Jurors heard for the first time yesterday the 911 tape of a frantic Brenda Matthey desperately trying to breathe life back into her adopted 7-year-old Russian son after he collapsed from hypothermia in October 2000.
"Please hurry, my son is dying," Matthey told the dispatcher at the outset of the nine-minute, 20-second call. "I can't get any air in him. I've been trying CPR."
Matthey sobbed and had to be consoled by her husband, Robert, who also dabbed away tears, as they listened to the tape. The couple, from Union Township, Hunterdon County, are charged with aggravated manslaughter in Viktor Alexander Matthey's death.
Brenda Matthey told the dispatcher that Viktor was "moaning and groaning" after she awoke him from a nap shortly after noon on Oct. 29, 2000.
"And I took him and put him in a warm bath because he had drool and stuff all over him," she told the dispatcher. "Then I thought I'd try to give him something to eat because I figured the tranquilizer was knocking him out. We only gave him a half of one, but he's been ... he's been fighting us with eating everything. It's a long story."
Defense attorneys for the Mattheys played the 911 tape to show the efforts Brenda Matthey took to save Viktor's life after he stopped breathing. She gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and pumped on his chest at the dispatcher's request in an attempt to restart his heart, according to the tape.
Matthey was alone with Viktor when the boy collapsed at home. Robert Matthey had taken the couple's six other sons to church services that morning.
Viktor was rushed to Hunterdon Medical Center where his body temperature was recorded at 83.2 degrees. He was revived after 80 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation but died two days later.
Prosecutors contend Viktor's death resulted from severe hypothermia after he was locked in an unheated basement "pump room" overnight on Oct. 28, 2000. The Mattheys are charged also with physically abusing Viktor based on bruises and cuts found on his body.
The Mattheys have argued that Viktor's hypothermia was caused by a rare illness he contracted from malnutrition he suffered as a young boy in Siberia prior to his adoption in December 1999. The Mattheys also said Viktor's injuries were self-inflicted during violent temper tantrums.
A psychologist originally from Russia testified yesterday that documents she reviewed about Viktor's behavior, along with medical records obtained from Russia, convinced her that he suffered from three severe mental disorders.
"He was a very complex child with a lot of problems," said Anait Azarian, a clinical psychologist from Rhode Island who has advised parents in more than 150 Russian adoption cases. "He had severe problems when he came to this country."
Azarian said Viktor suffered from fetal alcohol effect, post-traumatic stress disorder and reactive attachment disorder. These disorders caused the boy to have a variety of behavior problems including intentional bedwetting, self-mutilation, lengthy bouts of sleeplessness, violent outbursts, inability to bond with people and defiance toward authority, she testified.
She said the post-traumatic stress and reactive attachment disorders stemmed from Viktor being taken from his birth parents and placed in an orphanage. The fetal alcohol effect -- a lesser form of fetal alcohol syndrome -- resulted from Viktor's birth mother abusing alcohol during pregnancy, Azarian said.
Based on Russian medical records recovered after Viktor's death, Azarian said the boy was hospitalized 10 times over 26 months between the time he was taken from his birth parents and adopted by the Mattheys. She said the Mattheys were not made aware of Viktor's extensive problems at the time of the adoption.
"Russia did not give them proper information about this," Azarian told the Hunterdon County jury of 10 women and five men. "It's frightening. It's even criminal that they do not give proper information. From the beginning, I see there were some mistakes with this adoption."
The Mattheys traveled to Russia in December 1999 with the intention of adopting Viktor's younger twin brothers. When they learned Viktor also was available for adoption, they made hasty arrangements to bring him back to the United States as well.
During cross-examination, Azarian acknowledged that she based her findings about Viktor's psychological disorders solely on documents and never met the boy. She did not become involved in the case until 2002, when she was hired by defense attorneys, she said.
Testimony from defense experts is expected to continue this morning with a pediatrician who reviewed Viktor's case. Attorneys spent part of yesterday discussing instructions the judge likely will provide to the jury next week before deliberations begin.
If convicted of aggravated manslaughter, Robert and Brenda Matthey face up to 30 years in state prison. They are charged also with endangering the welfare of a child and witness tampering.