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Murder or Miscarriage?
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Police believe restaurant mogul Josh Woodward killed his unborn child with a dangerous powder. Woodward’s friend, Gerald Posner, investigates the case that has LA and Miami abuzz.
Editor's Note: In an earlier version of this article, three sentences were copied from a Miami Herald blog post without attribution. The Daily Beast regrets the error.
The 8 Oz. Burger Bar is a favorite among Miami Beach locals. Its co-owner, Josh Woodward, who has launched, with celebrity chef Govind Armstrong, branches of it, as well as the more upscale Table 8, across the country, is well-known in South Florida, and a Facebook friend of mine. I happened to have had dinner there on October 25. When I got home, a text message was waiting from Miami Herald gossip columnist Lesley Abravanel, asking if I heard that Woodward had been arrested in Los Angeles on suspicion of murder.
Woodward was suspected of placing an “unspecified powder in the vaginal area of his girlfriend.” The “girlfriend” in question was not his fiancée.
The mild-mannered, likable Woodward, heir to a sizable family fortune, was one of the last people I would have expected to run into any kind of trouble. He was engaged to Miami writer and girl-about-town Suzy Buckley, and with his grandfather’s enormous yacht and plush lifestyle, he had a rolodex full of A-list names on both coasts. But I quickly discovered that Abravanel’s note was only the beginning of a story that seemed to get stranger with each new development.
As the Miami Herald reported, the 37-year-old Woodward was "being held on at the Wilshire Division jail in lieu of a $2 million bail on suspicion of murder for the death of an unborn child believed to be his. Police say the arrest happened after an investigation on Monday revealed 'suspicious circumstances of a miscarriage' that was reported on October 19. The fetus was estimated to be in its 13th week."
An L.A. police spokesman told me the case was “unusual.” Woodward, he said, was suspected of placing an “unspecified powder in the vaginal area of his girlfriend." The “girlfriend” in question was not his fiancée.
When I logged on to the Los Angeles Police department’s Web site, I saw the official notice. “Woodward is believed to have ties to Miami and Chicago. Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call Wilshire Area Homicide Detectives.” To those of us who knew him, it was jaw-dropping that Woodward was being talked about as a common criminal.
Under California law, criminal suspects must be freed from jail if they are not formally charged within 48 hours. The detectives had planned to present a case to the prosecutors within that time, but it needed more investigation. Was he the father of the fetus? Was it 13 weeks old—that’s critical under California penal code as California's Supreme Court says a crime is considered fetal homicide at eight to 10 weeks gestation? Was he aware that any powder he used might be fatal to the fetus?
So instead of being charged, Woodward was freed two days after his arrest.
This week, the case took another bizarre turn. TMZ obtained an affidavit in which the pregnant woman says that Woodward repeatedly put his fingers into a plastic bag and then touched her vagina. She lost the fetus a few hours later. Then, she says, when she spotted a powder in her underwear, she called police. Police identified the powder as Misoprostol, used by medical professionals for the prevention of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced gastric ulcers. It is also used to induce labor, but usually only in cases in which the mother is very late in delivering, at least 38 weeks into her pregnancy.
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gak001
That's certainly a bit of a legal quandary. I know in some places, inducing a miscarriage has warranted homicide charges. I imagine they'll find something to charge him with, though whether or not it's murder remains to be seen.
joshisguilty
The babies mom was a gold digger? Are you kidding me???For one..... she never asked him for a penny and two.... she was 100% aware and totally supportive of Josh while he was going through his recent bankruptcy. Unlike his fiance, she was the one by his side in Los Angeles when he was going for broke! Wow you people are all idiots! If she is a gold digger, then she was a really bad one! What golddigger dates a bankrupt baby killer? You will all know the truth soon enough! I cant wait for you and the rest of the shit talkers to eat your words. You should be ashamed of yourself for trying to drag this poor woman through the mudd! All she wanted was her beautiful baby and he killed it! Plain and simple! He will pay for the rest of his life!
suzannewynn
joshisguilty--sounds like you have inside information hence your username... so what is the inside info? You seem to know he is guilty, you have evidence of his guilt?
goodall
As if "gold digger" is supposed to "excuse" such an act... from a narcissistic sociopath and his friend? Just how much wealth and prestige does it take to make this creep a friend?
