NJ Dad Accused of Murdering 6-year-old Son Bullied Him for Being Fat, Cops Say

The former Ocean County man accused of killing his own son nearly a year ago had called the 6-year-old fat a number of times and forced him to run on a treadmill that was too fast for the boy to stay on, according to court documents.

Christopher Gregor was charged with murder last week after new evidence in the April 2021 death of 6-year-old Corey Micciolo.

Breanna Micciolo has said that her son was conceived as a result of being raped by the boy's father, who only came into the boy's life two years prior to the child’s death.

According to police and child welfare investigators, the brief period that Corey knew his father was an endless hell, with the accused killer dad referring to the little boy as the “Michelin Man" and telling one of his girlfriends that the boy needed to lose weight.

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Days before Gregor’s arrest for murder, a state expert filed a report with the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office deeming the child's death a homicide.

The expert said "blunt impact injuries of the chest and abdomen with laceration of the heart, left pulmonary contusion and contusion of the liver" were consistent with ongoing abuse over a period of time — which he did find evidence of, rather than one incident.

He also said that “an acute traumatic injury” happened to the boy's heart, about six to 12 hours before his death.

History of abuse

Police previously filed child endangerment charges against Gregor, citing March 20, 2021 surveillance video from the fitness room at his Barnegat residence, two weeks before the child’s death.

Video footage shows Corey being forced by his dad to run on a treadmill, despite falling six times.

At some points, Gregor appears to bite his son, as described by law enforcement viewing the video.

A worker with the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency said he had photographed and investigated bruises on the boy days after that incident.

Police also have photos taken by Micciolo of bruises and blood pooling in the child’s eye, timestamped as taken in the days between the treadmill incident and Corey’s death.

Overall, there were 14 reports filed with the state regarding Corey — seven of them naming Gregor as a potential abuser.

Six of those reports were apparently counter-filed, naming Micciolo and her mother (Corey’s maternal grandmother) as potential aggressors, according to Gregor’s arrest affidavit.

Investigators have also spoken to multiple women who Gregor dated, after meeting them on dating websites or apps.

At least one of them said she witnessed Gregor become angry and throw his son off a boat while crabbing — then later said he was only “roughhousing” with the child, according to a police interview.

Starting in February, another girlfriend agreed to assist the investigation into the child’s death and taped multiple conversations with him Gregor.

That woman said that she had previously seen the boy with bruises, which Gregor said was a result of him being anemic.

Gregor had referred to his 6-year-old son as the “Michelin Man,” and said that the child needed to lose weight, the same woman told police.

Similarly, during a pediatrician checkup the day before Corey’s death, the child said his father had forced him to run on a treadmill “because he was too fat,” according to Gregor’s affidavit and appendix.

Blood work and x-rays taken that same day, April 1, 2021 showed no immediate concerns.

Corey died the following day, after several hours under Gregor’s care.

Final hours of Corey’s life

Micciolo said she brought her son home with her on April 1, when she couldn’t get in touch with Gregor that night.

A Pennsylvania woman, who told police that she met Gregor a week earlier on a dating app said she spent the night and left early in the morning on April 2.

Corey was dropped back off with his father around 9 a.m., according to police interviews.

The child slept for a number of hours and then woke up and vomited, Gregor said to police, which prompted him to bring the boy to Southern Ocean Medical Center.

Doctors found Corey’s white blood cell levels to be high, as well as glucose and lactic acid.

The child suffered seizures while at the hospital and wound up dying, despite medical staff’s efforts.

Gregor flees NJ

After his son’s death, Gregor said that he needed some privacy and was seen leaving the hospital around 5:30 p.m. in a silver Honda sedan with Maryland plates.

He sent a text message to his own parents, saying he’d be gone for a while and asking them to take care of his dog.

Gregor was then pinged over the next few days in Pennsylvania, Arkansas and Tennessee.

Tennessee police caught up with Gregor two days after his son’s death, and found he was in a car with a Long Branch woman whom he has been romantically involved with.

By the time local police arrived in Tennessee, Gregor had left his own car behind, checked out of a hotel and rented a new vehicle.

After police seized Gregor’s phone and other devices, they found various Google searches.

“Will red marks turn into bruises,” was searched by Gregor’s phone on March 25, 2021, days after the treadmill incident caught on video.

“Could internal bleeding raise your blood sugar levels,” was among a number of searches in the days immediately after the child’s death, as well as “there was a murder determined from an autopsy, how long to file charges.”

Gregor’s phone also had records of searches about whether his phone or car could be traced.

Gregor messaged various people and posted to social media apps following Corey’s death, saying on his Instagram story that he blamed the child’s death on Micciolo and calling her an “ex herion and meth addict.”

A search history of Micciolo’s devices, specifically in the week or so following the treadmill incident, included “non custodial parent concerned about child abuse,” and various other forms of what to do about suspected child abuse.

As of Wednesday, Gregor remains in Ocean County jail, pending a court hearing.