Woman convicted of murdering her three infants gets 25 years to life
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Odell being comforted by attorney Tim Havas last month.
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MONTICELLO, New York (AP) -- A woman convicted of killing three of her newborn children in the 1980s was sentenced to 25 years to life Tuesday, less than a year after their mummified remains were found in a storage shed in Arizona.
Dianne Odell, 50, was convicted of three counts of second-degree murder in December. She told Judge Frank LaBuda on Tuesday that she did not kill the children and cried as she was led out of the courtroom.
"I hope one day that the truth will set me free," she said.
The three infants died shortly after their births at Odell's home in Kauneonga Lake, about 80 miles north of New York City.
Authorities say Odell then carried the remains with her for a decade or more, finally leaving them in boxes in a rented storage shed in Safford, Arizona. She was arrested last May after the remains were discovered.
LaBuda sentenced Odell to a minimum of 15 years to life for the first baby, 20 years to life for the second and 25 to life for the third. She will serve the sentences concurrently.
Three of Odell's eight surviving children attended the sentencing with her common-law husband, Robert Sauerstein.
"I'm not unmoved by the quality of your children and the letters of your children asking for mercy," LaBuda said. "This sentence is not punishment and retribution, but it affirms the respect for life that we Americans have."
But Sauerstein said the judge "sentenced the whole family."
The defense said she delivered the babies without medical help at home because she was scared to tell her mother she was pregnant, arguing they died naturally. But a prosecution expert testified that they were asphyxiated and showed no congenital defects or heart abnormalities.
Odell told police she passed out during delivery and awoke to find the babies dead. She said one baby had a towel partially in its mouth, and another was found under her thigh.
Copyright 2004 The
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