The woman once accused of helping Joel Steinberg kill his adopted daughter has pulled off the ultimate disappearing act. Hedda Nussbaum, now 75, changed her name and moved out of New York around the time Steinberg was released from prison; someone else now lives at her last known address in Hackensack, NJ.
Hedda Nussbaum (born August 8, 1942) is an American woman who was a caregiver of a six-year-old girl who died of physical abuse in 1987.
Today, Steinberg is living the quiet life of an aging loner in Harlem, hitting up strangers for cigarettes and Wi-Fi connections as he ekes out a living as a disbarred lawyer.
In 2004, Joel Steinberg was released from prison after serving two-thirds of his 25-year sentence. Remarkably, he showed little remorse.
Unable to convict Steinberg on the more serious charge of second-degree murder, the jury convicted him of the second most serious charge, first-degree manslaughter. The judge then sentenced him to the maximum penalty then available for that charge — 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison.
Lisa was rushed to the hospital by paramedics, comatose, with unexplained bruises all over her 43-pound body. Joel and a badly battered Hedda admittedly had called for help 12 hours after Lisa had sustained her injuries. Lisa died two days later, leading to a highly dramatic and nationally televised criminal trial.