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Jessica Marie Mauthe, 39, was arrested after her former landlord
called police to the home she had lived in outside Ford City,
about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh.
State police said the remains were found in a bedroom closet and
in the attic of the home on Oak Avenue in Cadogan Township. The
landlord was cleaning out a closet in the home on Sept. 13 when
he came across a trash bag with a foul odor and something
wrapped in towels that was decomposing, according to the arrest
affidavit issued Thursday.
Investigators found the bodies of three other infants in the
attic in tote bags, wrapped in towels and inside plastic bags,
police said.
Messages seeking comment were left Monday for public defender
Greta Marie Kiser, listed as Mauthe's defense lawyer in the
online docket, and for Armstrong County District Attorney Katie
Charlton.
About a year ago, Mauthe told investigators, she gave birth to a
child who made several noises before she held the child “against
her, where it remained until it stopped making noises and
stopped breathing,” police wrote.
Mauthe told troopers that one newborn had whimpered after she
gave birth to it about six years ago, after which she passed out
on the floor, according to the affidavit. When she awakened, the
baby was beneath her and was not breathing, she told them.
Mauthe is in the Armstrong County Jail without bail. She was
charged with criminal homicide for the death a year ago,
involuntary manslaughter for the death about six years ago, and
four counts each of concealing the death of a child and abuse of
a corpse. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for next week.
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