JUNEAU, Wis. — One month after authorities in Dodge County announced they had solved a 13-year-old cold case involving an infant that had been found dead inside a garbage bag on the side of a road, the woman charged in the case is pleading guilty.
Court records show Karin Luttinen pleaded guilty to one count of concealing the death of a child Monday morning in Dodge County court.
The body of a newborn girl had been found near Lone Road in the Town of Theresa on April 29, 2009, but the case had gone unsolved since then despite law enforcement’s efforts to identify the newborn, who they eventually began to call “Baby Theresa.”
There were no signs of trauma or drugs in the baby’s system. No family members ever came forward to claim the newborn, and “Baby Theresa” was buried with no family present on May 11, 2009.
On March 18 of this year, officials announced they had finally solved the case — identifying and charging Luttinen, the girl’s mother, for not reporting the baby’s death. The criminal complaint alleged Luttinen did not know she was pregnant with the child until late in her pregnancy and gave birth to the girl at home. She told investigators the child’s umbilical cord was wrapped around its neck when it was born.
Luttinen allegedly never caught medical help before or after the baby was delivered, and there were no medical records of Luttinen being pregnant. She told investigators she blacked out for about 15 minutes after the birth and never heard the baby cry and never saw it move.
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A sentencing hearing has been set for August 5. She faces up to three and a half years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.
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