

Linda Calbi was originally charged with murder, but the charges were later downgraded to aggravated assault, based on expert reports that medical error contributed significantly to the boy's death. She was sentenced last year to three years in prison and won't be eligible for parole until November 2008.



The Calbis were divorced in 2001 after 15 years of marriage. A few months after Matt's death, Chris Calbi fell behind his alimony payments and filed papers in court seeking a reduction or termination of his payment obligations.



"She took the life of her oldest son, scarred her younger son for the rest of his life, and tore the fabric of my soul from me," Chris Calbi wrote in papers filed in Superior Court in Hackensack. "To reward this evil and violent woman by allowing her ... to derive a financial benefit from the family she destroyed ... can only be described as a perversion of our justice system."



A judge ordered him to continue making payments, then later interrupted alimony for the period that Linda Calbi is incarcerated.



But Chris Calbi's arrears had risen to more $40,000 by then, and the judge ordered him to pay $400 a month to his ex-wife's prison account.

This court case of a mother who killed her 14-year-old son is troubling (Hat Tip: reader_iam ):I would have to agree with the father's analysis; to be forced to pay this killer (the beating she gave her son caused internal injuries) alimony is truly a perversion of our justice system. No one who kills their child should be rewarded with monetary support from a spouse. More and more, it seems our society rewards horrible acts with money, prestige and sympathy. There has to be a line drawn somewhere. The law should be changed.