Michele Kalina

Case details

Michele Kalina pleaded guilty to murder for one of five infants she initially was accused of killing, and also pleaded guilty to counts of abuse of a corpse and concealing a child's death.

Kalina was described as a home-health aide and later as a home health nurse's aide.

The case involved the discovery of five sets of skeletal remains kept in containers in a closet in the family home. One body was encased in cement, and other remains were wrapped and kept in containers including a cooler, a plastic tub, and a cardboard box. Authorities estimated the remains were from 32 weeks in gestation to newly born, and in some instances investigators could not determine a cause of death for all babies, which affected how many homicide charges were pursued.

People

• Michele Kalina — defendant; described as a home-health aide/home health nurse's aide; pleaded guilty to third-degree murder for one of the five infants and to other counts.
• Dr Jerome Gottlieb — defence psychiatrist who testified about Kalina’s statements and mental health issues.
• Judge Linda K.M. Ludgate — judge in Berks County Court.
• Assistant District Attorney M. Theresa Johnson — prosecutor at Kalina’s plea hearing.
• Public defender Holly Feeney — defence attorney who sought leniency.
• John Adams — Berks County District Attorney, who commented on the case and evidence.
• Jeffrey Kalina — Kalina’s husband; testified and said he had not known about the infants; described as disabled stay-at-home father.
• Elizabeth — Kalina’s teenage daughter, later described as 19; testified about her mother and discovered the remains; planned to continue visiting Kalina in prison.
• Andrew — Kalina’s older son who suffered from cerebral palsy and died of natural causes in 2000.
• Geoffrey R. McKee — forensic psychologist at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine who commented on neonaticide motivations.

Timeline

• July 29, 2010 — An infant’s body was found encased in cement in a cooler in Kalina’s closet.
• August 4, 2011 — Michele Kalina pleaded guilty and was sentenced to the maximum 20 to 40 years in prison.
• August 5, 2011 — Kalina’s guilty plea and sentencing were reported, including that she hid baby remains.

The offence

Authorities said Kalina concealed pregnancies and births connected to an extramarital affair, and kept the remains of five infants in a locked closet.

A male infant of gestational age from 32 to 38 weeks old was the basis for one count of murder. The skeletal remains were estimated to be from 32 weeks in gestation to newly born, and authorities said it was difficult to determine causes of death because of decomposition.

Kalina later stated she had wrapped each baby with a towel and stored the bodies in a tub or container in a locked closet. She told a psychiatrist this included a belief that four were “essentially stillborn,” while the third born, a boy, had moved.

Kalina said she thought she had wrapped one baby too tightly with a towel so the baby could not breathe.

Prosecutors described that Kalina also abused the corpses of five infants and failed to report the death of a child.

Kalina gave another child—described as a baby girl—up for adoption after a 2003 birth.

Investigation and discovery

The remains were found by Kalina’s husband and teenage daughter during a discovery in their Reading home, where the remains were stored in containers in a closet.

Investigators said the husband and teenage daughter discovered containers in a storage closet that contained the remains of five infants. Authorities later described specific locations and containers including a cooler, plastic tubs, and other wrapped remains. The remains were badly decomposed skeletal remains.

Investigators said Kalina had forbidden her husband and daughter from going into the closet and that the daughter broke that rule and found the containers and tipped off police.

Investigators also said that during further investigation the daughter unknowingly threw out one set of remains, which was later found by a cadaver dog at the Conestoga Landfill in New Morgan. Authorities previously stated that officers who responded to an initial call did not think the bones were human at first and told the daughter and her father they could throw them out.

DNA tests showed that a girl born in October 2003 at St. Joseph Medical Center was also conceived with Kalina’s boyfriend.

Arrest / custody

Kalina was held without bail pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for Thursday and was in custody on abuse-of-corpse charges after authorities charged her with murder.

Kalina did not enter a plea on June 2, 2011, as previously anticipated, and was expected to undergo further psychological testing.

Trial / plea hearing

Plea

Michele Kalina pleaded guilty on August 4, 2011 in Berks County Court to third-degree murder for one of the five infants she initially was accused of killing between 1996 and 2010.

Kalina also pleaded guilty to concealing the death of a child and abuse of corpse.

Assistant District Attorney M. Theresa Johnson asked Kalina whether she was admitting to killing one of the five infants. Kalina responded: “I do”.

Judge Linda K.M. Ludgate said: “You are throwing yourself at the mercy of the court,” when addressing Kalina at sentencing.

Kalina expressed remorse at sentencing but had not confessed to killing all five newborns.

Kalina said she abused the corpses of five infants.

