Jessica Mauthe, a Pennsylvania woman, was arrested and charged after her former landlord allegedly found three dead babies hidden in the home she was evicted from. Now, authorities have announced that a fourth baby was discovered.
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According to a September 18 news release issued by the Pennsylvania State Police, a fourth baby was found inside the residence located in Kittanning, Armstrong County. She was originally charged with criminal homicide and abuse of a corpse, as previously reported.
However, with the newest gruesome discovery, the initial charges were withdrawn. Jessica Mauthe is now charged with criminal homicide, involuntary manslaughter, four counts of concealing the death of a child, and four counts of abuse of a corpse.
As reported by PennLive.com, Mauthe was evicted by her landlord on August 14. By August 30, the locks had been changed. Weeks later, on September 13, the landlord entered the Oak Avenue residence to clean it up.
However, his cleaning intentions were soon overshadowed by absolute horror. He allegedly found a trash bag with decomposing remains inside a closet.
“It was wrapped up in three or four different garbage bags, tied tight,” the landlord said, as per WPXI. “The smell was horrendous. We opened it up, and there were towels in there. We could see there was just rotting, decomposing something in there.”
Dead Babies Found
Authorities responded to the residence shortly after and confirmed the remains to belong to a deceased infant.
Despite the horrifying nature of the discovery, the dead infant was not alone in their horrible demise. Two other decomposing dead infants were found in the attic, each of them inside bags stored in separate totes, police said.
In an interview with Mauthe, she allegedly admitted to giving birth to the most recent baby approximately a year before the findings. She had given birth while seated on a toilet, and the baby stayed there for several minutes, a probable cause obtained by the outlet said.
Eventually, Mauthe wrapped the newborn in a towel, the document alleged. There, the infant remained until he “stopped making noises.” Then, Mauthe is accused of wrapping the newborn in plastic bags and placing the body in the aforementioned closet.
Following her arraignment, Jessica Mauthe remains at the Armstrong County Jail without bail.