In a terrifying confession uncovered by the Daily Mail, a gorgeous PhD student facing the death penalty for allegedly killing her best friend’s infant acknowledged repeatedly placing the adorable baby boy on his head until she “heard some kind of crack” because she was angry that she had to babysit.
Two years ago, Nicole Virzi, the 31-year-old daughter of a well-known cardiologist in New York City, had just traveled across the nation to visit her friend and meet her six-week-old twins for the first time in Pittsburgh.
However, prosecutors say that an angry Virzi, who was only weeks away from earning her PhD in clinical psychology at UC-San Diego, ended up killing young Leon Katz and disfiguring his twin brother, Ari, after being allowed to keep an eye on them.
The promising student later confessed to hurting the youngster, even though she denied ever touching the boys. In a shocking videotaped confession, she told investigators that she was “angry” about having to perform “nanny work” during what was meant to be a week-long holiday.
In the unsettling testimony, Virzi revealed, “Something just came over me I couldn’t control.”
“I don’t know what it is, but I always had this urge—almost like a compulsion I can’t control—to hurt kids from a very, very young age.”
When Virzi’s murder trial begins in October, the horrific confession will now be a part of a shocking case as prosecutors seek the death sentence.
Virzi has entered a not guilty plea to six counts of criminal homicide, aggravated assault, and endangering a child’s welfare.
In 2024, Nicole Virzi, the 31-year-old daughter of a well-known cardiologist in New York City, could be executed if found guilty of killing her best friend’s infant.
In June 2024, a furious Virzi is charged with killing young Leon Katz and disfiguring his twin brother in Pittsburgh.
The terrifying tale began in June 2024 when Virzi, who was raised in the affluent Upper Saddle River district of New Jersey, came to spend a week with her friend Savannah Roberts her husband, Ethan Katz.
When they were both employed as research coordinators in the graduate psychology department at Drexel University in Philadelphia, the two quickly became friends.
The new mother, who is currently a PhD candidate in clinical psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, frequently trusted Virzi to keep an eye on her boys during the weeklong vacation.
On June 15, however, things took a terrible turn when Virzi reported that while she was ostensibly maintaining a close watch, she noticed an unexplained, bloody injury to Ari’s crotch area.
In her first police interview, she told Roberts and Katz that the tot had just scratched himself in his car seat.
Virzi stayed at home to look after Leon when the parents finally took the infant to the hospital for a check-up at around 6:30 p.m. that evening.
Leon was in a bouncer seat when she reportedly fell asleep, she informed the cops. Virzi said he began wailing as soon as she woke up and went to the kitchen to get him a bottle.
Virzi allegedly contacted his parents and then 911 after discovering the infant on the ground with a lump on his head.
Just six weeks prior to the catastrophe, Savannah Roberts and her husband Ethan Katz had welcomed their twin babies, Leon and Ari.
Virzi has entered a not guilty plea to six counts of criminal homicide, aggravated assault, and endangering a child’s welfare.
A few hours later, Leon was declared dead due to several brain hemorrhages and a major fracture to his skull. According to an autopsy report, the injuries were consistent with child maltreatment and were caused by blunt force trauma.
After retreating to her Airbnb, where she was apprehended the next morning, Virzi was questioned for over 11 hours and continuously denied any participation in the boy’s murder, according to TribLive at the time.
In the end, she acknowledged that the ongoing “nanny work” irritated her.
In the dramatic filmed confession, which was aired during a court hearing last October, Virzi told lead investigator Janine Triolo, “Something about that built up a lot of anger in me. So when I was alone with (Leon) I shook him a couple times – hard.” And I gave him a few heavy drops.
“I heard a crack,” she said, purportedly acknowledging that she had also turned the infant upside down on the bathroom’s tile floor.
“I couldn’t control something that just came over me,” Virzi remarked. “I can’t continue to lie about it, so I’m telling you this.”
At one point, she added, “I did not want him to die.” That wasn’t my intention. All I wanted was for him to experience some agony.
The accused baby killer went on to say that since she was three or four years old, she had always felt the need to damage children. She even provided examples of some of the children she had harmed in her younger years.