Kalina also said she had been meaning to clean the closet and that her husband and daughter were forbidden from going into her closet.

Psychiatric testimony

Dr Jerome Gottlieb described Kalina as an alcoholic who was intoxicated during the births and who did not fully recall what took place.

Gottlieb said Kalina suffered from severe depression and other mental-health issues, and described her as sexually and verbally abused when she was younger and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Gottlieb described Kalina’s demeanor when remembering the births: “She shows no emotion,” and “It’s like she is talking about someone else.”

Gottlieb testified that Kalina denied she was pregnant and that she gave birth to the first child in a bathtub and denied doing anything to hasten the death.

Gottlieb testified: “At first she said she gave birth to stillborns,” and “She referred to all five of these babies as fetuses, emotionally detaching herself.”

Gottlieb testified: “She could not explain why she chose to put the babies in a container and then in the closet,” and that Kalina kept the remains to remind her of her shame for having the affair.

Gottlieb also testified that Kalina said she may have wrapped one baby too tightly with a towel and the baby could not breathe.

Defence and mitigation

Public defender Holly Feeney sought leniency on grounds that Kalina had learned to deny reality as she endured severe physical and sexual abuse as a child.

Dr Gottlieb suggested that Kalina put the memories of the babies in a “psychological closet”, much as she put their remains in a physical one.

Sentencing

Judge Linda K.M. Ludgate sentenced Michele Kalina to the maximum 20 to 40 years in prison.

The agreement was described as calling for a sentence with a maximum of no more than 40 years.

Kalina was sentenced to between 20 and 40 years in prison.

Appeals

No appeal information was provided.

Other details

Relationship and family testimony

Jeffrey Kalina testified that he loved his wife and would have raised the lover’s children had he known about them.

He said their marriage had not been sexual in 18 years, and said he had not seen his wife naked during that time, while she carried babies to full- or nearly full-term births.

He said only once in 2003 did he suspect Kalina might be pregnant, but their daughter rejected the idea.

He said Kalina delivered a baby in 2003 at a Reading hospital and told staff she was separated and gave the girl up for adoption.

DNA tests showed the girl was also the lover’s child.

Kalina’s daughter Elizabeth testified she believed her mother had always been nice and they did things together, including taking her to carnivals and amusement parks. She said she planned to continue visiting Kalina in prison.

In addition to testimony about the marriage and affair, Dr Gottlieb described that Kalina’s husband refused a request from Kalina to use condoms during their affair.

Dates and ages in the reported material

At sentencing reporting, Kalina was described as 45 or 46 years old.

Kalina was said to have attended Albright College for three semesters before getting married in 1986, at age 19.

Kalina’s daughter was described as 19 at the time of her testimony.

Andrew suffered from cerebral palsy and serious developmental delays, and died of natural causes in 2000.

Kalina and Jeffrey were described as having been married about 25 years and dating for two years before marrying.

Kalina’s affair with a co-worker was described as beginning in the mid-to-late 1990s, and the boyfriend had intermittently dated with Kalina from 1996.

Discovery, evidence, and conditions of remains

Authorities said one body was encased in cement in a cooler found in Kalina’s closet.

The others were wrapped and kept in storage containers including a cooler, plastic tubs, and cardboard box.

One set of bones was thrown out and was later recovered at a landfill after investigators and a cadaver dog found it.

Comments about motive and mental health (expert commentary)

Forensic psychologist Geoffrey R. McKee commented that a way women resolve dilemmas can involve fear of having an abortion without wanting others to know.

Mental-health experts stated they could not explain motive in a typical pattern and discussed theories because multiple deaths of newborns was unusual, including comparisons to a case in France involving Dominique Cottrez.

Dr Peggy Bowen-Hartung suggested: “She meets the definition of a serial killer,” and said: “It’s not uncommon for a serial killer to keep them as trophies as remembrance,” and that: “The babies were so young. She did not allow maternal attachments. This is a really weird case.”

Dr J. Kenneth Weiss said the first step for the defense would be to have Kalina evaluated for mental illness, and said: “Multiple deaths are uncommon,” and that “Many women are horrified by the thought of having a baby - but usually they tell someone about it before they kill the baby.”

Weiss said: “You have to find out if she was mentally ill,” and: “What were her other circumstances? These may have been unplanned pregnancies. What was she intending when she conceived?”

Milevsky said it appears Kalina suffers from severe postpartum psychosis and described it as affecting less than 1 percent of women, and said: “Usually the mothers going through severe extreme psychosis would be the ones more likely to kill infants,” and: “Once a mother harms a baby, she enters into a mental dysfunction that is unimaginable, Milevsky said.”