UK NEWS

I’M NICE PERSON, SAYS KILLER NANNY

Louise Woodward now runs dance classes

Sunday May 25,2008

By Eugene Henderson

CONVICTED baby killer Louise Woodward has revealed the secret to rebuilding her shattered life – it’s all down to being “a nice person”.

Just over 10 years after a US court convicted her of the involuntary manslaughter of eight-month-old Matthew Eappen, the former nanny is trying to live a normal life.

She has moved in with her boyfriend and is running salsa dance classes in Bridgnorth, Shropshire.

But the 30-year-old’s past still haunts her. “It was 10 years ago but some people will always make something of it,” she said. “There’s nothing I can do about that.

It’s quite simple. I have to earn a living and I’m doing that as a dance teacher.

“I really can’t imagine that the majority of people are that bothered. It hasn’t affected my business so far.

“Most people when they are introduced to me find out that I’m a fairly nice person and that’s usually good enough for them.”

In a Boston court in 1997 she was portrayed as a cold-hearted killer who, while looking after Matthew, slammed his head on the floor.

Woodward, then 18, was sentenced to life for murder.

But her conviction was reduced to involuntary manslaughter when evidence emerged that the injury could have been caused earlier.

She was freed after 279 days in jail and returned to England to work as a solicitor then a dance teacher.

“I think I’m a nice person and hopefully people who meet me think the same way. The one thing I can’t do is change the past,” she said.