3 UNNAMED INFANTS - ages unknown (2007 - 8/14) - / Charged: Mother, Erika Murray - Blackstone, MA

Remains of 3 infants pulled from vermin infested Massachusetts home: cops

The home in Blackstone was condemned a week ago and four children were pulled alive last month from the feces-filled house. An unidentified woman has reportedly since been arrested on charges related to the foul conditions.

BY  Nina Golgowski, Sasha Goldstein

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Published: Thursday, September 11, 2014, 7:37 PM

Updated: Thursday, September 11, 2014, 10:20 PM



  Investigators leave with bags of evidence from the Blackstone home.  


Investigators, some wearing hazmat suits, pulled the remains of three dead babies from a condemned, vermin infested Massachusetts home Thursday afternoon.

The gruesome discovery came just weeks after the state pulled four children between the ages of six months and 13 from the disgusting home in Blackstone, a small town along the state’s southern border with Rhode Island, the Boston Globe reported.

The home was reportedly filled with rats, trash and feces.

“The house is in squalor,” District Attorney Joseph Early told reporters. "The house is filled with vermin. We have flies we have bugs. We have used diapers in some areas as much as a foot and a half to two-feet high. Again the house is in deplorable condition."

The discovery came hours before police said they arrested a woman on charges “stemming from the living conditions in the house,” a police spokesman told the Boston Globe.

Blackstone Police Spokesman John M. Guilfoil declined to identify the woman or her relation to the children but said she's expected to be arraigned Friday in Uxbridge District Court.

Meanwhile police are still working to learn more about the remains found inside the crime scene at 23 St. Paul St.


Neighbers said weird smells emanated from the ramshackle home, where they knew a couple, in their 40s, lived with at least two children, Marilynn and Bob Soucy told the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester.

"We didn't know they had two babies," Bob Soucy told the paper of his surprise. "Nobody knows where these babies came from."

The investigation into the condemned home began Wednesday afternoon, witnesses said, and stretched into the evening before investigators in hazmat suits resumed the search Thursday.

"It is a house full of mysteries," Bob Soucy told the paper. "The lady would sit on the porch and the kids played in the yard. They looked like a nice family. Guess you don't know who your neighbors are."



http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/remains-3-infants-pulled-vermin-infested-home-cops-article-1.1937002#ixzz3D4N1EmMh

Sep. 12, 2014 11:56 AM ET



Woman held without bail after 3 dead babies found


By JENNIFER McDERMOTT and DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press  

Erika Murray is arraigned at Uxbridge District Court in Uxbridge, Mass. on Friday, Sept. 12, 2014. Murray, 31, was arrested Thursday night on charges including fetal death concealment, witness intimidation and permitting substantial injury to a child. Not guilty pleas were entered Friday on her behalf. Detectives investigating a case of reckless endangerment of children found the bodies this week at the house littered with soiled diapers in Blackstone, about 50 miles southwest of Boston. (AP Photo/Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Paul Kapteyn, Pool)



BLACKSTONE, Mass. (AP) — A woman who lived at a squalid, vermin-infested home where the bodies of three infants were found this week was arraigned Friday on charges including fetal death concealment and ordered held without bail as the search for more possible bodies continued.

Detectives investigating a case of reckless endangerment of children found the bodies at a house littered with soiled diapers in Blackstone, about 50 miles southwest of Boston along the Rhode Island border. Four other children had been removed from the home two weeks earlier.

Erika Murray, 31, was arrested Thursday night on charges including fetal death concealment, witness intimidation and permitting substantial injury to a child. Not guilty pleas were entered Friday on her behalf.

Her attorney, Keith Halpern, suggested that Murray struggled with mental illness.

"You've seen the photos of this house," he said. "Do you think somebody could live in those circumstances and not be seriously mentally ill?"

Blackstone police said Friday that Murray was the mother of the two oldest children removed from the home last month, but no birth records existed for the two youngest.

