Inset: Jessica M. Mauthe (Armstrong County Jail). Background: The home where Mauthe allegedly hid 3 dead infants prior to her eviction (WTAE).
A 39-year-old woman in Pennsylvania has been arrested after authorities say she left the bodies of three dead infants inside a house after she was evicted — with one body in a trash bag found in a closet and the other two stuffed into tote bags that were stored in the attic.
Jessica M. Mauthe was taken into custody over the weekend and charged with one count of criminal homicide and one count of abuse of a corpse, authorities announced. The current charges stem from the discovery of the first child only, who authorities said had been born about a year ago.
According to a news release from the Pennsylvania State Police, Mauthe was charged on Saturday after an investigation into what was found at a residence in the 100 block of Oak Avenue in Cadogan Township. Police did not release additional information, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation.
In a criminal complaint obtained by Philadelphia CBS affiliate KYW, authorities responded Saturday to a 911 call from the owner of the property, who said she had just discovered a deceased baby inside the home. The owner informed the dispatcher that she had evicted Mauthe from the residence about a month earlier and was cleaning up for the next tenant when she noticed a putrid smell coming from one of the closets. When she went to investigate, she said she found a trash bag containing a towel wrapped around “something decomposing.”
The coroner was called to the home and confirmed that the bag contained the remains of a deceased infant, leading to the involvement of the state police.
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Investigators said that during a subsequent search of the home, they discovered two tote bags in the attic. One reportedly contained a baby”s remains inside a black trash bag and wrapped with a towel. The other held a trash bag containing a bucket, which also allegedly held a dead baby wrapped in a towel, according to a report from PennLive.
Investigators brought Mauthe in for questioning and she allegedly admitted that she gave birth to the child found in the closet approximately one year earlier while she was seated on her toilet.
“The child remained in the toilet for several minutes, during this time, she could hear the child making noises,” police wrote, per Pittsburgh ABC affiliate WTAE. “Mauthe removed the child from the toilet, wrapped a towel around the infant’s entire body, where it remained until it stopped making noises.”
She then reportedly said she put the child inside several black garbage bags and left it in the closet of the upstairs bedroom where it was later discovered by the homeowner.
Mauthe also allegedly admitted to giving birth to the other two children found in the attic.
District Attorney Katie Charlton reportedly told PennLive that additional charges against Mauthe “will be filed if appropriate.” The results from autopsies on the two babies discovered in the attic are pending.
Neighbors were aghast after hearing the allegations against Mauthe.
“Shocked. No one believed it. It’s just evil,” one neighbor told WTAE. “How can you plop babies in the toilet?”
Mauthe is currently being held in the Armstrong County Jail without bond.