PatriceFitz
Mr. Posner: Why are you writing this story? If you are a friend -- if being friends on fb makes you a friend -- you certainly are not objective. In any case, your starry-eyed tone and admiration for this man and his large yacht make it clear that you can't imagine the accused being a "common criminal" -- a term that is objectionable, along with the pejorative description "gold digger."
One would almost think that you are positioning yourself as an insider, eager and willing to take Woodward's side when he is ready to spill, and you turn it into a celeb crime bestseller. Tell us, have you come up with a title yet?
mattheww
There's a little wiggle room here if not with the law then perhaps the number of defendants: Nothing here precludes the possibility that the girlfriend consented to the use of the drug.
On the one hand it seems more plausible than her noticing -- but not questioning? -- him putting white powder from a plastic bag inside her genitals. In this scenario "I'm still pregnant, come over" could be understood to mean "and bring more of that cool abortion powder."
On the other hand, though, why go to the police at all in that scenario?
mattheww
...come to think:
1. he said it was cocaine and will feel amazing
2. she miscarries
3. he dumps her
4. she figures out the score OR he, being an idiot and/or coked-up, TELLS her what he just pulled off
5. she goes to the police
I suppose in a more real-life-"Dynasty" vein she could even have encouraged the use of the drug and then tried to blackmail him with the threat of going to the police. But is there enough stupidity or cocaine in the world to cause someone to invite the police to investigate a crime for which they are also culpable? Doubtful, but then again who seriously believed in UFO's before "The Colbys" showed us they were real?
Hey, this blame-the-victim stuff is kind of fun!
Come-to-think part deux, are we absolutely certain this 13-week "innocent" fetus isn't just hoodwinking the media?
Nuld001
From the truth is stranger than fiction department, Woodward comes across as perverted and his "girlfriend" stupidly culpable for allowing herself to be put in that situation. It is a head scratcher that Woodward was able to stick his plastic wrapped hand powdered with Misoprostol up this pregnant woman's vagina while she just calming stayed there, and upon finding out after the miscarriage powder in her underwear, called the police who set up a sting. More details on this and hearing about the woman's version of events is warranted. Motive, opportunity and intention - it's there.
kscr14
Creepy.
External
"I'd like to ask Woodward. But he's in seclusion."
yeah as if he will confide in you when he is being/or will be prosecuted for killing a fetus ( whether he is innocent or guilty - we don't know)
nortonclybourn
There is no such crime as "Suspicion of" Anything.
laotzu11
The level of discourse in these comments is stunningly tragic... What about a real conversation which is so rarely had: That it is ALWAYS the woman deciding the fate of the pregnancy. Where is Roe v Wade for men?? Why does a man not get the opportunity to say, and be heard, "I really do not feel it is just or wise or fair to this child for us to continue this pregnancy", and have the woman respect his decision as having equal bearing as her own, biology aside?
He is hardly a murderer. He is just choosing what women choose every day: to not continue a pregnancy when it is at the state of nonviable embryo. His major error was becoming intimate with someone he could not trust, which is seemingly rampant-- evidenced by the lack of people understanding what actual love and intimacy entails.
Our world is so far from understanding the sanctity of life here on earth, especially free of knee jerk beliefs and ideology.
My prayers are with Josh, and all involved. May this be a wake up call to how far removed we are from dealing with fertility and sexuality with any modicum of wisdom, intelligence or love.
nortonclybourn
yeah, well he could have reached into his bag and pulled out a plastic....condom.
DBFan2009
how do you know he didn't? condoms are not foolproof; neither is the pill or any other type of birth control. abstinence is, however.
SocialSecretion
"condoms are not foolproof"
That is true. People who don't know how to use a condom properly are fools.
Unfortunately, abstinence-only education breeds fools.
den123
The fetus was in her body. That is why she gets to decide. When a man has sexual relations with a women who can become pregnant, the man must protect himself.
He was planning to marry someone else and should have worn a condom.
