rockin'robin
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(Oct. 28) -- A Pennsylvania woman accused of killing five newborns that she gave birth to secretly to hide an extramarital affair was "a little strange," according to one neighbor.
"I live right next door to her," Joshua Bates told AOL News today. "She was a little strange. I talked to her and stuff like that [when] I would see her sitting outside smoking cigarettes [or] when I passed by. She would talk to [me], but she didn't like discussing her personal life or anything. I never thought she would do anything like storing dead babies in her apartment."
Berks County Sheriff / AP
Michele Kalina is accused of killing five of her infants.Bates' neighbor, Michele Kalina, a 44-year-old nurse's aide, was arrested in August after her 19-year-old daughter found the skeletal remains of four babies in a closet inside her mother's apartment in the 700 block of Court Street in Reading. One of the bodies was entombed in cement, authorities said.
The remains of the fifth infant were found at a local landfill, CNN reported.
Bates said he never suspected his neighbor was doing anything out of the ordinary and "never smelled anything" coming from her apartment.
"I couldn't believe it when they told us that they found four of them in the apartment," Bates said. "[The tenants] had no idea, and I only started to find out when it was in the papers. The apartment complex [managers] weren't telling us anything, probably because they didn't want us to end up leaving."
Contacted by AOL News today, a woman who identified herself as the manager of the apartment building said she had "no comment" and hung up.
Kalina was charged with criminal homicide in the cases earlier this week, after DNA tests showed that she was the mother of the four infants found inside her apartment, Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams told reporters on Monday.
Adams said DNA tests have linked three of the newborns to Kalina and her boyfriend of 14 years. Authorities also suspect that the boyfriend, whom they are not identifying, is the father of the fourth infant. Tests on the remains of the fifth infant have been inconclusive, police said.
An examination of the victims' remains by the county coroner has revealed that three of the infants were born alive and were likely killed by asphyxiation, poisoning or neglect, the Reading Eagle reported.
Authorities suspect the births occurred between 1996 and 2010, according to the newspaper. Three of the infants were boys, and one was a girl. Authorities were unable to determine the gender of the fifth infant.
Neither Kalina's husband, Jeffrey Kalina, nor her boyfriend had knowledge of the dead babies, Adams said.
Bates also said he never observed his neighbor appearing pregnant during his chats with her.
"That is what [has] boggled my mind," Bates said. "You never saw her with a belly or anything, but she was always wearing scrubs and sometimes loose fitting clothing. If she was pregnant, you couldn't see it."
Kalina's boyfriend reportedly told police that he had questioned Kalina about her stomach growth in the past, but she explained it away, saying she had a cyst on her fallopian tube, police said.
Authorities say that in addition to her teenage daughter, Kalina also had a 13-year-old son who died in 2000 of cerebral palsy; both of those children were fathered by her husband. Another child allegedly fathered by her boyfriend in 2003 was given up for adoption, police said.
According to Bates, Kalina's husband, who police say is disabled, still lives in the apartment complex. Until recently, Bates said, it was rare to catch sight of him.
"It was not until all this stuff started happening that he started coming outside," Bates said. "He is on oxygen, so I guess [his wife] used to get everything that he needed. Now he has to actually get it himself because she is not there anymore. There is also a girl living there, the daughter. They don't talk to nobody. They just walk by you and keep it moving."
Kalina was supposed to appear in Berks County District Court today for a preliminary hearing on charges that she murdered five of the infants, but the hearing was postponed, WFMZ-TV reported today.
The district attorney's office did not return calls for comment from AOL News today. According to the Reading Eagle, the hearing was postponed because a prosecution witness was unavailable. The preliminary hearing has now been rescheduled for Nov. 3.
In the meantime, Bates says he and his neighbors are still trying to move past the bizarre events that allegedly occurred inside their apartment complex.
"We're weirded out by it," Bates said. "Some of us are scared -- I mean, I'm not because I have seen some other stuff, but I never seen anything that bizarre -- but some of the [other residents] are scared. I'm just disgusted, really."
