Posted on 03/09/2004 8:52:36 AM PST by NewsJunqui
Mom jailed after 3 kids poisoned
A former Naperville Police Department 911 emergency radio dispatcher remained in custody Monday night at DuPage County Jail after being charged with poisoning her three young children with orange juice spiked with her prescription medication.
Three felony charges of aggravated battery have been filed against Michelle K. Helgeson, 30, in connection with the incident early Sunday evening in her home on Naperville's southeast side.
Helgeson is accused of putting a prescription drug — reportedly Xanax XR — into a glass of orange juice that was then shared by her 10-year-old son and her 9- and 4-year-old daughters, according to authorities and records at DuPage County Circuit Court in Wheaton.
Naperville police in a written statement said Helgeson initially told a 911 emergency radio dispatcher the children "accidentally drank a glass of juice containing a prescription drug prescribed to Michelle (Helgeson)."
Police officers and paramedics responded shortly after 6 p.m. Sunday to the family's home at 1311 Lazy Hollow Court. Investigators subsequently "determined that Michelle Helgeson intentionally administered the prescription drug to the children," the police statement said.
Paramedics took the children to Edward Hospital in Naperville for treatment. They were kept overnight for observation before being released Monday evening.
Naperville police Sgt. Joel Truemper said Monday there might have been two other adults in the Helgeson home at the time the children drank the drugged orange juice.
The incident has parallels to the notorious Marilyn Lemak case, which occurred five years and five days ago, on March 4, 1999.
Lemak, a Naperville mother and nurse, was convicted in December 2001 of murdering her three children, ages 7, 6 and 3.
Trial evidence showed Lemak laced the children's peanut butter sandwiches with her antidepressant medication and then suffocated them with her hands in their home. Lemak placed a 911 call following the poisonings.
Authorities said the killings were an act of hatred and vengeance toward David Lemak, her estranged husband and the children's father.
Another case of a mother poisoning a child in Naperville occurred on July 2, 1999, when Chun I. Anderson gave massive doses of over-the-counter sleeping pills and pain relievers to her daughter, then 10, in their home in the Brookdale neighborhood.
As in the Lemak case, Anderson at the time was estranged from her husband. Anderson's daughter survived the poisoning, and Anderson last year was convicted of first-degree attempted murder.
Lemak, 47, is serving a sentence of life imprisonment with no possibility of parole. Anderson, 40, was sentenced in April to eight years in prison. Both women are incarcerated at the Illinois Department of Corrections facility in Dwight.
Truemper said there is no connection between the Helgeson case and those of Lemak or Anderson. The amount of medication Helgeson allegedly put into the orange juice was "non-life-threatening," and only enough to make the children "lethargic" when they were found, he said.
Neither Truemper nor DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph E. Birkett would discuss a possible motive for Helgeson's actions. Police on Monday would say only Helgeson dissolved "a stupefying controlled substance" in the orange juice, although Birkett said he believed it was Xanax XR, an anti-anxiety prescription drug.
Birkett, during an impromptu news conference Monday morning, noted the Helgeson incident occurred only three days after the fifth anniversary of the Lemak murders. He said instances of children being poisoned by their mothers are something Naperville police are becoming "accustomed to investigating, unfortunately."
"Obviously this is a very serious situation," Birkett said of the Helgeson case. "Thank God these children didn't suffer more serious injuries."
Truemper confirmed Helgeson worked eight months as a Naperville 911 emergency radio dispatcher, from Nov. 5, 2001, through July 9, 2002. He said there was no prior record of "incidents," or police being called to the Helgeson home.
Helgeson since January 2003 has been a part-time student at College of DuPage, where she has taken general courses.
Court records indicated the former Michelle Madsen was married Jan. 23, 1993, to Michael B. Helgeson. The couple separated in December 2001 and were divorced on July 18, 2002, citing irreconcilable differences, court records showed.
Michael and Michelle Helgeson have joint custody of the children. Michael Helgeson, who no longer lives in Naperville, pays monthly child support, court records indicated.
Michelle Helgeson in June 2002 was granted an order of protection involving her then-boyfriend, court records showed. She also is involved in civil litigation with Discover Card, records indicated.
Officials of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services are now investigating Helgeson for "substance misuse" in light of the incident, said Jill Manuel, the agency's deputy director of communications.
DCFS investigators had no prior contacts with or complaints concerning the Helgeson family, Manuel said. The children were expected to be placed in the custody of their father, she said.
Michelle Helgeson is scheduled to return to court March 29.
Staff writer Ann Hanson contributed to this report.
03/09/04
Scary
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