Christopher Gregor: Dad accused of killing 6-yr-old son claims ex-wife forced boy to 'lie' about abuse

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BARNEGAT, NEW JERSEY: New Jersey dad Christopher Gregor, who is accused of killing his 6-year-old son Corey Micciolo by forcing brutal treadmill run on son said that the young boy was coerced by his estranged ex Breanna Micciolo to lie about his alleged abuse.

Gregor, 31, told a child protective services worker that little Corey returned from a planned visit with his mother on April 2, 2021, and confessed she coached him into lying, just hours before the child was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Christopher Gregor claims Corey's mom asked him to lie about abuse

According to a tape played during the accused killer dad's murder trial on May 2, "My son came back this morning and he was saying that his mom said that he had to tell the doctor that I hit him," Christopher Gregor reportedly told Richard Cicerone, a staff member of the child abuse hotline.

“He came home and one of the first two things he said was, ‘I don’t want to go with mom anymore, she’s going to try to take me away from you,'” Gregor said. “And he also said, ‘Mom told me to lie and I had to,'” New York Post reported. The same day Gregor called the hotline at 10.04 am and at 5 pm Corey was declared dead.

On the third day of Gregor's murder trial in Ocean County Superior Court, Breanna gave her testimony. On March 20, 2021, Gregor is seen on disturbing surveillance footage from the Atlantic Heights Clubhouse fitness center pushing Corey onto a treadmill because he allegedly believed Corey was "too fat."

The boy was unable to keep up with the speeding treadmill and fell six times. Gregor picked him up and pushed him back onto the track, as seen in the video.

Breanna claimed to have seen bruises on her son, so on April 1 she took him to the pediatrician. At 1.00 am on April 2, she dropped Corey back to Gregor's home.

Later that morning, Gregor called the New Jersey Division of Child Protective and Permanency. He brought Corey to Southern Ocean County Medical Center in Stafford at around 4 pm, as per the authorities, because the boy was having difficulty speaking, stumbling and throwing up.

After about an hour, he was declared dead.

How did Corey Micciolo die?

Corey died from sepsis and severe internal injuries, according to an autopsy, and Gregor was initially charged with child neglect. However, the charges were later upgraded to murder.

Corey also played football and roughed up his friends, defense attorney Mario Gallucci told the jury during opening statements, adding that the boy's death was consistent with pneumonia.

Gallucci told jurors, “As a matter of fact, the treadmill incident was on March 20.”

“And between March 20 and April 2nd, Corey spent a significant amount of time with Breanna, spent a significant amount of time with Christopher, and actually tried out for a flag football team here in Ocean County," he added.

“I submit to you those bruises did occur from the treadmill, they occurred from football, they occurred from boys being boys,” Gallucci said.

However, the prosecution claims that the horrific treadmill run exercise was the cause of the fatal wounds.