Christopher Gregor reportedly told his son to run "because he was too fat". Photo / CourtTV
Christopher Gregor reportedly told his son to run "because he was too fat". Photo / CourtTV
This article was one of the NZ Herald’s best-read stories of 2024.
A US murder trial has seen “horrifying” footage of a father forcing his 6-year-old to run on a treadmill because he allegedly said he was “too fat”.
New Jersey man Christopher Gregor, 31, faces child endangerment and murder charges over the April 2021 death of his son Corey Micciolo.
The heartbreaking footage, recorded at a gym in Barnegat, New Jersey, on March 20, 2021, shows Gregor standing over his son as he attempts to keep up with the treadmill.
He increases the incline and speed of the machine, causing his son to fly backwards.
Corey’s mother Bre Micciolo, who shared custody with Gregor, reported the boy’s injuries to the New Jersey Division of Child Protection And Permanency in the days leading up to his death, the US Sun reported.
On April 1 she took the boy to a doctor.
Corey Micciolo told the doctor that his father made him run on the treadmill “because he was too fat”, according to the US Sun.
The little boy couldn't keep up with the machine. Photo / CourtTV
The next day his condition worsened and it was his father who took him to hospital.
“The defendant had carried Corey’s limp body into Southern Ocean Medical Center,” the prosecution told the jury.
“He reported that Corey was sleepy and throwing up. Corey was admitted quickly and he was brought to Room 6 in the emergency department.”
He was then intubated before succumbing to his injuries.
Corey Micciolo. Photo / GoFundMe
An initial autopsy completed after Micciolo’s April 2 death revealed intensive bruising to the little boy’s body, giving the cause of death as blunt force injuries, contusions to the heart and liver, acute inflammation and sepsis.
Ocean County medical examiner Dr Dante Ragusa eventually recorded his findings as “undetermined”.
A review of the case by Dr Thomas Andrew in September 2021 discovered a laceration on his heart and ruled the death a homicide, leading to Gregor being arrested and charged.
Bre Micciolo wept as she viewed the confronting video in court, but Gregor’s lawyer told jurors he did not care whether they liked his client after they viewed it.
Turning to them before it played, Mario Gallucci said: “You’re not gonna like him. And I don’t care that you don’t like him. You’ll be horrified and mortified.”
He told them “evidence you will see of Corey’s death had nothing to do with that treadmill”, arguing the the boy’s death was due to sepsis and not abuse suffered at the hands of his father.
Christopher Gregor was later found guilty and received a 25-year prison sentence for the manslaughter and endangerment of his son.
