She still limps. Despite plastic surgery, her nose is crushed and her upper lip is permanently split. But when she testified last week in a Manhattan courtroom against her former live-in lover, who is accused of beating to death their illegally adopted six-year-old daughter, Hedda Nussbaum spoke in a firm, clear voice. What emerged was a bizarre tale of violence, drug abuse, isolation and mind control inflicted by disbarred lawyer Joel Steinberg. Asked why she never escaped from Steinberg's thrall, Nussbaum had a simple reply: "I worshiped him."
Fighting back tears, the former editor of children's books recalled how Steinberg had...
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