Millionaire mother Gigi Jordan who poisoned son jailed for 18 years

Eight-year-old Jude Mirra had been diagnosed with autism

Gigi Jordan, a wealthy New York socialite, had her defence that she was protecting her son from abuse rejected by the judge (Reuters)

A millionaire mother convicted of manslaughter last year in the poisoning death of her disabled 8-year-old son has been sentenced to 18 years in prison by a New York judge who had little patience with her claim she was protecting the boy from sexual abuse.

In sentencing Gigi Jordan, 54, Supreme Court Judge Charles Solomon said he was disturbed by the lack of remorse she had shown for the 2010 killing, when she gave the boy, Jude Mirra, Xanax, Ambien and vodka in a luxury suite at a Fifth Avenue hotel.

“She had five years to think about this. Never said, ‘I’m sorry,’” he said.

After her conviction last autumn, Jordan, who made her fortune in the pharmaceuticals business, gave multiple interviews from jail, including to the Dr Phil daytime talk show, claiming she had been unfairly treated by the courts.

Prosecutors said Jordan had killed the boy after years of unsuccessfully trying to find treatments for his condition diagnosed by doctors as autism. She testified, however, that he had been traumatised after being sexually abused by his biological father, Emil Tzekov, her second husband.

She also asserted that her first husband was plotting to kill her. That would mean Mr Tzekov gaining custody of the boy. She also said Jude had asked to be killed.

While the jury at trial delivered a manslaughter conviction over murder, as the prosecution had sought, Judge Solomon scorned her claims, noting that no evidence of sexual abuse had ever been presented. Mr Tzekov has never faced any charges.