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Warsaw (dpa) - A mother convicted of five counts of infanticide in one of Poland's most grisly multiple murder cases was sentenced to life in prison Thursday, while her husband was found not guilty.
Police discovered the remains of five of the woman's newborn babies inside a barrel used for making sauerkraut on the family's property in the village of Czerniejow, eastern Poland, in the summer of 2003.
A court in Lublin, eastern Poland, ruled the woman, identified as Jolanta K., killed the infants in cold blood, with premeditation.
The court however failed to find sufficient evidence to convict the woman's husband, Andrzej K., of being an accomplice. His wife alleged he had played a role, but he claimed he had no knowledge of his wife's five pregnancies. Other witnesses also testified Jolanta K. had not been visibly pregnant.
"She did not take any action to prevent the pregnancies, which lead straight to the next crime," the presiding judge ruled, quoted by the Polish PAP news agency.
Copyright 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
