Lawyer: Bible Led Mom to Sever Baby's Arms

Guardian ^ | December 14, 2004 | Associated Press

[yonif]

McKINNEY, Texas (AP) - A mother who admitted killing her baby daughter by severing the girl's arms was guided by a Bible passage in which Jesus refers to cutting off body parts to cast away sin, the woman's attorney said Tuesday.

Dena Schlosser, a 35-year-old housewife with a history of mental illness, has referred to the New Testament passage since the killing of 10-month-old Margaret, attorney David Haynes told The Associated Press.

In the Book of Matthew, Jesus says: ``If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.''

Schlosser was charged with capital murder Nov. 22, after she told a 911 operator she had cut off her baby's arms. Police found her in the living room, covered in blood, still holding a knife and listening to a hymn.

Haynes said Schlosser was mentally ill at the time.

He said Schlosser is still disoriented but is improving under medication she is receiving in jail.

``She knows the baby is dead,'' he said. ``I think she understands generally the physical facts of how that came to be, but she is now conscious that her mind has not been clear for years and she's still coming to grips with that.''

Schlosser had been hospitalized for postpartum depression in January as part of an investigation by the state's child-protection agency. Social workers said she exhibited symptoms of psychosis but improved with medication and psychiatric help, and the agency closed the investigation in August.

[Prime Choice]

Lawyer: Bible Led Mom to Sever Baby's Arms

Wrong. Insanity drove the mother to do it. She's just using the Bible as an excuse.

[AppyPappy]

Yeah. Somehow I think mental illness was a bigger factor.

[Cornpone]

Christ was talking about one's personal battle with sin...not the Muslim crap that advocates you blame everyone else and slaughter them for your life challenges...

[yonif]

Of course. But as usual some in the left will use this as anti-Bible propaganda.

[Dog Gone]

It's interesting to compare this to a similar Texas case involving Andrea Yates who drowned her children in the bathtub. They're remarkably similar, but there's something about this one that makes me think an insanity defense is more likely to succeed.

I'll give it some more thought.

[Conservative Canuck]

"Social workers said she exhibited symptoms of psychosis but improved with medication and psychiatric help, and the agency closed the investigation in August."
In other words, they cut her loose to swing in the breeze, and her child paid for it. The Child Services 'social workers' should be held responsible for not following up.

[ladyinred]

Amazing how these evil murderers start getting "well" once they get an attorney who says they were sick while committing their heinous acts.

[af_vet_1981]

I am in favor of capital punishment for cases like this. I do not accept insanity as a defense for anything.

[Jackknife]

Satan led her to this, not God.

[Hi Heels]

Oh come on. "The Yearling" caused me to stuff a turnip in my eye! My Big Fat Greek Wedding forced me to take out a McDonald's. Burn the tape! Sheesh. She's INSANE. It could have been a Dr. Seuss book.

[PistolPaknMama]

a Bible passage in which Jesus refers to cutting off body parts to cast away sin

The baby's arms offended her? Maybe she shudda cut off her own arms first? Either she's mentally ill or evil. Jeffrey Dahmer did no less to other humans and it was decided he was just evil.

I don't remember the last time I heard "the Bible made me do it" defense.

[glock rocks]

Insanity drove the mother to do it. She's just using the Bible as an excuse.

... and Ted Bundy said all the porn on broadcast TV made him kill all those girls.

To quote Rush... "The LA riots weren't caused by the Rodney King decision. The LA riots were caused by rioters."

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

In the Book of Matthew, Jesus says: ``If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off

Get that, Dena, honey? Thy. THY right hand.

[Grand_Capitalism_04]

I don't remember the last time I heard "the Bible made me do it" defense.

I heard a soldier in Iraq say something like "because the bible would want me to" when asked why he was giving candy to Iraqi kids out of his own pay.

[BobL]

This would have been a Hate Crime if she said that the Koran made her do it.

But it's only the bible, one of the last remaining whipping boys for the left.

[jocon307]

"Get that, Dena, honey? Thy. THY right hand."

Thank you!

[mamapajamas]

Amazing. As it says in the article, the quote is: "If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee"

The ding-a-ling was supposed to cut off her OWN arm, not the baby's. She's not only crazy, she's stupid!

[NJ_gent]

"They're remarkably similar, but there's something about this one that makes me think an insanity defense is more likely to succeed."

This one's far more gruesome. While both are unthinkably horrible, the sheer brutality and gruesomeness of the crime will actually work in her favor. No one wants to believe that a regular person could do something like this. While jurors may have believed Yates had problems, they didn't see it as something significant enough to absolve her of legal blame. In this case, the jurors will probably see the graphic results and decide that no sane human being could do such a thing.

That being said, if they do decide she's nuts, I hope they keep her locked up and medicated well into a coma for the rest of her life. If they don't buy the insanity plea, they'll likely go for whatever the maximum punishment is available.

[Dog Gone]

I was shocked when my criminal law professor, in the first week or two of law school, informed us that the best way to commit murder and get away with an insanity defense is to make it as gruesome as possible.

Throw body parts everywhere.

Make the crime scene look as if no sane person could have done it.

Maybe that's what I'm thinking today.