Featured Image Credit: Armstrong County Jail
Topics: Pennsylvania , Crime, News, US News
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: Pennsylvania , Crime, News, US News
Warning: This article contains discussion of baby loss which some readers may find distressing.
A landlord made a horrifying discovery when cleaning out a property last month.
The home in Cadogan Township, Pennsylvania, had been lived in by Jessica Mauthe for some years before she was evicted in September 2025.
According to the arrest affidavit, the owner of the property was cleaning out the closet when he came across a trash bag with a foul smell coming from it.
Advert
Allegedly, there was a deceased baby wrapped in a towel inside the bag.
The landlord then alerted police who arrived at the scene to find another three dead newborns in the attic in tote bags, wrapped in towels and inside plastic bags, 6 ABC reported.
Mauthe, 39, has since been arrested and charged with criminal homicide, involuntary manslaughter and multiple counts of abuse of a corpse.
It's believed that the woman gave birth to her first child six years ago and the last child was born 18 months ago.
Some of the babies Mauthe gave birth to on toilet, court documents state.
In an recent update into the investigation, it was revealed that Mauthe will stand trial after she had her preliminary hearing in front of an Armstrong County district magistrate.
At the hearing Chuck Pascal, her defense attorney, asked that people 'not to make assumptions before all the evidence is in', CBS News reports.
State police investigators have testified that Mauthe has admitted to giving birth to all four of the babies and allegedly told them that some of them were born alive.
Police said Mauthe claims that she did not report the births because, in one instance, she was taking suboxone, an anti-addiction drug she didn't have a prescription for, and feared that she would get into trouble.
But Pascal has said that Mauthe may have been in a 'dream state' after giving birth so what she's so far told police may not be accurate.
"There was no evidence introduced today about any cause of death, about whether any baby was alive, any scientific evidence," he said, adding: "Therefore, you've got to question anything that Miss Mauthe may have said, whether it was accurate or not. She may not know."
Mauthe is yet to have her trial date set. She will remain in the Armstrong County Jail until then having been denied bond.
If you need support and advice following a pregnancy loss, you can contact Share Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support on 800-821-6819 or [email protected].