There you have it intellect, understanding and love.
laotzu11
Nope, and please allow me to respectfully explain why: if there was love, he would not have been betraying his fiancee in an act of infidelity. If there was either true intellect or understanding, there would be an absence of looking at pregnancy through a Draconian lens of exclusivity and possession when every life is created by both a mother and a father.
goodall
... not as much as the colossal cynicism, gigantic arrogance, and stunning misogeny you have displayed in your comment.
ditto den123!
kscr14
What???????. This is a article about a man doing the unthinkable. It is not about a woman deciding the fate of the pregnancy."He is hardly a murderer"? We won't know until the entire story unfolds. I for one, try not judge until I understand the entire story.
SocialSecretion
First of all laotzu11, obviously if two people are in a loving relationship, then they both should have a say. If the woman really loves and respects the man, she would take his opinion into account, just as the man should the woman. If they can't come to a decision together, then maybe they shouldn't be together.
But...While I am 100% pro-choice, as far as I can see this was not a fair, equal relationship. This man was engaged to someone else. Therefore, it is the woman who is stuck with the baby. It is the woman who decides. Who are you laotzu11, to suggest that this prick of a manchild can make decisions for a single independent woman? You can argue all you want about child support and the like, but this guy clearly has no right secretly inducing an abortion on a woman he isn't even committed to.
I wouldn't call this murder though. A fetus is not a person. This is a crime against the woman.
laotzu11
And also: perhaps intelligence is demonstrated by being intimate with someone you don't have to "protect yourself" against/from etc.
den123
That would be ideal. Realistically, some adults do indulge in casual sex....thus the need to be self protective male or female.
As I wrote, he was engaged to someone else. That's what love SHOULD of had to do with it.
Welcome.
kscr14
Amen.
justin1019
what is josh's family fortune and who is his grandfather? sounds like a movie.
laotzu11
Our birth control choices remain archaic, and yes they can and do fail, but abstinence is hardly the solution. The point is, if people respected themselves and their partners enough, they would take sex, both its responsibility and bliss, far more seriously. (How many men think a jackhammer is a sexual style and how many women even know when they ovulate...? for example.)
How many people get tested before they get intimate? Wearing a condom, alone, is not a way to overlook much that is patently obvious.
Sex ends up as russian roulette, leading to horrifying cases such as these, when people approach it so blindly. (And based upon our societal statistics, blindness is definitely prevalent.)
But as I have previously mentioned, this is indicative of a much larger cultural theme, which sexuality is just one layer of.
p.s. I am new to commenting to TDB, thank you for welcoming me. :>
dmloor
Keep on commenting. It is so refreshing to hear thoughtful, intelligent discourse on these boards instead of the shrill, "OMG, the sky is falling" commentary vomited by fanatical, religious burger flippers (yes, joshisguilty, I'm talking about you) that are obvious plants from the Guns Or Putang party.
joshisguilty
The truth will prevail and Josh will be going to jail for a long time! What you are all reading in the affidavit is not exactly how it all went down and it sickens me how things get twisted and distorted. There is one version and that version is the truth!!!!! It may look black and white to you all, but thats not the case. The babies mother is a smart woman who is guilty of being vulnerable and in love with a monster. She loved her growing baby and would never have put her baby in harms way. She had been in love with Josh for many years and had no idea he was engaged to someone else. All she knew was that she was pregnant with Josh's child and was thrilled to become a mother. The night he killed her baby, she didnt know he was dipping his fingers in white powder!!!! She would never allow him to put poison inside her!!! Come on people, wake up! I cant wait for the real story and the facts to come out, so all of you people can shut the hell up! People are so mean and so cruel! To all of you haters out there, you are no better than the baby killer, himself. You are just as sick Josh!
nortonclybourn
Nice that you've found meaning in your life.
Jenchi
You have shot yourself in the foot right there - if she didn't know he was putting his hand in any kind of bag or powder how do the police know? You can't think he told them!
mattheww
Good lord, where were all the baby-killers when you were gestating?
mutterhals
Was the woman complicit? Can she be charged if she elected to have him do this to her?
Thank you.
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