Neighbor: Mom Accused of Killing 5 Babies Was 'Strange'
"I live right next door to her," Joshua Bates told AOL News today. "She was a little strange. I talked to her and stuff like that [when] I would see her sitting outside smoking cigarettes [or] when I passed by. She would talk to [me], but she didn't like discussing her personal life or anything. I never thought she would do anything like storing dead babies in her apartment."
Berks County Sheriff / AP
Michele Kalina is accused of killing five of her infants.Bates' neighbor, Michele Kalina, a 44-year-old nurse's aide, was arrested in August after her 19-year-old daughter found the skeletal remains of four babies in a closet inside her mother's apartment in the 700 block of Court Street in Reading. One of the bodies was entombed in cement, authorities said.
The remains of the fifth infant were found at a local landfill, CNN reported.
Bates said he never suspected his neighbor was doing anything out of the ordinary and "never smelled anything" coming from her apartment.
"I couldn't believe it when they told us that they found four of them in the apartment," Bates said. "[The tenants] had no idea, and I only started to find out when it was in the papers. The apartment complex [managers] weren't telling us anything, probably because they didn't want us to end up leaving."
Contacted by AOL News today, a woman who identified herself as the manager of the apartment building said she had "no comment" and hung up.
Kalina was charged with criminal homicide in the cases earlier this week, after DNA tests showed that she was the mother of the four infants found inside her apartment, Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams told reporters on Monday.
Adams said DNA tests have linked three of the newborns to Kalina and her boyfriend of 14 years. Authorities also suspect that the boyfriend, whom they are not identifying, is the father of the fourth infant. Tests on the remains of the fifth infant have been inconclusive, police said.
An examination of the victims' remains by the county coroner has revealed that three of the infants were born alive and were likely killed by asphyxiation, poisoning or neglect, the Reading Eagle reported.
Authorities suspect the births occurred between 1996 and 2010, according to the newspaper. Three of the infants were boys, and one was a girl. Authorities were unable to determine the gender of the fifth infant.
Neither Kalina's husband, Jeffrey Kalina, nor her boyfriend had knowledge of the dead babies, Adams said.
Bates also said he never observed his neighbor appearing pregnant during his chats with her.
"That is what [has] boggled my mind," Bates said. "You never saw her with a belly or anything, but she was always wearing scrubs and sometimes loose fitting clothing. If she was pregnant, you couldn't see it."
Kalina's boyfriend reportedly told police that he had questioned Kalina about her stomach growth in the past, but she explained it away, saying she had a cyst on her fallopian tube, police said.
Authorities say that in addition to her teenage daughter, Kalina also had a 13-year-old son who died in 2000 of cerebral palsy; both of those children were fathered by her husband. Another child allegedly fathered by her boyfriend in 2003 was given up for adoption, police said.
According to Bates, Kalina's husband, who police say is disabled, still lives in the apartment complex. Until recently, Bates said, it was rare to catch sight of him.
"It was not until all this stuff started happening that he started coming outside," Bates said. "He is on oxygen, so I guess [his wife] used to get everything that he needed. Now he has to actually get it himself because she is not there anymore. There is also a girl living there, the daughter. They don't talk to nobody. They just walk by you and keep it moving."
Kalina was supposed to appear in Berks County District Court today for a preliminary hearing on charges that she murdered five of the infants, but the hearing was postponed, WFMZ-TV reported today.
The district attorney's office did not return calls for comment from AOL News today. According to the Reading Eagle, the hearing was postponed because a prosecution witness was unavailable. The preliminary hearing has now been rescheduled for Nov. 3.
In the meantime, Bates says he and his neighbors are still trying to move past the bizarre events that allegedly occurred inside their apartment complex.
"We're weirded out by it," Bates said. "Some of us are scared -- I mean, I'm not because I have seen some other stuff, but I never seen anything that bizarre -- but some of the [other residents] are scared. I'm just disgusted, really."
Neighbor: Mom Accused of Killing 5 Babies Was 'Strange'
