the Ocean County Medical Examiner agreed on this early diagnosis, while it is a tragedy it is not a homicide," Gallucci told Inside Edition Digital. "My client completely denies all the allegations and is looking forward to a trial in a courtroom and not a trial by social media, as the Micciolos have been so diligently attempting to do.”
Gregor is currently being held without bond at the Ocean County Jail.
He entered a plea of not guilty to both charges and denies ever hitting or abusing his son. When asked about his son's bruises, he allegedly told Bre that Corey needed to be “tougher," text messages reviewed by Inside Edition Digital show.
Gregor faces life in prison if convicted in what some are now calling the treadmill abuse murder trial.
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