German mother convicted of killing two babies

A German court in the eastern German town of Halle/Saale on Thursday convicted a 46-year-old woman of manslaughter for killing her two babies.

The court handed her a nine-and-a-half year prison sentence after a psychological report presented to the court on Wednesday showed she had no mental disorders, according to German public broadcaster MDR.

The German woman delivered her first child in 2004, but then killed the child and placed the body in a freezer. In 2008, she delivered a baby girl but repeated the same offense.

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Both children were born healthy. Autopsy reports showed that the two babies died from a lack of oxygen.

The woman's former partner discovered one of the two bodies in April 2017. However, he did not notify police of the finding until January of this year.

Not the first time

This is not the first case of its kind in Germany. Two years ago, another German mother was put on trial for the murder of up to eight babies.

An attorney representing the 45-year-old mother told prosecutors that his client couldn't remember how many babies she had killed by asphyxiation.

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The babies' remains were discovered in bags around the house in the southeastern German town of Wallenfels. Prosecutors said they couldn't determine whether four of the babies were born dead due to the state of decomposition of the bodies.

The woman's 55-year-old husband was also charged with being an accessory to murder.

ls/ng (dpa, AP)