Police following up on that case found the body of an infant in a closet on Wednesday. The remains of what appeared to be two other newborns were found Thursday, they said. The search of the home, which is just a couple hundred feet away from the town's police station, is expected to take several days.

The four other children, ages 13, 10, 3 and 6 months old, were removed from the house on Aug. 28 after a neighbor notified police about their living conditions, Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said. One of them approached a neighbor about a child who wouldn't stop crying, he said. The 6-month-old was found covered with feces lying on a bed, Early said.

Those children are in state custody.

The judge in Uxbridge District Court agreed to a request by a prosecutor to seal a file concerning a previous court appearance by Murray on the reckless endangerment charges related to the two youngest of the four children taken from the home last month.

Investigators working Friday in the small house were wearing hazardous material suits. Blackstone police said skeletal remains of several animals, including cats and a dog, were also found inside.

"The house is filled with vermin," Early said. "We have flies. We have bugs. We have used diapers, in some areas, as much as a foot-and-a-half to 2-feet high."

A woman who lives a few doors down from the home, Diane Densmore, said she and her fiance often walked by on their way to the grocery store and were struck by how the windows were always closed and the shades drawn. She said there were no fans in the windows even on the hottest days.

Densmore said she spoke with a woman at the house only once, when Densmore asked for some firewood from her yard, but she at times saw people outside the house clearing the yard.

"It's unbelievable this happened right underneath our noses," she said.

A letter carrier for the neighborhood, Pam Webster, said she knew it was a dirty home and she often saw children eating breakfast on the porch rather than inside. She said she typically handed the mail directly to a woman at the house, who she said was usually on the phone.

Marilynn Soucy, 68, who lives a few doors down, said in a phone interview that she was still in shock at the news in the neighborhood where she has lived for 35 years.

"I am so disgusted. It hasn't really registered in my head yet," she said. She said she and her husband, Bob, had rarely seen the couple who lived in the house for at least three years, or their children. She said they occasionally saw the 10-year-old, a boy, playing outside or the woman sit on her porch.

Soucy said she never heard any major complaints about the couple, other than her grandkids noted once that the house smelled bad.

"If we thought kids were being abused or living in squalor we would have said something," she said.

]Soucy said the only time there was commotion at the house was when officials removed the children.

The state Department of Children and Families said in a statement Thursday that the children who were living at the home are in state custody. It said the department did not have a case involving the family and that it learned about the situation through a report of possible abuse or neglect.

Lavoie reported from Uxbridge, Mass. Associated Press writers Rodrique Ngowi in Blackstone and Philip Marcelo in Boston contributed to this report.




http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2014-09-12-US--Babies%20Bodies-Massachusetts/id-01acb1334f9f4eb896945a433f877737

Lawyer: Secret children, living and dead, hidden by squalor for years

POSTED 8:40 AM, SEPTEMBER 15, 2014,
BY CNN WIRES

It was a shocking and gruesome discovery: three dead infants found in a Massachusetts home so squalid that police officers had to search it in hazmat suits.
Now, days later, as investigators continue to search through what the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office describes as the home’s “deplorable conditions (such as) massive insect infestation, mounds of used diapers and feces,” a picture is beginning to emerge of the family that lived inside.

And it’s a picture so deranged, so unfathomable to a reasonable mind, that even a lawyer for the accused calls the situation “completely inexplicable.”

Erika Murray was arraigned September 12 on a bevy of charges stemming from the discovery of the dead infants at her home the day before, but she has not been charged in their deaths. The 31-year-old pleaded not guilty to charges of concealing an out of wedlock fetal death, two counts of permitting substantial injury to a child, intimidation of a witness, cruelty to an animal and violating an abuse prevention order, according to Tim Connolly, a district attorney spokesman.

Whether or not Murray is the mother is not known by authorities for certain at this point, but her attorney assumes that she is. “My expectation is that it will be confirmed that they were indeed hers,” Keith Halpern told CNN.

