In March 1943, a young mother calmly told her husband she had killed their baby. When police arrived at the small Los Angeles home, what they discovered would expose a medical crisis that 1940s medicine had no language to describe – and reveal how little anyone understood about what could happen to a woman’s mind after childbirth.
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Sources:
Merced Sun-Star, 8 March, 1943 – “Mother Accused”
Star Tribune, 9 March, 1943 – “Father Weeps for Baby”
The Minneapolis Star, 9 March, 1943 – “Mother Silent”
The Los Angeles Times, 9 March, 1943 – “Mother Slays Baby”
The Fresno Bee, 10 March, 1943 – “Knife Death”
San Bernardino Sun, 10 March, 1943 – “Young Mother Decapitates”
Pasadena Star-News, 10 March, 1943 – “Woman Will Face”
Daily News, 10 March, 1943 – “Mother Quizzed in Baby Killing”
The Minneapolis Star, 11 March, 1943 – “Mother Accused Slayer”
The Los Angeles Times, 11 March, 1943 – “Mother Must Face Trial”
The Modesto Bee, 16 March, 1943 – “L.A. Slayer”
Press-Telegram, 16 March, 1943 – “Mother Accused”
The Los Angeles Times, 17 March, 1943 – “Mother Held”
Daily News, 17 March, 1943 – “Mother Held on Murder Charge”
Merced Sun-Star, 8 April, 1943 – “Pleads Insanity”
The Independent, 18 May, 1943 – “Mother, Convicted”
Daily News, 19 May, 1943 – “Mother Baby Killer”
