Jacob N. Maloberti, Lauren E. Maloberti, and Landon Maloberti (Westmoreland County District Attorney's Office)
A husband is testifying against his wife in a Pennsylvania courtroom about the alleged abuse she perpetrated against their adopted son before he was found dead from blunt-force trauma.
Lauren Maloberti, 36, faces charges including first-degree murder, criminal homicide, aggravated assault, and child endangerment in connection with the death of 5-year-old Landon Maloberti.
Her husband, Jacob Maloberti, faces the same charges — except for first-degree murder. As Law&Crime previously reported, he had been lined up as a witness to testify against his wife in the high-stakes trial this week.
He has already shared harrowing allegations against the woman with whom he has shared a life.
"The person I thought I was married to, I lost complete trust in," Jacob Maloberti testified on Monday, according to Pittsburgh ABC affiliate WTAE. "I can't wrap my head around that for a year, what I was told happened to our son didn't happen."
On Jan. 30, 2023, the parents brought an unconscious Landon to a medical center. He was then transferred to a children's hospital and died about a week later.
Medical staff at the first medical center allegedly told investigators that when the couple arrived at the facility, they appeared to show "no urgency" and said the child was just "wobbly from COVID a month prior." The couple was arrested and charged.
"Landon was in the care and supervision of his adoptive family leading up to his death," the Westmoreland County District Attorney's Office said at the time. "A forensic examination revealed previous injuries and evidence of abuse prior to his death, as well."
However, Jacob Maloberti testified this week that he hadn't harmed Landon and that he "didn't start wondering" what had happened to his son until he and his wife were arrested. It was only then, he said, that he considered Landon was not just experiencing a medical issue but had been deliberately hurt.
"When we went to court one time, she said she had something to tell me, but she couldn't say anything," the husband said of Lauren Maloberti. "I always thought it was medical."
Landon reportedly suffered more than 100 bruises and a severe brain injury. He died from blunt-force trauma, authorities said.
Detectives who worked the case have read text messages between the couple that appear to suggest abuse was evident long before that January 2023 day.
"I just got done beating your son," Lauren Maloberti allegedly texted her husband along with a curse word in July 2022. "So, I'm wide awake."
The next month, she reportedly texted Jacob Maloberti, "Landon better behave."
"Did he say anything to you?" the husband asked, per WTAE, to which Lauren Maloberti replied, "He's gonna get it."
The allegations against Lauren Maloberti are extensive. Prosecutors maintain that she "was loving" toward her other children but not Landon. They say these other kids told investigators that Landon was smacked by his mother, sprayed with water, forced to drink from a toilet, and monitored by a camera, among other things.
However, her defense attorney has argued that the case is more nuanced than that. "We have a child who's deceased," her attorney said. "I'm not even sure the commonwealth knows what happened with Landon. It's a complicated situation."
Jacob Maloberti will be tried in court after his wife, the local outlet reported. Court records show that he has a disposition hearing scheduled for May 22.
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