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Thursday, September 22, 2011

Child Expert, Martha Kalwaic, Beats Her Baby Boy to Death – 1949


FULL TEXT: Hazeldon, Pa. – A socially prominent church choir singer was charged today with slaying her 15-month-old son after admitting she repeatedly slapped and bumped the baby’s head against the floor to cure him of “Freudian jealousy” of his 2 ½-year-old sister.

Mrs. Martha Woodson Kalwaic, 26, a university-trained child psychologist, was transferred without bail in the Luzerne County Women’s Detention Home at Wilkes-Barre after being arraigned on a general charge of murder.

The child, Henry jr., died yesterday in Hazledon Hospital. Police said he had been beaten about the abdomen, that his lips were discolored from blows on the mouth and that his head was battered from the banging on the floor.

The attractive Mrs. Kalwaic, who is expecting another baby in about two months, broke down in tears twice while she told Police Chief Steve Havrilla of the events leading to her son's death.

The soft-spoken daughter of a Richmond, Va., judge, told Havrilla that she had suspected the baby was indulging in temper trantrums to annoy his sister.

~ Cared More For Sister ~

Mrs. Kalwaic, a graduate in psychology from William and Mary College, said she believed the boy felt she cared more for his sister Karen than she did for him. She was quoted as saying she decided to beat this “Freudian jealousy” out of the boy.

Havrilla said Mrs. Kalwaic, a choir singer at St. Peter's Church, told him she had planned to send the boy to her parents' home in Richmond, but meanwhile had been bumping his head on the flood “for some time.”

The case was called to the attention of authorities when Dr. James V. Kennedy, a child specialist who had gone to the Kalwaic home to treat the boy, ordered him taken to the hospital where he died.

Mrs. Kalwaic’s husband. Dr. Henry Kalwaic, 30, is a prominent local dentist and is active in community affairs. The couple came here two years ago from Philadelphia where Kalwaic’s mother is vice-president of the Union of Polish Women of America.

[“Mother Kills Baby by Banging Head on Floor,” syndicated (UP), May 18, 1949, p. 1]

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FULL TEXT: Mrs. Martha Woodson Kalwaic, acquitted in the death of her 15- month-old son, was a free woman seeking a new life yesterday. Mrs. Kalwaic was paroled by Luzerne County Judge Frank L. Pinola in the custody of her brother, Col. C. W. Woodson, Jr., head of the Virginia State Police.

The 29-year-old Hazleton mother member of an old Virginia family was found innocent on the ground of temporary insanity by a jury of nine women and three men. She had admitted thumping her child's head on the floor of their apartment.

Judge Pinola told Mrs. Kalwaic she was not being discharged unconditionally.

"I want you to have treatment by doctors in Richmond and have them send me periodic reports on your condition. All you need is some care," the judge told Mrs. Kalwaic, who plans to return to Virginia to live.

Immediately after the verdict Thursday night, District Attorney Leon Schwartz asked Judge Pinola to hold Mrs. Kalwaic in custody until it was determined whether she is now sane.

Both lawyers agreed to have Mrs. Kalwaic examined by two dis interested psychiatrists who had not been connected with the trial.

Unable to obtain the services of the two psychiatrists immediately the attorneys agreed to take the testimony of the two defense psychiatrists, Dr. Edward Janjigian and Dr. J. Franklin Robinson.

Dr. Janjigian testified during the trial that Mrs. Kalwaic, although insane at the time her son, Henry, was killed on May 12, now had regained her sanity.

Dr. Robinson, also advised Judge Pinola that Mrs. Kalwaic now is sane and urged her parole.

When Mrs. Kalwaic was called to the bar, Judge Pinola said:

"These two doctors are eminently qualified and highly respected in their profession, so on their advice I am going to parole you, although I could send you to an institution for treatment.

"I am releasing you under the supervision of your brother," the' judge said, adding, "I hope you can restore your family conditions and obtain a new start in life."

Mrs. Kalwaic said in a voice that was almost a whisper: "Thank you."

PHOTO CAPTION: Mrs. Martha Woodson Kalwaic, with a faint smile of happiness on her face, walks out of Judge Frank Pinola's courtroom at Wilkes-Barre, after being acquitted in the fatal beating of her 15-month-old son, Henry, last May 12. Escorting her back to the Luzerne County Women s Detention Ward where she underwent psychiatric examination yesterday, is Deputy Sheriff James McCullough (right). In left background is Atty. Richard Bigelow, one of her defense counsel.

[“Mrs. Kalwaic Returns To Her Family,” Standard-Speaker (Hazleton, Pa.), Oct. 8, 1949, p. 4]

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PHOTO CAPTION: Mrs. Martha Woodson Kalwaic, former Virginia society girl and child psychology student, shown leaving Wilkes-Barre, Pa., courtroom with Deputy Sheriff James McCullough, was in the parole custody of her brother, a Virginia State Police official. A jury freed her of charges in fatal beating of her 15-month-old son. Judge Frank L. Pinola said she was not being discharged unconditionally but would hare to undergo treatment by physicians in Richmond, Va., and submit reports to him.

[“Paroled After Fatal Beating,” syndicated (AP), The Morning Herald (Hagerstown, Md.), Oct. 12, 1949, p. 4]
 
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