Authorities in Pennsylvania have filed additional charges against Jessica Mauthe, 39, after investigators uncovered a fourth deceased infant inside the Cadogan Township rental home where she once lived.
Mauthe, already charged earlier this week with criminal homicide and abuse of a corpse, now faces new counts of homicide and involuntary manslaughter, the Armstrong County District Attorney’s Office confirmed.
The disturbing case came to light on September 13, when landlord Brent Flanigan entered the property on Oak Avenue with a worker to clean the residence after Mauthe’s eviction for unpaid rent. Flanigan said they were initially checking on abandoned cats when they discovered a garbage bag in a closet.
“It was wrapped up in three or four different garbage bags, tied tight. The smell was horrendous,” Flanigan told WPXI-TV. “We peeled the towels back with a stick, and we could see there was just rotting, decomposing something in there, and I knew it wasn’t an animal.”
Authorities later confirmed the bag contained the remains of an infant. A search of the attic revealed the bodies of three more babies, including the most recent discovery announced Thursday.
According to the criminal complaint obtained by the Tribune-Review, Mauthe admitted to giving birth to all four children in her bathroom over the past six years. She told investigators the first infant died after she passed out on top of the baby, while the second was stillborn.
Police allege she confessed to killing the third child last year after giving birth on the toilet, describing how she left the newborn in the bowl while it made noises before wrapping it in a towel until it stopped breathing.
The complaint did not detail circumstances surrounding the fourth infant.
Investigators said Mauthe never sought medical care for any of the babies and did not alert authorities after their deaths. Autopsies are being conducted by the Indiana County Coroner’s Office.
Mauthe, who has two living children, is being held without bond at Armstrong County Jail. She is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on September 30.
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