Mother who killed four daughters 'could walk free'

An American woman who was expected to have been jailed for life for murdering her four daughters could instead walk free under a scenario outlined by the judge who found her guilty.

The decomposing bodies of Banita Jacks' daughters, aged five to 16, were discovered last January when US Marshals came to evict her from her south-east Washington home.

In July, District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Frederick Weisberg found Jacks guilty of four counts of felony murder, three counts of premeditated first-degree murder and four counts of first-degree child cruelty.

Jacks was due to have been sentenced yesterday, but Judge Weisberg postponed it while he considers issues related to her refusal to use an insanity defence.

Jacks rejected the defence against the advice of her lawyers, who are now asking the judge to appoint an independent counsel to investigate whether she was competent to make such a decision.

If the defence should prove successful, it could lead to a new trial and Jacks (aged 34) could be found not guilty by reason of insanity. That course of events could end with Jacks walking free, Weisberg said.

Ordinarily, a defendant who successfully uses an insanity defence is committed to a psychiatric institution.

But that was not the case in the national capital if the insanity defence was imposed against the defendant's wishes, Judge Weisberg said.

Civil commitment proceedings could still be held, but there was no guarantee they would be successful, he said.

"It's by no means clear to me that Jacks would be civilly committable in those circumstances, despite the horrific crimes of which I have found her guilty," Judge Weisberg said.

Jacks reiterated to the judge that she did not want to use an insanity defence.

She previously told police her daughters were possessed by demons and inexplicably died one by one in their sleep. She said she believed they would be resurrected.