Читать книгу Parents Who Kill - Shocking True Stories of The World's Most Evil Parents - Carol Anne Davis - Страница 15

Back at the garbage room, a janitor noticed a bloodied towel on top of one of the trash bags. He called to the cleaner and together they opened the bag to find the body of a baby boy. The policeman who was first on the scene attempted to revive the infant but the toilet paper was wedged so far down his throat that hospital staff needed forceps to remove some of it. Their belated attempts at CPR were in vain.

The house mother and the police awoke the girls and said that a baby had been found, and the other girls admitted they thought that Stephanie had given birth. She denied this, saying ‘My parents would kill me.’ But, when detectives arrived on the scene, she phoned her father, who told her not to talk to anyone.

At the medical centre, she told staff that she was frightened and asked ‘what will happen to me?’ and ‘what’s going to become of me?’ She said that she had menstruated regularly and had no idea that she was pregnant. Ironically, women who are in denial about an impending birth are apparently more likely to menstruate each month, even if it’s only very light bleeding or spotting, proof of the mind’s effect on the flesh.

Indicted for manslaughter, Stephanie Wernick moved to a different college and began a new relationship whilst she awaited trial. Her lawyer insisted that she have psychiatric treatment, and two psychologists admitted that she had poor motivation and very little insight into what she’d done.

At her trial, she wept continuously and was allegedly too distraught to testify in her own defence. Her attorneys said that she’d had a brief psychotic episode during which she’d disposed of the child but that she’d then returned to normal. The prosecution said that she was immoral, that the birth of the child was inconvenient and that she was a shallow and sociopathic young woman who thought only of her own comfort. They noted that she was fearless and seemed incapable of remorse. Found guilty, she was sentenced to one to four years in jail.