Twenty-eight years ago today, on October 30, 1997 (September 29, 1997 lunar calendar), the murder of the babysitter shocked the British and American courts before and after the verdict was heaven and earth. On October 30, 1997, the Superior Court of Middusis County, Massachusetts, USA, announced the verdict: After 27 hours of discussion, the jury unanimously ruled that Woodward was dissatisfied with the strict discipline of the doctor and his wife, and deliberately beat Matthew for 8 months on February 4, 1997, and eventually caused Matthew's death, guilty of second-degree murder, which means Woodward will be imprisoned for life and may apply for parole after 15 years. Woodward's hometown is in Elton, rural Cheshire County, England. After passing four pre-college exams, she could have gone straight to college. However, Woodward wanted to take a year off because she didn't quite know what she was going to focus on in the future. Just then, she was attracted by an advertisement for a cross-border recruitment of nannies. It was a reciprocal exchange service of eating and living in the employer's house for no pay, which was exactly what she had hoped for. Louise Woodward came to the United States in August 1996 and entered the house of a doctor in the Boston suburb of Yippen in November to look after the children. Shortly after arriving at Yippen's house, Woodward began to stay late at night. One day, Matthew's father came home during work hours to find Woodward washing his clothes, but the two children were unattended. So on January 30, 1997, the Yippens had a formal conversation with Woodward, and made demands on her, including that she must be home on time at night and not be able to do her own things during work hours. If Woodward wanted to continue working at Dr. Yippen's house, she had to follow these requirements or she could leave. Woodward chose to stay. On February 4, Dr. Yippen received a sudden call from Woodward at work from his home, saying that Matthew was choking on vomit, breathing strangely, and his eyes were glazed. In the emergency room at Boston Children's Hospital, Dr. Yippen, an ophthalmologist, saw his son's eyes bloodshot and his pupils' response to light disappeared. During the subsequent operation, it was found that the right side of Matthew's skull had cracks and fluid oozing. Five days later, Matthew left his parents and little brother forever. After Matthew's death, the Eppons sued Woodward in court with grief. Based on the results of the investigation, the prosecutor's office filed a public prosecution in court, and the court officially opened the Woodward case on October 7. To prove Woodward's guilt, it is necessary to start with the cause of Matthew's death, but it is on this crucial issue that the medical community has different opinions. One opinion is that Matthew's injuries were caused by severe shaking and hitting the head with a hard object a few hours before he was admitted to the hospital. The other view is that the crack in Matthew's skull is not a new injury, at least three weeks old and in the process of gradual healing. The doctors who operated on Matthew's head removed a blood clot from his cranial cavity, which seems to confirm the latter claim. The most authoritative conclusion should be made by a pathologist. But for some reason, such a convincing conclusion has never emerged. Since there is no authoritative conclusion in the medical community, Woodward's testimony is very important. Woodward appeared calm and composed in the courtroom, answering questions almost without thinking, and during the three-week trial, her answers to questions from various angles were not inconsistent. In particular, she flatly rejected the possibility of manslaughter, asking the court to make a guilty or acquittal verdict in the case, showing her determination to prove her innocence. Due to the lack of evidence, the jury's verdict and the court's verdict caused an uproar in public opinion. It is worth mentioning that the judge who tried the case, Zobel, was known for his impartiality and willingness to challenge conventional wisdom, while Woodward's defence counsel was Scheck, who defended O.J. Simpson and ultimately acquitted him. On November 10, 1997, the US court held a retrial of the case, commuting the second-degree murder charge to manslaughter and reducing his sentence to 279 days. According to this, Woodward will become a free man after sentencing. Lawyers for both sides have appealed, and Mr. Woodward's hometown was ecstatic about the outcome, while Americans were generally shocked.