Jacob Maloberti took the witness stand Monday to testify against his wife, telling a Westmoreland County jury he only began to question how the couple’s 5-year-old adopted son died after they were both arrested and charged with his murder.
Testifying before Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Scott Mears, the 36-year-old Maloberti said he initially believed the death of Landon Maloberti was caused by a medical issue. He never considered that child abuse or an accidental fall led to the boy’s hospitalization in late January 2023 and his death a week later, according to his testimony.
The former state corrections officer said it was not until he saw evidence collected by prosecutors that he believed his wife did not fully disclose what had occurred in the family’s Delmont home. Maloberti told jurors he has known her since he was 16 and they married in 2021.
“The person I thought I was married to I lost complete trust in. I can’t wrap my head around that for a year what I was told happened to our son didn’t happen,” Jacob Maloberti testified.
Prosecutors contend Landon Maloberti was physically and emotionally abused and tortured by his adoptive parents, isolated from his family and society, and was mistreated and malnourished. Lauren Maloberti has maintained she was not responsible for the boy’s injuries and, in previous court appearances, suggested his death was the result of an accident, a fall, or injuries caused by her husband.
Wearing a blue prison jumpsuit, Jacob Maloberti entered the courtroom in shackles and handcuffs. From the witness stand, he denied responsibility for the injuries authorities contend were inflicted on the young boy, whom he said he thought of as his own son.
His testimony came during the sixth day in the murder trial of Lauren Maloberti, 36, who is charged along with her husband with criminal homicide and related counts in connection with the child’s death. The Malobertis are being prosecuted separately.
He testified he never saw the boy fall or witnessed him being physically abused by his mother. Jacob Maloberti said he initially believed it was an illness that caused the boy to become unresponsive after dinner on Jan. 30, 2023.
Prosecutors contend the child was severely beaten by his adoptive parents, who denied him swift medical attention after he sustained what doctors said were more than 100 bruises over his body and a catastrophic brain injury.
Jacob Maloberti said his wife was the primary disciplinarian for Landon, who was punished through means that included timeouts and spankings. Those actions, he said, were far different than how Lauren Maloberti disciplined her three biological children, who lived in their home along with Jacob’s son from another marriage and an infant foster child.
He told jurors he deferred to his wife when it came to care for the children.
“I think I wish I would have been open to seeing things and not have the ‘happy wife, happy life’ kind of thing. I feel like my job is to protect and I didn’t do that,” Jacob Maloberti testified.
Maloberti worked at the state prison in Fayette County and was on the job the day his wife claimed the child fell and hit his head. He testified Landon appeared normal when he returned home on Jan. 29.
Maloberti said he was at home Jan. 30 and focused on household chores and ran several errands. Landon ate breakfast and initially appeared to act normally but later complained he did not feel well and slept much of the afternoon, he testified. As he sat in a high chair during dinner, Landon lost consciousness. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful and the boy was driven to the hospital, Jacob Maloberti told jurors.
He conceded he discarded a security camera installed inside the home to monitor Landon’s behavior after he found it had been destroyed following the boy’s death.
“I didn’t start wondering (what happened to Landon) until after we were arrested and I was told what I was told. When we went to court one time, she said she had something to tell me but she couldn’t say anything. Obviously, I wanted to know what happened and racked my brain about what happened. I always thought it was medical,” Maloberti testified.
Jacob Maloberti denied he agreed to testify for prosecutors as a condition of a potential plea deal or that he was offered leniency. Maloberti will return to the witness stand Tuesday to be questioned by the defense.
Earlier Monday, Lauren Maloberti’s oldest child, now 16-year-old Kayden Dillon, testified Jacob Maloberti at times took Landon behind a closed door for spankings.
“Landon was yelling in agony — pain would be a better word for it,” Dillon told jurors.
He said he also saw his mother spank Landon and use her hand and a wooden spoon to do so.
When asked by Assistant District Attorney Adam Barr if any of his siblings were disciplined in the same manner, Dillon responded, “It was just Landon.”