The video shows her recalling, when she was just seven years old, shutting a two-year-old child in a restroom and pinching her until she wailed.
Virzi described to police how she once pinched a baby’s arm with a hot mug while she was in high school.
In the video of the twins’ event, Virzi stated, “This is the first time this happened as an adult.” “I have a strange urge to see children suffer.”
Although sources close to the case indicate a plea agreement will probably be reached before trial, prosecutors have already requested that Virzi be executed.
While visiting friends in Pittsburgh, the PhD student stayed at an Airbnb.
She stated, “I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore,” and mentioned that she had previously experienced eating disorders, anxiety, and sadness. “I am aware that leaving is the best course of action—or perhaps worse.”
Virzi’s apparent “bottled-up rage” and “underlying anger” have been noted by former colleagues and peers, who have later informed the Daily Mail that they thought there was always a fury lurking beneath the surface.
“I don’t know why because she never did anything negative to me,” said Elin Lantz Lesser, a graduate student at Drexel during the time of Virzi and Roberts. “I do think there I did always have an instinct of… maybe I need to mind my p’s and q’s around her a little bit, like I don’t want to get on her bad side.”
Lesser, who now works as a journalist and podcaster after earning her PhD in clinical psychology, described Virzi as “you could count on” and incredibly skilled at her job. However, she recalled a coworker receiving some “very biting text messages” about a work-related matter. “It just made me feel like maybe there is a little bit of anger there,” Lesser said.
“I’m absolutely shocked and floored, but I’m not surprised,” said another former psychology major who knew Virzi from her studies at a separate university. “There always seemed to be some underlying anger.” Even though she was nice, some coworkers I’ve spoken to have expressed similar opinions, saying that there was a bottled-up anger or something that never came out but you knew it was right there.She was so inflexible that she would never be even a minute late for a class or meeting. Because of her extreme control and strict adherence to the rules, I believe I would almost trust her more than anybody else to babysit.
Others claimed that although Virzi wasn’t obviously strange, there were some warning signs.
After returning to her nearby Airbnb, the accused baby killer was taken into custody the next morning (see above).
Before police intervened and arrested her a few days later, she was seen going outside and making a phone call.She consented to speak without a lawyer present after being brought to police headquarters for interrogation.
Virzi was recommended for a competitive spot at UCSD’s doctoral psych program by Cindy Miller-Perrin, a clinical child psychologist and professor at Pepperdine University in Malibu, where she completed her undergraduate studies. Miller-Perrin stated, “She was in our psychology honors program the year that I taught that program, and it’s a very select program, so she was an incredible student just to get in.” I spent a lot of time with her because we collaborated closely on her study project. There must be personality qualities associated with her high level of achievement. She then on, “But I never heard or saw anything. It’s so tragic for everyone involved.”
As Virzi is ready to go on trial in October for allegedly killing Leon and hurting the penis of his surviving twin brother, the accounts and the horrifying confession were made public.
The death penalty has already been requested by the prosecution, but according to people familiar with the case, a plea agreement will probably be negotiated before to trial.
Dr. Peter Virzi, the father of Nicole Virzi, the alleged infant killer, at his New Jersey residence
The Upper Saddle River, New Jersey house of Dr. Virzi, who declined to comment on his daughter.
The Nyack, New York house of Nicole Virzi’s mother, Jennifer Graham “This is a very, very serious case,” Bill Difenderfer, one of Virzi’s two criminal defense lawyers, told the Daily Mail. “She’s still in jail.” Her family continues to support her. There are still negotiations going on.
It also follows an unsuccessful attempt by her attorneys to have the confession tape excluded from the trial, claiming during a hearing in February that the admission was forced at the conclusion of a protracted interrogation.
However, Judge Jill E. Rangos decided that her remarks might be used as evidence in court.
Since the incident occurred, Savannah Roberts and her husband have refrained from commenting.
Despite the tragedy, Roberts’ mother, Shelly Roberts, told the Daily Mail that her daughter was “a rock star, an incredible human being.”
Since the death of her son, she has continued her education and research at the University of Pittsburgh, where she has won numerous honors.
When the Daily Mail visited Virzi’s father, he declined to comment. Her mother was unreachable.
