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By AP
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Valerie Oskin,
of the Pittsburgh area, was cut open
Wednesday in an attempt to take her
baby. Peggy Jo Conner is charged in the
incident. (AP)
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PITTSBURGH -- A woman clubbed her pregnant neighbour
over the head with a baseball bat, drove her to the
woods and cut her belly with a knife in an attempt to
steal her baby, police say.
Police said Wednesday's attack on Valerie Oskin was
stopped before her baby was taken after a teenager on an
all-terrain vehicle came across the women.
Oskin, 30, later underwent an emergency Caesarean
section at a hospital. Police said yesterday she was in
critical condition and her baby in stable condition.
She was believed to have been eight months pregnant,
authorities said.
Peggy Jo Conner, 38, of Ford City was arraigned
yesterday on charges of attempted homicide and
aggravated assault and was jailed without bail.
"It would appear from the defendant's statement that
her goal was to get the victim's unborn child and take
it as her own," District Attorney Scott Andreassi said
in a statement.
Investigators found a bassinet, a baby swing and
other baby-related items in her trailer, authorities
said.
"Clearly, she was expecting a child coming in
shortly," Andreassi said. "There's nothing to indicate
she was pregnant."
Thomas Wilks, who says he is Conner's husband but is
separated from her, called the allegations against her
"impossible" and said she truly was pregnant.
"I got a sonogram saying she is pregnant," Wilks told
reporters. "I felt the baby kick in her stomach."
Conner is the mother of three children, ages 16, 14
and 11.
Conner and Oskin had a "close friendship," Wilks
said.
"It was getting closer as the days went by. They were
pregnant together. They were helping each other out."
Original link:
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/World/2005/10/14/1261837-sun.html
Mirrored just incase it goes dead
10/10/05
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