Murray lived in the now-condemned single family home with her longtime boyfriend, Ray Rivera, and the couple’s children. Just how many children lived with them in the vermin-infested 1,150-square-foot home, however, depends on which parent you ask: of the four living children that the state removed from the home on August 28, Murray told investigators that Rivera, 38, only knew about two of them.

The other two — a 3 year old and an infant, according to Halpern — were apparently not only born in secret but lived hidden from their father amid mountains of garbage under the same roof.

Rivera also “presumably” did not know about the ones that had died, at least according to the account Murray has told authorities, Halpern said.

“It is a mystery to me how Mr. Rivera could have failed to notice (the) numerous pregnancies (of) the woman with whom he shared a bed,” said Halpern. “It’s a mystery to me how he could have failed to realize that there were two children living under the same roof as him, and he didn’t know about it.”

CNN was unable to reach Rivera or members of his family Sunday evening. He has not been charged with any crime, and there is no public record of physical abuse.

‘Prisoner of her own fear’

Halpern said that while his client’s explanation “is not based in reality,” the situation Murray came to be in was the result of fear, not malice. “She was terrified of the pregnancies being discovered,” said Halpern. “She was terrified of the two younger children being discovered. Why? I don’t know the answer to that.”

Whether based in reality or not, Halpern said Murray was “a prisoner of her own fear” and suggested it was that fear that explains the three infants found dead in her home. “Try to imagine the state of mind of a woman who attempts to hide a pregnancy, go into labor and deliver children — at least twice, but presumably five times — on her own.”

“I feel certain that she did not do anything to harm any of these children,” he said. “I don’t think there will be a determination that they were killed.”

Though Halpern said he has yet to consult with a pathologist, he said it is not clear if they were ever alive to begin with or if they were all stillborn.

Abuse suspected in 2007

The state’s removal of the four living children at the home last month was the result of the filing of what’s called a 51A report in Massachusetts, according to Alec Loftus, a spokesman for the state’s office of Health and Human Services. A 51A can be filed by any citizen with reason to believe that a child has been abused or neglected.

This was not the first time a 51A had been filed when it came to that home, according to a Massachusetts Department of Children and Families spokeswoman. Cayenne Isaksen said such a report was previously received in 2007, but that “it was unsupported and therefore no case was opened.”

For now, Isaksen said DCF has Murray’s four children in its care and is focused on “ensuring (their) safety and well-being and providing them with the proper medical care, support and services they need,” she said. Connolly said that the family caring for them has no public statement to make at this time.

Murray’s case was adjourned to October 14. Investigators, meanwhile, remain at the scene digging through the squalor.

“Our investigation will continue for quite some time,” said Joseph Early, the Worcester County District Attorney.

http://fox2now.com/2014/09/15/lawyer-secret-children-living-and-dead-hidden-by-squalor-for-years/

Mom held without bail-infants found dead

Posted: Sep 15, 2014 9:48 AM CDT
Updated: Sep 15, 2014 9:48 AM CDT
Posted By Courtney Collins, News Staff

(CNN)-A foul smell leads police to a Massachusetts home.

What they found inside landed a mother behind bars...

The bodies of three infants, dead animals -- and other children living in deplorable conditions.

The blackstone home where 4 children were living in squalor and three babies were found deceased now under quarantine.

Exterminators arrived Saturday afternoon to decontaminate the home of vermin and insects.

And later trash removers were on the scene to begin removing all of the contents of the house.

Daniel Keyes/blackstone town administrator says "we'll also include the disinfecting of high-risk area such as where the bodies were found and the areas where there are feces on the walls and on the surfaces."

meantime we're learning more details about the mother who rented the home, Erika Murray, from these police records obtained by wbz-tv.

A neighbor calling police in 2011 after seeing a neglected dog in the yard.

You could see its ribs...and there was all kinds of trash outside.

And in 2012...a neighbor noticing a dog so cold it could not sit down, according to the complaint.

