Finding of four slain infants stuns Austria

THE bodies of four slain infants have been found at an apartment complex in southern Austria.

Two were stuffed in a basement freezer, one entombed in a paint bucket filled with concrete and one in a plastic bag beneath debris in a garden shed.

Investigators said the infants' 32-year-old mother confessed to killing them out of despair over her inability to pay the bills and fear that having a child might drive away her long-time male partner.

Police found three bodies earlier this week and a fourth yesterday during a search of the premises.

Police said both the woman and her partner were placed under formal investigation for murder.

The grisly killings, which authorities said may have begun as long as three years ago, stunned the tranquil alpine nation, where violent crimes are rather unusual.

Police said at least two of the bodies were found in the freezer in Graz, about 120 miles south of Vienna.

Austrian state broadcaster ORF said two bodies were wrapped in plastic bags and stuffed in the freezer, and a third a newborn girl was placed in a paint bucket that was filled with cement to conceal the remains.

Graz's Kleine Zeitung newspaper reported that the first of the bodies was discovered on Monday by a resident of the multi-family apartment block when the man who went down to the basement to get ice cream for his children opened a chest freezer shared by the building's occupants.

Stunned, the tenant called police, who later located two other bodies one hidden beneath frozen meat and vegetables at the bottom of the freezer.

It was not immediately clear where the latest body was found.

Although police initially kept open the possibility that the infants may have been stillborn, evidence at the scene quickly pointed to the newborns' slayings before their bodies were stuffed in the freezer.

The suspect, a bookkeeper whose name was notreleased in line with Austrian privacy laws, lived in the building with her partner for the past eight years, authorities said.

Neighbours said the woman worked hard to keep a tidy house and a beautiful yard.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Werner Jud said the suspect was not entirely coherent during questioning, but told investigators she gave birth to all the babies in her bath.

Police told the Austria Press Agency they believed the bodies may have been placed in the freezer as long as three years ago.

Investigators said the woman confessed during questioning, saying she was in despair over her ability to survive and worried that she would lose her companion if she had a child.

Her partner allegedly told police he was unaware of her pregnancies and insisted he played no role in either the killings or the hiding of the bodies.

Post mortems were held, but results had not yet been released, officials said.

They said the forensic examination was held up by the need to first slowly thaw the frozen remains of the infants found in the freezer.

Lt Col Jud said DNA tests would be carried out on the woman's companion to determine if he was the babies' father.