Three cases of midwestern babysitters suspected of murdering
multiple children were reported in 1961. Two resulted in convictions (Mary
Madigan, Des Moines, series of three killings; Lucille Adams, Milwaukee, double
murder), the Indianapolis case did not, apparently, result in a prosecution due
to the difficulty in proving cause of death, yet indications were that the
unnamed woman had killed three children, perhaps more and had attempted to kill
another on three separate occasions. Lucille Adams stated she was inspired to
murder the two boys in her charge after hearing about the Mary Madigan case on
the radio. Each of the three babysitters was identified as mentally retarded.
The Indianapolis case prompted the publication of an article
giving advice on how to protect one’s children from female serial killer
babysitters.
***
FULL TEXT (Article 1 of 5): Indianapolis – Marion County
Prosecutor Philip L. Bayt said today that he will present several witnesses to
the grand jury Tuesday in connection with the mysterious deaths of three babies,
all of whom were cared for by the same sitter. Bayt said the babysitter
identified by the parents of the three babies is a 23-year-old woman. "I
just learned of these findings late yesterday," Bayt said. "We plan
to talk to the woman today. But I understand that she has denied to the police
that she was responsible for the deaths although she did say she put her land
over one baby's mouth to keep it from crying."
Leighton George, chief investigator for the Marion County
coroner, Dr. Dennis Nicholas, reprted that 3-months-old Patricia Vincent, son
of an Indianapolis policeman and his wife, “probably” died of suffocation.
The baby was found dead in his crib Monday morning when
Patrolman Walter Vincent, Indianapolis awakened. Vincent said he questioned the
sitter at length, then called the coroner’s office.
Nicholas said the investigation so far has shown that two
other babies left in the woman’s care died under similar circumstances. They
were John Arthur Lowe, Jr., 3 months, the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Lowe, and
David Terhune, 9 months, son of Mr. and Mrs. George L. Terhune, both of
Indianapolis.
The Lowe infant died in April, and the Terhune baby in June.
[“Woman Is Quizzed in 3 Deaths,” The Linton Daily Citizen
(In.), Sep. 15, 1961, p. 1]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 2 of 5): The father of a 23-year-old baby
sitter was ordered yesterday to stop placing “harassing” telephone calls to
families employed his daughter, as a full-scale to families who employed his
daughter, as a full-scale investigation started into the deaths of three infant
boys who died while left in her care.
Meanwhile, the Marion County Coroner’s office attempted to
piece together an accounting of three “missing” months in her baby sitting
employment.
CHIEF CORONER’S investigator Leighton George mad a public
appeal for help in a search to locate families who might have been hired the
women during the latter part of June and in July and August.
In addition to this order to the sitter’s father, Prosecutor
Phillip L. Bayt, dispatched subpenas is parents of the three babies for
testimony before a County Grand Jury probe which begins Tuesday.
He also called in the father and daughter for an
interrogation Monday at the prosecutor’s office.
THE FATHER appeared in the prosecutor’s office yesterday
afternoon in an attempt to clear his daughter of any suspicion in the deaths of
the infants who died in April, June and last Monday morning.
He arrived in Bayt was trying to locate him for an
explanation of telephone harassment complaints from parents of two of the dead
children and a third family whose child narrowly escaped death last spring.
According to Bayt, the father readily admitted making calls
to all three homes yesterday but vigorously denied being unpleasant with any of
the parties.
The father declared he felt entirely within his rights to
make the calls because he was naturally concerned about his daughter and wanted
to know why those families had any reason to be suspicious of her.
Investigator George notified the prosecutor’s office of
complaints to the coroner’s office from the family of Patrolman and Mrs. Walter
Vincent, 4901 West 37th Street, who awoke early Monday to find their
son, Patrick Vincent, dead.
A MEMBER of the family told George – the sitter’s father had
called twice yesterday.
Mrs. George L. Terhune, 850 Bethel Avenue, notified George
that she also had been called by the father.
Her baby, 9-month-old David Terhune, died June 6, according
to George, when the sitter was watching the Terhune children while Terhune was
at work and his wife was away from the home.
