AU PAIR TO PUSH FOR VINDICATION; WOODWARD APPEALING CONVICTION IN DEATH OF 8-MONTH-OLD BOY.

Byline: The Boston Globe

One day after the sudden revocation of her life sentence in prison, Louise Woodward broke her silence to say she is adamant about seeking ``total vindication'' in a risky appeals process that would ``further justify Judge Zobel's decision'' to reduce her conviction for murder in the death of Matthew Eappen to manslaughter and limit her sentence to time served.

Woodward also said she is ``deeply saddened'' by Matthew's death. And after acknowledging that the baby's parents, Sunil and Deborah Eappen, are ``unable to understand or believe'' her in their certainty that she killed their son, she insisted, ``I loved Matthew.''

``I committed no crime whatsoever,'' she said. ``I did not harm, much less kill, Matthew Eappen.''

The day - Woodward's first outside the Framingham women's prison since Feb. 5 - bore little resemblance to the anonymous existence she lived before her arrest.

The defense lawyers who represented the British au pair during the televised trial said her fame - and the controversy surrounding her fate - will soon force her to leave Boston. One of the lawyers, Elaine Whitfield-Sharp, also said she does not know if the family has decided what Woodward will do during the appeals process, during which she must remain in the commonwealth.

After being found guilty Oct. 30 of second-degree murder for the Feb. 4 injuries that led to the death of the 8-month-old boy, Woodward was released Monday after Superior Court Judge Hiller Zobel's decisions.

On Tuesday the 19-year-old, who once enjoyed the bohemian musical ``Rent'' and late nights on the town, hardly left her room at the Harborside Hyatt. Her parents, Gary and Susan, were with her throughout the day, while throngs of reporters camped in the lobby.

Woodward, who last night was moved with her parents from a third-floor room with an armed guard stationed outside its door to the Presidential Suite, admitted that reacclimating to the outside world has already ``proven difficult.''

``My family and I have been trying to readjust to life together in the wake of my release from prison,'' Woodward wrote in her statement. ``This has proven difficult, because of the enormous number of requests for my views and feelings about what has happened.''

In her statement, Woodward also said: ``I experienced the horror of seeing (Matthew) fail, as I testified in court, and as anyone listening to the `911 tape' can readily understand. I loved Matthew. I know that his family is unable to understand or believe me, because they are so convinced that I killed him or at least contributed to his death. I pray that further investigation into the scientific evidence convinces the Eappen family that I did their son no harm.''

Woodward must stay in Massachusetts until the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office is able to finish its appeal. She said Tuesday she will not comment again publicly until those legal proceedings are complete.

A day earlier, one of her lawyers, Barry Scheck, told the media there would be no interviews with his client, forcing Woodward to cancel two scheduled interviews with the British show ``The Big Story.''

The embargo did not, however, stop dozens of reporters from gathering at the Woodwards' hotel near Logan Airport, where enormous bay windows overlook the harbor and rooms start at $249.

One media outlet reportedly took a further step: The British magazine Hello is said to have offered Woodward $160,000 for a deal.

Woodward made a point of denying all financial deals in her statement, saying she had taken money only from EF Au Pair to pay for her defense.

``I have heard rumors that I have sold my story, or rights to my story, to the news media,'' the statement said. ``I want to set the record straight. I have done no such thing.''

Woodward said that in addition to EF Au Pair's legal assistance, she is ``thankful for the contributions of friends, neighbors and supporters both here and in England that have made it possible for my parents to travel and be with me and will now make it possible for me to live in Massachusetts until my case is concluded.'' Legal experts have said that process could take as long as two years.

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Photo: Tuesday's British newspapers focus on Louise Woodward's release.

Associated Press