news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060407/ap_on_re_us/severed_arms

Texas Mom Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity

By JULIA GLICK, Associated Press Writer 26 minutes ago

McKINNEY, Texas - A mother charged with murder for cutting off her baby daughter's arms in what her lawyers portrayed as a religious frenzy was found not guilty by reason of insanity Friday by a judge.
Dena Schlosser, 38, will be sent to a state mental hospital and held until she is no longer deemed a threat to herself or others.

"My own expectation is that she will remain at the hospital for many, many years," defense attorney David Haynes said.

Police arrested Schlosser in 2004 after she told a 911 operator she had severed her baby's arms. Officers found the 10-month-old baby, Margaret, near death in her crib and Schlosser covered in blood, holding a knife and listening to a hymn.

In issuing the verdict, Judge Chris Oldner said Schlosser had met the legal standard for insanity, but did not elaborate. Both the defense and the prosecution had agreed to let the judge decide the case after Schlosser's previous trial ended in a deadlocked jury in February.

Last week it was disclosed that Schlosser had a brain tumor that defense attorneys said could have caused hallucinations.

Schlosser glanced toward her former stepfather but said nothing as she was led away.

"We have a just verdict in a just case, but yes, it is bittersweet," her lawyer said. "She feels it is her best chance to get better."

The case hinged on whether Schlosser was unable to grasp the wrongfulness of the crime — the Texas standard for insanity.

The judge relied on evidence he had heard during the first trial. Among other things, psychiatrists said Schlosser suffered severe mood swings and religious hallucinations. One doctor said Schlosser told him she wanted to cut off her baby's arms and her own limbs and head and give them to God.

But prosecutor Curtis Howard said the fact Schlosser told her husband that she had "killed the baby" proved she knew what she was doing. "This is a case that could have gone both ways; we knew that," Howard said after the verdict.

Schlosser's brain tumor did not become an issue until last week. A witness in her first trial alluded to a possible brain lesion, but miscommunication between doctors delayed confirmation by a neurologist until weeks after the mistrial.

Bob Nicholas, Schlosser's former stepfather and the only relative in attendance Friday, said the verdict was the best possible outcome.

"This whole case, this whole situation with Dena, was a tragedy," Nicholas said. "We've got the loss of Maggie, who never reached her first birthday. We've got two little girls coping with the loss of their sister and of a loving, caring mother."

John Schlosser, Schlosser's husband, has filed for divorce and has custody of the couple's two other daughters.

In another similar Texas case, a jury rejected an insanity defense in 2002 from Andrea Yates, the Houston mother who drowned her five children in the bathtub. She won a new trial on appeal and will again use an insanity defense in June.

In 2004 in East Texas, Deanna Laney was acquitted by reason of insanity after killing her 6- and 8-year-old sons by bashing their skulls with rocks.

I remember reading about this when it first happened.  RIP little one.

Hearing about that case makes me want to hurt her.  

I have to admit, every since my son was born about 10 months ago, I have had much stronger reactions to child abuse cases than ever before.  When I hear about these cases, I just think of my boy and how impossible it is to think that hurting a child is ok in any way -- even if they are mentally ill.

But this is why vigilanatism is against the law.

Thats BS,

anyone who commits murder, rape, ect is crasy, doesnt mean they dont deserve to get punished.

Same here!!! KILL THE CUNT.

I say let her go, and be free. If an accident befalls her were her arms just happen to be cut off. It is an act of god, no further investigation needed

She could have gotten away with it scott-free......10 months ago.

insane or not, she should fry.

We have a crisis of compassion in this country.  There is too much of it.  We need to harder and less tolerant of this kind of crap.  Being so crazy that your don't realize what your doing is wrong is more reason to lock you up not less!

Just because she was found not guilty doesn't mean she's going free.  She'll be locked up in a nuthouse for a long time.  Just a prison with padded walls.  Works for me.

Once again we get another story like this.

