Newsday.com - Woman Gets 25 Years for Infants' Murders

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      Woman Gets 25 Years for Infants' Murders



      By MICHAEL VIRTANEN
      Associated Press Writer

      January 27, 2004, 1:25 PM EST


      MONTICELLO, N.Y. -- 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, 
      Ariz. 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. 
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