The New Jersey father accused of killing his 6-year-old son by forcing him into a grueling treadmill workout called his mother to coach her before she was expected to testify, a court heard on the seventh day of his murder trial.
Christopher Gregor, 31, phoned his mother Carolyn Gregor on May 10 — less than a week before she was due to take the stand in his trial, according to the Asbury Park Press.
Rather than hearing her testimony Wednesday, the court instead spent the day listening to the call — made from Gregor’s current home at the Ocean County Jail — and debating whether to allow the mother to testify.
In the recorded jailhouse call, both Gregor’s parents were heard repeatedly telling their son to stop talking.
“This is the end of the call, it’s over, stop, stop, stop, stop,” his parents said before finally hanging up.
Ocean County prosecutor Jamie Schron said if the mother testified they would cross-examiner her about the call, leading to Gregor’s defense attorney Mario Gallucci deciding not to call her.
Gallucci even conceded that his client appeared to have been trying to coach his mother on the call.
Judge Guy Ryan ruled he would allow the call itself to be admissible, citing it as possible evidence of cognizance of guilt on Gregor’s part, the Asbury Park Press reported.
Gregor was charged with murder and child abuse after his young son Corey dropped dead on April 2, barely more than a week after he forced the boy to run at high speeds on a treadmill until he was thrown from the machine.
Heartbreaking footage showed Gregor picking the boy up and putting him back on the machine as he was thrown off several times over.
The boy became delirious with slurred speech on April 2, and after being brought into a hospital suffered a seizure and died.
A subsequent autopsy showed the boy had suffered blunt force trauma to his chest and abdomen, as well as lacerations to his liver and heart.
Later testimony alleged those injuries happened while Corey was in his father’s care.
Gregor faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted.