According to George, Mrs. Terhune reported that the father
telephoned her, too, but that she hung up when he said:
“YOU HAVEN’T got a thing on my girl.”
The mother related that he called back and added that:
“I’m not through with you yet.”
Mrs. Terhune said she called up the coroner’s office
immediately after she hung up the phone the second time.
The coroner’s office said that a similar complaint about
another phone call came from the home of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph E. Kelly, 2902
South Oakland Avenue.
The couple’s son, Robert Michael Kelly, 11 months old,
narrowly escaped death three times while left in the sitter’s care and each
time the woman attributed the child’s unconscious state to a gas leak, according
to investigators.
In each instance Citizen’s Gas and Coke Utility crewmen
could find no leak.
BAYT SAID that the father had agreed not to place any more
calls to any of these persons or others who have been ordered to testify before
the grand jury. The prosecutor warned that persons who attempt to impede
witnesses are liable for criminal prosecution.
The father told Bayt his daughter should be praised instead
of criticized for promptness in summoning aid to the babies before their deaths.
He said that he believed that it was merely circumstantial circumstances which
has made her suspect in connection with their deaths.
HOWEVER, Dr. Dennis Nicholas, Marion County coroner,
vigorously maintained that there was “too much incidence” in the infant deaths,
the first of which occurred last April.
The child was John Arthur Lowe Jr., 3 months old, son of Mr.
and Mrs. John A. Lowe, formerly of 1540 Lee Street.
Although the deaths of the Lowe child and that of the
Terhune baby showed no positive evidence for foul play, an investigation became
a certainty after pathological studies of the Vincent child revealed he
probably died of suffocation.
In her statement to the coroner’s office, the unmarried
sitter denied any connection with the deaths but did admit she had placed her
hand over the Vincent baby’s mouth to muffle its screams during the night of
oits death.
SHE APPARENTLY has been widely recommended as a baby sitter
throughout her near South Side neighborhood and by officials of a church she
attended, according to investigators.
The plump 23-year-old brunette has been regularly employed
as a sitter since her late teens, they reported in her statement she advised
that:
“I took up baby sitting because I love children, I like to play with them.”
“I took up baby sitting because I love children, I like to play with them.”
The coroner described the sitter as somewhat “feebleminded,”
with an intelligence quotient (IQ) of only 52. She complied with Nicholas’
request that she takes a psychiatric tests at Marion County Hospital last
Thursday, but the results will not be known until Monday.
INVESTIGATORS believe that information about the possible
death of a fourth child may have been started by the girl herself as a ruse to
gain confidence and sympathy from the dead infants’ parents.
The rumored fourth child might have been a figment of her
imagination, according to George, who said he told the Terhune family that a
child of hers died in a similar manner to the Terhune baby. She urged the
Terhunes not to tell anybody about her being with the child because it might
get her in trouble.
Investigators said they were thrown off the track by not
knowing until recently that the Terhunes had employed any baby sitter to watch
the child, they said.
No charges have been filed against the woman pending the
grand jusy investigation.
[“Bayt Tells Sitter’s Dad: Stop Harassing Parents,” The
Indianapolis Star (In.), Sep. 16, 1961, pp. 1, 14]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 3 of 5):
~ MENTAL HEALTH CHIEF GIVES TIPS FOR PARENTS
~ Check Sitter’s Training, Stability, Attitude
FULL TEXT: How can you be sure your children are safe with a
baby sitter?
The question has burned in the minds of Indianapolis parents
since the mysterious deaths of three male infants while they were in the care
of a 23-year-old woman described by the coroner’s office as “mentally
retarded.”
FOR AVERAGE parents, who hire a babysitter when they have an
infrequent “night out,” a basic set of rules was set down yesterday by two of
the state’s top mental health officials.
For families which aren’t of baby sitting “co-ops” or don’t
subscribe to agencies, the following suggestions were presented by Dr. Stewart
T. Ginsberg, state commissioner of mental health, and Dr. Gordon Barrows,
consultant psychologist on Dr. Ginsberg’s staff:
1 – Before entrusting your child to the care of make sure
the person is emotionally stable.
