Landlord’s gruesome discovery leads to arrest of Pennsylvania mom in deaths of 4 newborns

A woman from Pennsylvania was reported by her former landlord to the police after he found four corpses of infants while clearing out the rented home.

The woman’s name is Jessica Marie Mauthe, 39, and at some point in August she was evicted from her Cadogan Township rental. The landlord went to the house on September 13 to clean it out for a potential next tenant. During his cleaning, he made the gruesome discovery of a trash bag that was emitting a foul odor. He tried to peek inside but found towels wrapped tightly. Much like the singer d4vd, the stench alone was enough for the landlord to stop and call the police.

According to NBC, the Pennsylvania State Police reported to the scene and found two additional totes in the home’s attic that contained three more dead children. Upon further investigations, it was soon concluded that Mauthe had given birth to four children in six years without the knowledge of anyone. Unfortunately, this is not the first such case this year. There was already a notable case in Oklahoma where a father got his 11-year-old daughter pregnant and conducted a home birth beyond the eyes of the law before he was eventually caught.

Mauthe has reportedly been charged with homicide, manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, and concealing the corpse of a child. Unlike the recent case of someone who was caught with human bones on a flight, this case actually had some answers, as the police were able to source explanations from the accused. The story of how she allegedly killed her children is highly graphic and shocking. 

Mauthe reportedly explained that her first child was born six years ago in her home bathroom. She didn’t clarify her state of mind but told the police that she simply heard the baby “whimpering” and then passed out, only to wake up and find that she had crushed the baby underneath her body. That’s when she allegedly wrapped the baby in towels and stuffed it in a tote bag that she went on to hide in the attic.

For the second child, investigators reported that Mauthe had left the baby in the toilet for 15 minutes unattended. She later picked up the infant, wrapped the baby in plastic bags, and stuffed it in a closet before eventually moving the remains into the previously used tote bag.

About a year ago, she had another baby, and just like before, she placed the infant on the toilet. This one was different, though, and kept crying. Since the baby did not stop crying, Mauthe reportedly went to the infant, wrapped it in a towel, and held the baby in that position until the crying stopped. She then wrapped the child in plastic bags and stuffed it in a closet.

There are no details about how the final infant lost their life. Mauthe is currently being held in police custody and has been denied bail. She is awaiting court next week. Truly gruesome stuff. Hopefully justice gets served.