I don’t know just what level of moral responsibility this woman has. Doing something like that isn’t the kind of thing a sane person would ever do, that’s for sure. Maybe she is nuts.

Problem is, if she will do something like that what other atrocities is she likely to commit? And, if we ever could make her sane how would she ever live with herself, knowing what she did?

So, just shoot her, fast and painless. Put her out of her misery and guarantee that she will never do something like that again.

Quoted: We have a crisis of compassion in this country.  There is too much of it.  We need to harder and less tolerant of this kind of crap.  Being so crazy that your don't realize what your doing is wrong is more reason to lock you up not less!

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Quoted: We have a crisis of compassion in this country.  There is too much of it.  We need to harder and less tolerant of this kind of crap.  Being so crazy that your don't realize what your doing is wrong is more reason to lock you up terminate your existance not less!

Quoted: Quoted: We have a crisis of compassion in this country.  There is too much of it.  We need to harder and less tolerant of this kind of crap.  Being so crazy that your don't realize what your doing is wrong is more reason to lock you up not less! Couldn't have said it better myself.

I hate free passes for insanity

She'll be in a hospital until some medication combination gives her "clarity" long enough for the MD's to declair her well enough to rejoin society.

My thought mirrors yours: If you are crazy enough to do this once, you can/will do it  again. You are a danger to society and must be locked up.

Well, as long as she's nuts what's a butchered baby to stand in the way of mercy?

So what?  If your crazy enough to saw your own childs #$%$##! arms off you are crazy enough to be put down or placed in jail forever.  There is no way you'd ever get me to come back with that verdict.  

Quoted: She could have gotten away with it scott-free......10 months ago.

While I think partial birth abortion is wrong, you seem to be more worried about your agenda than what happend to this little girl.  For that, I wish you a merry time in Hell.

Male teacher has "relations" with a female student  =  massive jail time
Female teacher has "relations" with a male student  = judge throws it out as waste of time

Mother kills her young =  oh she was crazy or suffering from baby blues
Dad kills the youngsters = hang him in the street.

Wut the hell is wrong with society.  

holly crap!

If the baby's father had done this, he woud have gotten the chair, but since it is a woman she goes to a hospital. What a fucking joke.

Quoted: Hearing about that case makes me want to hurt her.   I have to admit, every since my son was born about 10 months ago, I have had much stronger reactions to child abuse cases than ever before.  When I hear about these cases, I just think of my boy and how impossible it is to think that hurting a child is ok in any way -- even if they are mentally ill. But this is why vigilanatism is against the law.

Same here, since my son was born 30 months ago, and daughter 11 months ago.  

I just can't take this stuff anymore.  

bullet. head. done.

You can't fix crazy. Shoot her.

Quoted: Quoted: Hearing about that case makes me want to hurt her.   I have to admit, every since my son was born about 10 months ago, I have had much stronger reactions to child abuse cases than ever before.  When I hear about these cases, I just think of my boy and how impossible it is to think that hurting a child is ok in any way -- even if they are mentally ill. But this is why vigilanatism is against the law. Same here, since my son was born 30 months ago, and daughter 11 months ago.   I just can't take this stuff anymore.

same here....amazing how your perspective on life changes when you're accountable for a child

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Hearing about that case makes me want to hurt her.   I have to admit, every since my son was born about 10 months ago, I have had much stronger reactions to child abuse cases than ever before.  When I hear about these cases, I just think of my boy and how impossible it is to think that hurting a child is ok in any way -- even if they are mentally ill. But this is why vigilanatism is against the law. Same here, since my son was born 30 months ago, and daughter 11 months ago.   I just can't take this stuff anymore.   same here....amazing how your perspective on life changes when you're accountable for a child

Indeed it does.  We Watched "Man on Fire" just after my daughter was born and was starting to crawl, and there I was getting choked up in an action flick because a girl was kidnapped and harmed.  I don't think I could be a cop, have a child, and not have killed that monster with my bear hands having seen that.  I can't even imagine.