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A 36-YEAR-OLD woman has been sentenced to life in prison for killing her five newborns between 2005 and 2013 and hiding them in a freezer.
The Oulu district court in western Finland found the woman guilty of five counts of murder and five counts of disturbing the peace of the dead for failing to give the babies proper burials.
“The homicides took place by leaving the newborns without care and warmth… Clearly this measure… caused particular agony to the babies,” the court said in its ruling.
The woman claimed babies were stillborn
The woman, who has a 14-year-old son, had pleaded innocent and said the babies were all stillborn.
But the court ruled on the basis of dental examinations that at least some of the babies had lived for up to four days before dying in a bucket where she had left them.
The horrific crimes were discovered in June 2014 when neighbours began to complain of a bad smell in the apartment building where a new couple had moved in.
It was soon discovered that the woman had dumped the babies’ bodies in garbage bags in the building’s cellar.
Previously she had managed to hide the bodies by keeping them in a freezer in her old apartment but there was no longer room for a freezer in the new apartment.
Hiding the pregnancies
Court documents showed she had hid her pregnancies under loose clothing, and gave birth to the babies at home without anyone’s knowledge.
District prosecutor Sari Kemppainen told AFP that all of the babies were born full-term or nearly full-term.
The fathers of the first two babies were not identified, but in 2010 she married a man and got pregnant a third time. She later told him she had suffered a miscarriage.
The husband went on to father two more babies, but was unaware of his wife’s pregnancies or crimes. He petitioned for divorce immediately after the bodies were discovered.
When questioned by police, the mother was unable to explain why she had opted to keep, and not bury, the bodies.
A life sentence in Finland usually amounts to about 12 years behind bars.
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Disturbing story.. Rip in peace to those kids. And hope the mother gets serious help.
Something tells me if the headline read “father kills 5 newborns” you’d be joining the long long list of posters calling for his castration regardless of his mental health.
A mother does it? Must be ill, needs help etc etc
I’d say the exact same thing.. It’s obvious she’s mentally insane
I don’t think gender is an issue here at all. If there is a credible mental health diagnosis, I think a little understanding should be offered. However, if the parent male or female, is of sound mind, a severe punishment is required.
12 years for killing 5 babies?????
️Jesus donal it has nothing to do with gender. The woman is obviously not right in the head.
Some of the blokes on here are starting to sound like the feminists, trying to get a dig in where they can.
Bottom line is, 5 poor babies never got a chance in life.
RIP little ones.
It’s stories like this that make me thankful for the great family and friends that I have. May those poor babies rest in peace.
She was mentally ill !
If she was mentally ill would she not have been tried in court as such? I read no mention anywhere of any mental illness. She may well be a psychopath, but sure isn’t that the case with a lot of murderers?
It’s stories like this which make me wish that hell was real
Women kill more children than men. Women murderers are normally classified as ill and men are normally classified as savages.
Not cool…………
If she had done it once id say she was mentaly ill but she did it 5times i call that pure evil hopefull she will be inside for the rest of her life
She should have got life for a life x5 not 12 years
have your say