A fourth deceased infant has been found inside the rental home of a Pennsylvania woman.
According to the Pennsylvania State Police, police filed new charges against 39-year-old Jessica Mauthe this week after finding the baby inside a Cadogan Township residence.
The charges include criminal homicide and involuntary manslaughter, in addition to four counts of concealing a death, and four counts of abusing a corpse.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, when homeowner Brent Flanigan cleaned the Oak Avenue residence earlier this month, he discovered a trash bag with a foul odor in the closet.
Flanigan said he often had to push the defendant to pay rent, and evicted her in August after nearly a year of non-payment.
“The smell was horrendous. We opened it up, and there were towels in there. My worker and I, we peeled the towels back with a stick, and we could see there was just rotting, decomposing something in there and I knew it wasn’t an animal.” Flanigan told Pittsburgh’s Channel 11.
He contacted South Buffalo Police; the police subsequently brought in Pennsylvania state troopers.
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Troopers then found two totes in the attic — one of which contained a trash bag with a deceased infant wrapped in a towel. The other tote had a trash bag containing a bucket with a dead infant, also wrapped in a towel, according to the Leader Times.
Mauthe allegedly told police that she gave birth to the first baby around six year ago. She stated that she heard “whimpering” before she passed out, CBS News reports.
She woke up to find the baby dead, according to what she told police. Mauthe said she wrapped the infant in a towel.
Mauthe reportedly admitted giving birth to two more infants in her bathroom. She allegedly admitted to suffocating one baby with a towel after the infant made noises, then suffocating the other one the same way.
The Indiana County Coroner’s Office will determine the official death causes for all four infants.
Meanwhile, neighbor Carmen Felix told TRIB live that the defendant mostly kept to herself, living with her two young sons and a roommate.
Mauthe’s boys, ages 6 and 8, are now staying with extended family members.
Her husband, Jacob Mauthe, is currently behind bars at SCI Laurel Highlands. He was convicted of endangering the welfare of children, along with a DUI, in 2024.
Mauthe remains at the Armstrong County Jail without bond. Her preliminary hearing will take place on September 30.
Anyone with information on the case should contact Pennsylvania State Police at 724-543-2011.
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[Feature Photo: Armstrong County jail]