(Lee-Ann neighbor) "no water, no food in the bowls, and the dog was like chipping for the bowl, there was nothing in them."

Lee-Ann was one of the neighbors who called police because of the dog.

(Lee-Ann neighbor) "we'd feed him ham bones, and whatever, turkey, whatever meats I had cooked that night, leftovers...I was tired of seeing him chew on couches, foam and trash."

and when the same dog got loose a couple of weeks ago...she knocked on the door and noticed a stench.

(Lee-Ann defaut/neighbor) "I smelled and wanted to go home and wash my hands very badly, because I had to touch the door."

Authorities were called to the home in late August and removed four children from the home.

When they went back to investigate further last week, they found the bodies of the infants.

Erika Murray has been ordered held without bail.

She faces several charges, including fetal death concealment and witness intimidation and injury to a child.

http://www.knoe.com/story/26533916/mom-held-without-bail-infants-found-dead

Police: No past reason to enter squalid home

Posted: Sep 16, 2014 5:26 PM CDT
Updated: Sep 16, 2014 6:58 PM CDT

BLACKSTONE, Mass. (AP) - Police say they responded to several calls in recent years from the Massachusetts home where the remains of three infants were found last week but never had reason to check conditions inside the home.

Erika Murray, who lived in the Blackstone home, is being held without bail on charges including fetal death concealment.

Police on Tuesday released police log entries for the home.

The logs include an August 2011 entry in which police and an animal control officer responded to a call from a concerned neighbor about the condition of a dog in the backyard. Police said that based on conditions found at the scene, officers had no reason to enter the home.

Town officials also said Tuesday they had completed the cleanup of the squalid, vermin-infested home.

http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/26549735/police-no-past-reason-to-enter-squalid-home

Merged.

Owner of home where dead babies found misses demo deadline
Blackstone was ordered torn down by Wednesday

UPDATED 12:18 PM EDT Oct 02, 2014

BLACKSTONE, Mass. —Town officials are moving forward with plans to demolish a home in which the remains of three infants were found.

Health Board Chairman William Walsh and representatives from several demolition companies performed a walkthrough of the property Thursday to determine the cost and strategy of tearing it down, after the owner, Kristina Rivera, of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, failed to meet Wednesday's deadline to present the town with a plan to raze the home. The town's efforts to contact Rivera have failed.

The town will place a lien on the property to recoup the cost, expected to be at least $12,000, he said. That is in addition to the $20,000 Rivera owes the town for cleaning out the squalid, rodent- and insect-infested home that was filled with used diapers.

Even after it was cleaned out, a strong smell remained and Walsh said it would likely never again be habitable.

The demolition may not happen for "at least another couple of weeks," as the building's utilities must be disconnected. Bids must be submitted by Oct. 7, Health Board Secretary Colleen Strapponi said.

Meanwhile, Rivera faces fines of $500 per day.

The board is scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss the home.

The human remains were found in the house last month. Four other children had been removed from the home in August, including two for whom no birth records could be located.

Former resident Erika Murray is being held without bail on charges including fetal death concealment and permitting substantial injury to a child. Her lawyer has suggested she has mental health issues.

Another ex-resident of the home, Rivera's brother Raymond Rivera, has pleaded not guilty to drug charges for allegedly growing marijuana in it.
Both are due back in court Oct. 14.

http://www.wcvb.com/news/owner-of-home-where-dead-babies-found-misses-demo-deadline/28367640#ixzz3FUqigYx7

Prosecutors say dead babies were found clothed

BY DENISE LAVOIE
AP Legal Affairs WriterOctober 14, 2014

UXBRIDGE, MASS. — They were hidden away in closets just a few feet from where their siblings slept: the skeletal remains of three infants found in a squalid, vermin-infested house.

On Tuesday, a judge ordered a Massachusetts woman held on $1 million cash bail after prosecutors said at least two of the babies may have been alive for "some period of time" before they were discovered. Prosecutors had asked for $5 million bail and said Erika Murray could face more serious charges in a case that has repulsed residents of the small town of Blackstone.

