Pennsylvania police have charged a woman with homicide and abuse of a corpse after three dead babies were found in the home she was evicted from.
Jessica Marie Mauthe, 39, faces criminal charges after the dead infants were found hidden around the home she was evicted from in August, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
The newspaper reported that the landlord was cleaning out the residence when he traced a strong odor to a plastic garbage bag inside a closet. After that discovery, state police began investigating and searching the home, finding two more dead infants.
The newspaper reported that police located and questioned Mauthe. In a court document, police said that Mauthe told them she had given birth to a baby while on the toilet.
"She could hear the child making several noises," the newspaper quoted police reports. "Mauthe removed the child from the toilet, wrapped a towel around the infant's entire body, where it remained until it stopped making noises."
Mauthe's landlord, Brent Flanigan, told WTAE-4 that he had her evicted on August 14. Two weeks later, he returned to change the locks and secure the windows. Inside, he found abandoned cats and furniture, as well as various personal items that were left behind.
Flanigan told the station that as he began to clean the home, he found the first dead baby wrapped in plastic in a closet. He immediately called the police.
According to Flanigan, police found the other two dead babies in the attic in tote bags, WTAE-4 reported.
CBS News reported that a cleaning crew had descended on the home earlier this week. As they worked, neighbors talked about what authorities had found inside the home.
"It's just evil. It's beyond sick," neighbor Carmen Felix told the network.. "How could she do that, three times? You don't just plop babies in toilets."
