🚀 go-pugleaf

<B> I saw a bit of this on the Today Show recently - unreal. </B>


Decades-Old Child Killings Investigated

By MARK JOHNSON
.c The Associated Press 

MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. (AP) - Police have begun tracing the 30-year trail of a woman
they say killed three of her babies, then roamed the country for a decade or
more with their remains before stashing them in a rented storage shed in
Arizona.

Beyond the task of reconstructing Diane O'Dell's life since 1972, when the
first of her children died, police also will try to follow her wanderings from
the mountains of New York to Arizona to Pennsylvania and points between.

O'Dell, of Rome, Pa., told investigators that between 1972 and 1984, while
living in upstate New York, she gave birth to four children who died, including
three whose remains were found in Arizona, said Sheriff Frank Hughes of Graham
County, Ariz. Police would not comment on the cause of death.

O'Dell, 49, was arraigned in New York state on three counts of murder and
ordered held without bail.

She told police she kept the remains of the dead children with her for at least
10 years before leaving them in the storage unit in Safford, Ariz., near where
she lived in 1991 and 1992. The bodies were discovered last week by a man who
bought the contents of the abandoned storage unit at auction.

New York State Police Maj. Alan Martin said police will interview ``family
members, friends, anybody,'' who may have information in the case.

Both of O'Dell's parents are dead and it is unknown if any of her family
members still live in New York, police said. Even 20 years ago, O'Dell kept her
private life to herself.

``Nobody gave any indication whatsoever that she had been pregnant in the year
1981, '82, '83,'' said Sullivan County District Attorney Stephen Lungen.

O'Dell gave birth to the children at her home in Sullivan County and didn't
seek any prenatal care or medical care, he said.

She told investigators she had given birth to the first baby in 1972. She said
her father beat her and caused the child to be stillborn, so she put the body
in a plastic bag and then a suitcase, state police said.

In 1989, New York authorities discovered the infant's remains and investigated,
but no charges were filed. That case is being reopened, police said.

At the time, investigators questioned at least four of O'Dell's relatives but
got no indications any of them knew about the three other children born since
the first one died, Lungen said.

O'Dell has eight living children, authorities said.

Investigators also questioned her partner, Robert Sauerstein. The only
telephone number listed for a Robert Sauerstein in Pennsylvania was not in
service Tuesday.

O'Dell gave birth to the three babies found in Arizona between 1981 and 1984,
said Graham County, Ariz., Attorney Kenneth Angle. O'Dell told investigators
those babies also died shortly after their births.

Police said they don't know yet who fathered those children. Their deaths were
never reported to police.

O'Dell's attorney, Stephan Schick, met with O'Dell on Tuesday, but would not
comment on his client's psychological state.

``You can imagine it's not good. But I'm not a psychologist or a psychiatrist.
Obviously, it's going to be a big part of this case,'' he said.

Authorities questioned O'Dell in Pennsylvania over the weekend after
identifying her through records at the self-storage company. She drove to New
York on Monday to be questioned by police.

She also said she thought the owner of the storage company had thrown out the
contents of the shed in 1994 - the same year she last paid rent on the unit,
authorities in Arizona said. 	   


   
05/21/03 08:37 EDT
    

Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news
report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed
without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.  All active
hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.