Mendum Corvin

Case record

Name: Mendum Paul Corvin

Background

Mendum Paul Corvin was a retired electrician and had suffered several heart attacks and had been ill over the past several years.

Corvin had three daughters, and police accused him of sexually abusing the couple’s three daughters and fathering two children with his oldest daughter.

Corvin had a former home in Scottdale, Pa., near Pittsburgh, and a family home in Boynton Beach, Florida where the family still lived at the time of the April 1995 reporting.

Rosina Corvin was the husband’s ex-wife. Her attorney said she never knew her husband sexually abused their three daughters. Her attorney said she never knew her 12-year-old daughter was pregnant with her husband’s child and never knew the child was buried for 27 years in the back yard of the Boynton Beach house where she still lived.

Michael Salnick was Corvin’s attorney.

Thomas Gano was identified as a criminal defense lawyer.

Assistant State Attorney Scott Cupp said prosecutors had no plans to charge the incest victim with any crime.

Chief Assistant State Attorney Paul Zacks said prosecutors were researching laws on the books in 1968.

The offence

Corvin was accused of killing newborn babies fathered with his daughter.

A daughter gave birth twice, first in Boynton Beach when she was 12, and then again at age 15 in Pennsylvania. Police said Corvin buried a baby alive in the family’s back yard and later that he killed a second child he fathered with her.

Police said Corvin first tried to drown the boy in the bathtub.

Police reported that skeletal remains of a first child, a boy, were found after the April 1995 investigation. The Palm Beach Post reporting stated the newborn girl was killed in 1970 or 1971.

The narrative motive attributed to Corvin in the material was that he killed newborns to avoid prosecution for incest.

Investigation

Investigators began investigating the old murders after the daughter’s boyfriend went to police in April 1995 and told them about a baby buried in the back yard.

Moore confirmed the story and led detectives to the skeletal remains of the two infants.

Police in Boynton Beach, Florida found skeletal remains of the first child, a boy, after the daughter told investigators.

Arrest

Paul Corvin, 61, was arrested at his home near Scottsdale, Pennsylvania, on a charge of homicide in the second child’s death.

Trial

Corvin pleaded no contest in August 1997 to a first-degree murder charge after police found remains of an infant in the coal cellar of his former home in Scottdale, Pa., near Pittsburgh.

Corvin also pleaded guilty in November 1997 to killing another child he fathered with his daughter and burying the newborn in the yard of the family’s Florida home in Boynton Beach.

At the time of the plea bargains, Corvin said he wanted to avoid a trial so he could spare his now-grown daughter, Sharon Corvin Moore, the agony of testifying.

Sentencing

Corvin was sentenced to three concurrent life sentences in Pennsylvania and Florida in 1997.

Appeals

No appeals were described in the material.

Outcome

Corvin died of a heart attack Aug. 14 while serving three concurrent life sentences.

Corvin’s death was reported in Pennsylvania hospital coverage dated September 5, 2000.

Aftermath

Rosina Corvin’s attorney said she never knew her husband sexually abused their three daughters, never knew her 12-year-old daughter was pregnant with her husband’s child, and never knew the child was buried for 27 years in the back yard of the Boynton Beach house where she still lived.

Legal experts were quoted as saying it was unlikely Corvin could be prosecuted for failure to protect her daughter or her granddaughter.

Michael Salnick said:

"There's plenty of households in America where abuse goes on and one side or the other doesn't know about it," said Michael Salnick, Corvin's attorney. "It's less naive than you think."

Michael Salnick also said Corvin was as shocked as anyone about the allegations of incest and murder.

Thomas Gano said:

"It doesn't sound like there is any basis of charging anyone other than the father," criminal defense lawyer Thomas Gano said. "Considering the mother was 12, what are they going to do, charge her with failure to protect her baby from her father?" Gano said.

Scott Cupp said:

"We don't even have a [police) file yet," Cupp said. "I don't know what the victim is saying about the mother. I don't know if the mother was around and knew what was going on."

Paul Zacks said:

"I doubt it in 1968," Zacks said. "Society and laws have changed a lot since then. It's troubling."

Timeline

• April 18, 1995 — Corvin was accused of burying alive a baby he had with his daughter; police said he had confessed to killing a second child he fathered with her; Paul Corvin, 61, was arrested on a charge of homicide in the second child’s death.
• April 1995 — The daughter’s boyfriend went to police and told them about the baby buried in the back yard; the daughter confirmed the story and led detectives to the skeletal remains of the two infants.
• Saturday — Police found skeletal remains of the first child, a boy, after Corvin’s daughter told investigators he buried the baby alive in the family’s back yard.
• August 1997 — Corvin pleaded no contest to a first-degree murder charge after remains of an infant were found in the coal cellar of his former home in Scottdale, Pa.
• November 1997 — Corvin pleaded guilty to killing another child he fathered with his daughter and burying the newborn in the yard of the family’s Florida home in Boynton Beach.
• 1997 — Corvin was sentenced to three concurrent life sentences in Pennsylvania and Florida.
• Aug. 14, 2000 — Corvin died of a heart attack while serving three concurrent life sentences.
• September 5, 2000 — Reporting stated Corvin died in a Pennsylvania hospital and confirmed the life-sentence and plea history.

Other details

Victim(s) and related facts

• Police said Corvin killed two newborns he had with his daughter.
• The first child was described as a boy; skeletal remains were found.
• The second child was described as an infant; the newborn girl was stated as killed in 1970 or 1971.
• The first child’s remains were found after the daughter told investigators about burying the baby alive in the family’s back yard.

Family members

• Sharon Corvin Moore was identified as Corvin’s now-grown daughter in the material.
• The daughter who told investigators was said to be 39 years old at the time she spoke to police.

Charges and legal references mentioned

• Corvin was charged with criminal homicide in Pennsylvania.
• Prosecutors in Palm Beach County said they expected to present a case of first-degree murder to a grand jury.
• The legal discussion referenced a precedent-setting prosecution involving Pauline Zile and first-degree murder of her daughter, Christina Holt, 7, with a possible death sentence for Zile.
• The legal discussion included research into 1968 laws, including a felony first-degree murder law and whether a parent had any legal duty to protect a child from abuse at that time.

Manner of investigation and statements

• Moore confirmed the story and led detectives to the skeletal remains.
• Corvin was accused of having first tried to drown the boy in the bathtub.

Health

• Corvin had suffered several heart attacks.
• Corvin was reported as dying of a heart attack while serving life sentences.