This "Mom Slayed Baby" case gets weirder!

[TexasStooge]

Plano mom cut wrist after baby's birth

Records show she cut wrist day after birth of girl she admits killing

By JENNIFER EMILY / The Dallas Morning News

PLANO, Texas - The Plano woman who admitted killing her 10-month-old by cutting off her arms tried to commit suicide the day after she gave birth to her at home, medical records obtained Wednesday show.

Dena Schlosser, 35, cut her wrist Jan. 10 and was treated in a Collin County emergency room. Five days later, she was seen running down the street "yelling at the top of her lungs" because she said there was a "spirit" in the apartment, according to the records.

Her oldest daughter and newborn Margaret had been left alone in the apartment. Mrs. Schlosser's then-5-year-old daughter was chasing her.

Police and paramedics were called, and within the next 24 hours, doctors at three hospitals – Medical City of Dallas, Medical Center of Plano and Green Oaks – determined that Mrs. Schlosser was psychotic or suffering from psychosis in addition to postpartum depression, her medical records show. One suggested she might have bipolar disorder.

Ten months later, on Nov. 22, police were called to Mrs. Schlosser's first-floor apartment and found her covered in her daughter's blood, still holding a knife and listening to religious hymns. Margaret was in her crib and not breathing. Her arms had been severed at the shoulders. Mrs. Schlosser was charged with capital murder.

During the January hospital visit, Mrs. Schlosser was given the anti-psychotic medication Haldol, Benadryl and the anti-anxiety drug Ativan, the records show. Mrs. Schlosser hadn't slept in three or four days and had not eaten much since Margaret was born, according to the records.

She has "delusional thinking, but patient denies suicidal intent," one physician wrote.

Mrs. Schlosser's husband "feels the best place for ... [her] is at home ... wants ... [her] to come home ... says that Dena's 'spiritual church vocabulary' may be mixed up ... [and she will be perceived as] 'being crazy' ... says we may contact their church about any aberrant beliefs and does not want their religious beliefs to be confused ... [with] psychosis," according to another medical record.

Diagnosed in January

Child Protective Services has said Mrs. Schlosser's postpartum depression was diagnosed in January. The agency investigated Mrs. Schlosser for neglect because she left Margaret alone. CPS closed the case in August when Mrs. Schlosser was deemed stable.

CPS spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales declined to comment Wednesday on whether the agency knew Mrs. Schlosser tried to commit suicide or on the diagnoses that she was suffering from psychosis.

Prosecutors have asked for a gag order forbidding public comment about child-custody issues by those connected to the case. A judge has not ruled, but Ms. Gonzales said the agency's policy is not to comment when such a motion is pending.

Ms. Gonzales did say that if information is documented in medical records, "we would know about it."

Children in custody

Child Protective Services has temporary custody of the two older girls while the agency evaluates where they should live. Mrs. Schlosser's husband, John, has said through his attorney that he wants the children returned to him.

Mr. Schlosser has repeatedly declined to comment.

CPS said Mr. Schlosser did not protect his youngest daughter from his wife.

Court-appointed psychiatrist David Self is examining Mrs. Schlosser to determine whether she is competent to stand trial. He has declined to comment.

Her attorney, David Haynes, said he thinks his client is not competent to assist him with her defense. Although he has not seen all of Mrs. Schlosser's medical records, he said he thinks doctors' diagnoses in January support his belief.

"Clearly, in January, she was psychotic. If, as we expect, we're going to get a report from Dr. Self that she is presently psychotic in December 2004 ... what reason is there to believe she changed in the intervening period?" Mr. Haynes said Wednesday. "Some evidence would suggest she was psychotic" the day Margaret died.

Mr. Haynes said Mrs. Schlosser has moments of clarity when he visits her in jail. But minutes after she says she understands what he is telling her, Mr. Haynes said it's clear that she doesn't.

Religious references

He said she repeatedly refers to a Bible passage in which Jesus talks about cutting off the hand to cast away sin.

While hospitalized in January, Mrs. Schlosser repeatedly talked about God.

"This experience has put fear in me. If God is in charge, I have a new peace," Mrs. Schlosser is quoted as saying. She later said, "I felt a change this morning. I felt at peace. God is going to take care of everything."

Her parents, Mick and Connie Macaulay, said they think Mrs. Schlosser's fervent religious beliefs and infatuation with Water of Life Church in Plano and its self-proclaimed apostle, Doyle Davidson, together with postpartum psychosis led her to hurt Margaret on Nov. 22. They say Mr. Davidson had undue influence on their daughter.

Mr. Davidson, who is known to "lay hands" on people in an attempt to heal them and says he can drive out the devil, said he has done nothing wrong.

Medical personnel at Green Oaks noted that Mrs. Schlosser had a "religious preoccupation" and was "hyper-religious." A doctor said she suffered a "psychotic break." She also told them she read nothing except the Bible.

Women suffering from postpartum psychosis sometimes fill their minds with religious verse, Leslie Hunt, executive director of the Postpartum Resource Center of Texas, has said.

"The conscience is not there," Ms. Hunt said. "The person who was able to judge right from wrong – that person is not there. These women who commit these crimes are sometimes under the delusions that they are saving their child's soul: God told them to do it. They're saving the child from the devil."