Murray, 31, a resident of the town, had been held without bail since her arraignment last month on charges of fetal death concealment, witness intimidation and permitting substantial injury to a child.

The state Department of Children and Families removed four children ranging in age from 5 months to 13 years from Murray's home in August after her 10-year-old son asked a neighbor for help in quieting a crying baby. The neighbor found the youngest child — the 5-month-old girl — and a 3-year-old girl both covered in their own feces, in separate bedrooms.

Friends and neighbors have said Murray appeared to hide the existence of the two youngest children. A prosecutor said in court Tuesday that the two children had never been outside.

After interviewing the 10-year-old and 13-year-old, police got a search warrant and went back to the house, where they found the skeletal remains of one baby with a full head of hair in a backpack in the closet of an upstairs bedroom.

After discovering those remains, police obtained another search warrant. During the second search, they found the remains of two other babies in another bedroom, also inside a closet. The two oldest children slept in the bedrooms.

Both bodies were found wearing diapers and one-piece infant outfits, Assistant District Attorney John Bradley said during a bail hearing for Murray in Uxbridge District Court.

Bradley said prosecutors still don't know how the babies died or their ages and are awaiting findings from the state medical examiner's office. He said the fact that two of the babies were clothed seems to indicate "at least two of the babies were alive for some period of time" before they died.

Bradley said the charges against Murray could be upgraded, depending on the medical examiner's findings.

Raymond Rivera III, identified in court as her live-in boyfriend, has not been charged in connection with the remains found inside the house. A friend of Rivera's told The Boston Globe last month that Rivera was in "complete shock" when he learned he was the father of the two younger children.

Bradley said Murray's 13-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son told police that Murray instructed them to lie to their father, Rivera, and say Murray was babysitting for the two younger children.

He faces drug charges for allegedly growing marijuana in the basement, and appeared briefly in Uxbridge District Court on Tuesday. A judge told Rivera he needs to hire an attorney. Rivera quickly left the courthouse while reporters were questioning Murray's lawyer.

Bradley said Murray told police that Rivera was the father of all four of her children. Bradley did not address whether she said Rivera, who is also known as Ramon Rivera III in some public records, had also fathered the three infants whose remains were found in the closets.

Murray's attorney, Keith Halpern, said the fact the babies were clothed is not by itself proof that the infants were alive for a significant amount of time. He suggested the babies may have been stillborn or could have had some kind of medical emergencies.

Halpern said he believes investigators are still in the process of "putting together the pieces of what happened in that house."

"There are parts of this story that make absolutely no sense," Halpern said.

Bradley said a pediatrician who later examined the 5-month-old and 3-year-old girls found they had been "profoundly neglected" and "severely malnourished." The 3-year-old could not walk and could not feed herself. Neither child had ever been outside, Bradley said.

Murray initially told police she had the children at a local hospital, but later said she had given birth to them in the bathroom of her home.

Murray's lawyer, Halpern, said it "makes no sense" that Rivera could have lived in the house and not realized there were two younger children there. But he also said it doesn't make sense that Rivera knew about the children and did nothing about the alleged neglect.

Halpern has said he believes Murray is suffering from a mental illness. He would not elaborate when asked about that Tuesday.

Halpern said previously that he believes Murray secretly gave birth to the two younger children because her boyfriend didn't want any more kids.

Murray was brought to the courthouse from jail, but waived her right to appear in court and was not present for the bail hearing. Both Murray and Rivera are due back in court Nov. 12.

The Blackstone Board of Health condemned the house where Murray, Rivera and the children lived and are planning to demolish it later this month. Authorities said it contained piles of dirty diapers, trash and the remains of dead animals.

http://www.bnd.com/2014/10/14/3453694/mom-in-fetal-death-concealment.html?sp=/99/166/286/#storylink=cpy