Fresh humiliation for cuckolded husband who stood by socialite wife after she killed two children in hit and run on booze-fueled night with pro-athlete lover
Rebecca Grossman, the California socialite serving 15 years for killing two young brothers in a 2020 hit-and-run, has filed for divorce from her husband of two decades, Dr Peter Grossman, who publicly stood by her throughout her trial. The move comes weeks after a civil jury ordered Grossman and her lover at the time, former professional baseball player Scott Erickson, to pay nearly $200 million in damages to the boys' parents, prompting accusations that the divorce is a deliberate attempt to shield assets from the payout.
Grossman, 63, was convicted of striking and killing eight-year-old Jacob Iskander and his 11-year-old brother Mark at a pedestrian crossing in Westlake Village near Los Angeles in September 2020. She served her husband, a leading burns specialist also worth an estimated $10-15 million, with papers last month citing irreconcilable differences, and he is not contesting the filing; he has asked the court to enforce a pre-marital agreement signed in 2000. Nancy Iskander, the boys' mother, publicly accused Dr Grossman of feigning loyalty for five years only to transfer assets and time the divorce to prevent her family collecting the awarded damages, while sources say the couple had privately been living apart since 2019.
- Rebecca Grossman, jailed for killing two boys, is divorcing her husband
- Filing follows a nearly $200 million civil damages verdict against her
- Victims' mother alleges divorce is timed to dodge the payout
New here? Start with this
Rebecca Grossman was a well-known figure in California's social scene before she was convicted over a hit-and-run in 2020 that killed two young brothers, Jacob and Mark Iskander, as they crossed a road in Westlake Village near Los Angeles. She is now serving a 15-year prison sentence. Her husband, Dr Peter Grossman, a respected burns specialist, publicly supported her throughout the criminal trial that followed the boys' deaths.
The case has continued in the civil courts, where a jury recently ordered Rebecca Grossman and Scott Erickson, a former professional baseball player who was with her that night, to pay close to $200 million in damages to the Iskander family. Peter Grossman is understood to hold significant personal wealth of his own, separate from his wife's affairs.
Rebecca Grossman has now filed for divorce from her husband of some twenty years, a development that has drawn scrutiny given the scale of the damages award and questions over what assets might be available to satisfy it. The couple's marriage, the criminal case, and the civil judgment are separate but closely linked strands of the same story, and the timing of the divorce has become a point of dispute between the two families involved.