A PhD student accused of killing her friend’s six-week-old baby in Pittsburgh allegedly confessed to shaking and dropping him during a lengthy police interview, telling detectives she had an uncontrollable urge to hurt children.
Nicole Virzi, then 29, is charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of children over the death of Leon Katz and injuries suffered by his twin brother, Ari. She has pleaded not guilty and has remained in custody without bail since her arrest.
Prosecutors allege that Virzi was alone with Leon at the family’s home in the Shadyside area on June 15, 2024, after his parents took Ari to hospital with injuries they said they had not previously seen.
Leon was later found with severe head injuries. He died in hospital several hours after Virzi called emergency services at about 11.15pm.
An autopsy found a serious skull fracture and bleeding in several areas of the brain. A doctor and child-abuse specialist told investigators the injuries to both twins were consistent with abuse rather than an accident, according to the criminal complaint.
Alleged confession played in court
After more than 12 hours of questioning at Pittsburgh police headquarters the following day, Virzi asked to speak again with Detective Janine Triolo, prosecutors said.
In a recorded interview played during a court hearing, she allegedly said: “Um, I’m going to tell you the truth. The biggest part of that truth is that I did not want him to die.”
Virzi then said she had experienced an urge to hurt children from a very young age. “I don’t know what it is, but I always had this urge – almost like a compulsion I can’t control – to hurt kids,” she told the detective, according to the recording.
She allegedly told police that she had become angry because she was being left to care for the babies. “So, when I was alone with (Leon) I shook him a couple times – hard. And I dropped him a couple times – hard,” she said.
Virzi also allegedly said she heard a crack and had turned the infant upside down on the bathroom floor. She told investigators: “Something just came over me I couldn’t control. I’m telling you this because I can’t keep lying about it.”
In another part of the interview, she said: “I did not want [Leon] to die. That was not my goal. I just wanted him to feel a little pain.”
She allegedly described the incident as the first time she had acted on such an impulse as an adult, adding: “There’s some weird drive in me that wants to see kids in pain.”
Defence challenges police interview
Virzi’s lawyers have argued that the statement was involuntary and should not be admitted at trial. They claim she was held for an excessive period, denied a phone call, shackled to the floor and made to urinate in front of police escorts.
Her legal team told the court that investigators had used “nearly every trick in the book to manipulate Ms Virzi into making a statement”.
However, Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge Jill Rangos ruled that jurors should hear the evidence. She noted that Virzi had met a defence lawyer and spoken with her parents before making the statement.
“The vast majority of time she was in that [interview] room, she did not appear to be in any distress,” the judge said at a hearing in February, ruling that the statement had been “knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily made”.
Virzi initially told police that Leon had fallen from a baby bouncer while she was preparing a bottle. Detectives said his injuries were inconsistent with a fall from a seat about 12 inches above the floor.
She had also told police that she found blood, swelling and scratches on Ari while changing his nappy. Prosecutors allege that she was responsible for those injuries as well.
Trial and potential death penalty
Virzi is due to stand trial on October 1 if she does not change her plea. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, citing the victim’s age and evidence that he had been tortured as aggravating factors.
Her defence lawyer, Bill Difenderfer, said in June that plea negotiations were continuing. Pennsylvania has not carried out an execution since 1999, while Governor Josh Shapiro has refused to sign death warrants.
Virzi had been studying for a doctorate in behavioural medicine at the University of California at San Diego and was weeks from completing it when she travelled across the country to visit her friend Savannah Roberts and her husband, Ethan Katz.
Roberts and Virzi had been friends since working together as research co-ordinators in Philadelphia. The Katz family later described Virzi as a trusted family friend, while Leon was remembered as a “happy, smiley, goofy baby boy”.
Virzi’s lawyers have maintained her innocence. Shortly after Leon’s death, another lawyer, David Shrager, described her as a “loving person” who “would never harm anyone’s children”.
