Woman Attacks Pregnant Neighbor - She Wanted Baby

[DirtyKash]

Woman Attacks Pregnant Neighbor - She Wanted Baby

FORD CITY, Pa. -- An Armstrong County woman who told friends and family she was expecting a child was charged yesterday with beating her pregnant neighbor over the head with a baseball bat, driving her to a remote rural road and attempting to cut the woman's baby out of her abdomen. The attack was thwarted by a boy on an all-terrain vehicle and police took the suspect into custody.

The victim, identified as Valerie Oskin, 30, of Ford City, was flown by helicopter to Allegheny General Hospital and was in critical condition yesterday. Doctors delivered her baby by emergency Caesarean section and the baby was healthy, officials said.

Confronted with evidence by investigators, the suspect, Peggy Jo Conner, 38, made a statement to state police that confirmed their suspicions.

"I don't think there was any question that her goal was to get that child out of there. If this kid had not come on the scene, she would have finished the job," said Armstrong County District Attorney Scott Andreassi.

Ms. Conner was charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and aggravated assault on an unborn child. She was held without bond in the Armstrong County Jail.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday before District Judge Samuel Goldstrohm in Rural Valley.

Thomas Wilks, who initially said he was the suspect's husband but later acknowledged to KDKA-TV that he was her boyfriend, said he had spent the summer adding a nursery to the family's trailer. Friends had stocked it with second-hand baby supplies. He talked about the baby with a fishing buddy, and neighbors said he was very attentive to Ms. Conner, who had said she was eight months pregnant.

Ms. Conner has three other children, ages 11, 14 and 16, who live with her in a trailer park in a hilltop development called Pattonsville. She was a stay-at-home mother, and a calm, amiable person, neighbors said.

Ms. Conner had befriended her next-door neighbor, Ms. Oskin, who lives with her 7-year-old son. Ms. Oskin was about 8 months into her pregnancy. Mr. Wilks described Ms. Oskin as "a nice, quiet lady."

Authorities believe Ms. Conner came up from behind her neighbor and hit her in the head with a wooden bat sometime late Tuesday or early Wednesday morning at her trailer, Mr. Andreassi said.

The victim's son was home, but officials do not know if he witnessed the attack. Investigators think Ms. Conner took the boy and the badly beaten Ms. Oskin in her car and dropped the child off with relatives at about 11 a.m.

She then drove about 15 miles to a remote section of Wayne Township near Rural Valley and remained there with the victim for several hours. Mr. Andreassi said it appeared Ms. Conner was waiting for Ms. Oskin to die and then planned to take the baby.

Police believe Ms. Conner sliced the woman's belly open with a razor knife. Exactly when Ms. Oskin suffered the 6- to 8-inch cut to her lower abdomen remained under investigation. But they believe a 17-year-old who lived in the area came upon the scene on his ATV shortly after the suspect cut the victim, at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

"There was some very brief conversation between him and the attacker," Mr. Andreassi said. "She indicated they were fine."

The young man drove back to his house and told his father he saw a lot of blood. He said Ms. Oskin was lying on the ground near a car and Ms. Conner was sitting in the car.

The father and son raced back to the scene and the father notified authorities. They told officials they did not wish to be identified.

Mr. Wilks said he had no idea why Ms. Conner, who he believed was pregnant, would do such a thing.

Initial tests indicated the suspect was not pregnant. Health officials will run more tests in the coming days, Mr. Andreassi said.

Ms. Oskin's 7-year-old was placed in protective custody.

[Hmark6]

I was thinking about putting this article here, but I thought it was just too twisted. I'm glad my moral compass, D-Kash, okay'd it.

Am I to assume that she was going to take this child home to her husband and say, "See! told ya I was pregnant! See?!"

Another thing I find interesting is that she was charged with "aggravated assault on an unborn child." I don't know if that is a federal crime, but assuming it is, how is abortion not "aggravated assault on an unborn child"?

[Bosox21]

Didnt a woen in Iowa or some where murder a women and take the fetus? I remember hearing somethin some what similar to this?

[Kingdom]

The world is going to end next.

[RockSports17]

I had to chuckle at the title, I thought it was some joke at first. But that woman is pretty messed up and sick. She'll be going to jail or the crazy home for a long time.

[HuskerFan2002]

Didnt a woen in Iowa or some where murder a women and take the fetus? I remember hearing somethin some what similar to this?

That happened in Kansas last year, I believe.