Erika Murray: Woman Who Lived With Three Dead Infants In House Of Horror Due In Court

Erika Murray, a Massachusetts woman who lived in a filthy, vermin-infested house where the bodies of three infants were found will appear in court today for a status hearing. Murray, 31, of Blackstone, was arraigned last month on charges of fetal death concealment, witness intimidation and permitting substantial injury to a child.

The Massachusetts State Department of Children and Families removed four children ranging in age from 6 months to 13 years from Murray’s home two months ago after her 10 year-old son asked for help in quieting a crying baby from a neighbor, according to the Boston Herald.

What the neighbor discovered when she entered Erika Murray’s residence was truly a house of horror.

A bawling 6 month-old baby and a 3-year-old toddler were covered in feces. Rats and vermin scampered here and there throughout the trash, dirty diapers and mess left on the floor. The stench of the house was overpowering. The neighbor found a disheveled thirteen year-old child in addition to the 10 year-old that had retrieved her, and the two other children. After interviewing the older children, police got a search warrant and went back to Erika Murray’s house, where they found the bodies of three dead babies and numerous animal carcasses. The state medical examiner is trying to determine whether the corpses of the babies were newborns or fetuses.

Erika Murray is due in Uxbridge District Court later this morning for the routine hearing. Her boyfriend is due in the same courthouse later today for a separate hearing on marijuana charges.

According to authorities, no birth records could be found for the two youngest children. Erika Murray’s lawyer said previously that he believes Murray secretly gave birth to those children because her boyfriend didn’t want any more kids than the two they already had together – those being the 10 and 13 year-olds.

Erika Murray’s boyfriend, Ramon Rivera, has not been charged in connection with the discovery of the infants’ remains.

The Blackstone Board of Health condemned the house where Murray, Rivera and the children lived, according to WCVB, and are planning to demolish it later this month. Authorities said it contained piles of dirty diapers, trash and the remains of dead animals.

Murray’s attorney, Keith Halpern, has said he believes Erika is suffering from a mental illness. Neighbors and former friends of Erika Murray have stated publicly that Murray used to be a normal, friendly person who cared about her looks and the appearance of her home. Something happened to her – something akin to a mental break – after the birth of Erika Murray’s second child, they now say. Something must have snapped.

[image via The Jamaica Observer]