Frenchwoman Admits Smothering Her 8 Newborns

A 47-year-old woman in France faces homicide charges after admitting that she killed eight of her own newborn babies and hid them at two separate residences, the BBC reports. Dominique Cottrez told police that her husband never knew because she has always been overweight. He has not been charged. The couple have two grown daughters, and Cottrez said she didn't want anymore children, so she buried the bodies after giving birth alone.

The daughters, ages 21 and 22, professed bewilderment to a local paper. "We never noticed anything," said the younger one. "She had her moments of weariness, it's true, but she worked nearly 24 hours a day between her job as a home help and her housework." The older one said her mother was present at the birth of her grandson. "She was there at the delivery with me. She was the one who carried him and wrapped him. We both had tears in our eyes." (More France stories.)