2 – Know the educational background of the sitter, including
courses taken in child care, first aid and others covering possible
emergencies.
3 – Check the sitter’s reputation. From other parents who
have hired her, asked about her promptness, alertness, “stick-to-it-iveness,”
presence of mind and other traits indicating how she might act if an emergency
arose.
4
– Talk to the sitter personally and observe her attitudes and
responses. These may give you a clearer idea than most other sources of
her
capabilities.
No baby-sitter should be hired, Dr. Ginsberg emphasized, if
there is any question of mental retardation.
THE MENTAL health chief said that in several cities
baby-sitting courses are offered by the Young Women’s Christian Association and
that some schools, including Indiana Central College here, have lists of
students available for duty.
“Sitter problems” are being solved by some church and school
organizations which provide “tot-tending services” free or at a nominal charge.
[“Mental Health Chief Gives Tips For Parents – Check
Sitter’s Training, Stability, Attitude,” The Indianapolis Star (In.), Sep. 17,
1961, Sec. 2, p. 1]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 4 of 5):
~ Other Sitter Deaths Feared
The possibility that more than three infants may have died
while being cared for by a 23-year-old Indianapolis woman baby sitter is being
investigated by the Marion County coroner’s office, Chief Investigator Leighton
George said last night.
George said the young woman told the family of Patrolman
Walter Vincent, whose 3-month-old son was found dead in his crib last Monday
morning, that she had just returned from Chicago before she was employed by the
Vincents.
Prosecutor Phillip L. Bayt said his investigation of the
three Indianapolis infant deaths is also is continuing and that the woman and
her father are coming to his office tomorrow morning.
THE FATHER was admonished by Bayt Friday for harassing
telephone calls he made to families who employed his daughter.
“There could be more than three,” Investigator George said.
“They may not all be in Indianapolis. From what she has told me, she may have
done some baby-sitting while she was in Chicago.
Bayt said the grand jury will hear “quite a few witnesses”
in the case including doctors, parents of the dead children and investigators.
Disclosure of the death of Patrick Vincent, along with John
Arthur Lowe Jr. and David Terhune while they were in the care of the woman was
the third similar case in the Midwest this summer.
A BABY SITTER at Milwaukee [Lucille Adams] recently admitted
suffocating two of her charges and a sitter in Dubuque, Ia. [Mary
Madigan], was accused of causing the deaths of three children in her care.
The Indianapolis woman, a plump brunette described by the
coroner’s office as “somewhat feebleminded,” has been employed regularly as a
baby since her late teens, George reported.
The investigator said disinterment of the infants who died
earlier would be useless as symptoms of suffocation and pneumonia are so
similar.
No charges have been filed against the woman pending a
county grand jury investigation.
[“Other Sitter Deaths Feared,” The Indianapolis Star (In.),
Sep. 17, 1961, Sec. 2, p. 1]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 5 of 5): Indianapolis – Marion County
Prosecutor Phillip Bayt said Tuesday he was able to present only two of a
probable 15 witnesses to a grand jury probing the deaths of three infants cared
for by the same babysitter.
Bayt said that because of an already crowded schedule for
the Marion County grand jury, which regularly sits on Tuesday and Thursdays, he
was able only to present the coroner, Dr. Dennis Nicholas, and a police
detective who questioned the 23-year-old babysitter.
Bayt said that the parents of the three infants have been
subpeaed to appear Sept. 25 before the grand jury. They include patrolman and
Mrs. Walter Vincent, Mr. and Mrs. John A. Lowe, and Mr. and Mrs. George L.
Terhune, all of Indianapolis.
Their infant sons, ranging in age from three to nine months,
died while in the care of the young woman. The babysitter has not been arrested
and has denied any responsibility for the deaths, claiming the babies were
already ill when she was called.
However a grand jury probe was sought by Dr. Nicholas who
said “three is too much coincidence.”
Suffocation was given as cause of death for the Vincent
baby, and pneumonia had been listed for the other two.
[“Grand Jury Hears Two Witnesses in Baby Deaths,” The
Anderson Herald (In.), Sep. 20, 1961, p. 10]
[1375-1/4/21]
***
