Mistrial for woman accused of cutting off infant's arms
Jurors deadlocked after four days of deliberating

Saturday, February 25, 2006; Posted: 9:57 p.m. EST (02:57 GMT)


McKINNEY, Texas (AP) -- A judge declared a mistrial Saturday in the murder trial of a woman accused of fatally cutting the arms off her 10-month-old daughter.

Jurors deadlocked during the fourth day of deliberations in the case of Dena Schlosser, 37, who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

"There was heated discussion, and tempers flared in the jury room," said juror Chris Penn as he left court. "It was a long ordeal, very tiring."

Attorneys confirmed a split of 10-2 in favor of a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. Penn said jurors argued "forcefully" trying to change the mind of one man, who wrote in a court note that he had made up his mind about Schlosser the first day of deliberations. Another juror could not decide, Penn added.

Prosecutors would not comment on whether they would retry the case.

Defense Attorney David Haynes said the case likely will be tried again. He added Schlosser and the defense were disappointed with the result.

"We knew this was going to be a very hard case when we started out," he said. "Hopefully, we will carry the day next time."

Police arrested Schlosser in November 2004 after finding her baby Margaret, known as Maggie, dying in her crib, and Schlosser covered in blood, holding a knife and listening to a hymn.

The prosecution argued that she knew what she was doing, showing the jury grisly photos of the dead baby and emphasizing several witnesses' observations of Schlosser as a healthy, seemingly sane mother.

But psychiatrists testifying for the defense told jurors of multiple psychotic episodes Schlosser detailed to them. One doctor said Schlosser told him she felt commanded by God to cut off Maggie's arms, followed by her own limbs and head. Schlosser had a deep cut on her shoulder when police found her.

The jury said on the second day of deliberations that it was deadlocked, but the judge ordered them to continue.

Jurors requested numerous rereadings of testimony, with one juror even asking Judge Chris Oldner to define the term "deliberation" and the precise role of a juror. Attorneys on both sides said they have never heard of such requests.

Schlosser's husband, John Schlosser has filed for divorce and has custody of the family's other two children.

Schlosser's former stepfather, Bob Nicholas, testified, then sat through the trial and waited out the deliberations.

"It has been a very emotional experience for myself and family members," he said, holding back tears as he left court Saturday. "I can say that it has not ended yet."

Dr. William Reid had testified that people close to Schlosser had missed obvious signs of severe mental illness.

John Schlosser, said he wasn't alarmed when his wife said after church the day before the killing that she wanted to "give the baby to God." He said she appeared normal after he calmed her down, and he thought her mental condition had improved over the past few months.

The summer before Maggie died, Schlosser abandoned Maggie and her other two children by running away from the family's apartment. She was found two miles away by Plano police and released from a hospital less than 24 hours later.

The Schlosser family went several times a week to the Water of Life Church. The pastor, Doyle Davidson, testified that he believes mental illness is possession by demons and only God can cure it.

Dena Schlosser, who was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis after Maggie's birth, didn't take medication or see a doctor in the four months before the killing.

After her arrest, Dena Schlosser was diagnosed with manic depression and declared mentally incompetent to stand trial. But in May, after doctors treated her, a judge found she was competent.

Prosecutors said the defense improperly blamed Schlosser's husband, church, social workers and others for her actions.

"Were all these entities failing when Dena Schlosser walked into the kitchen, bypassed the small knife and chose the instrument of death?" Assistant District Attorney Bill Dobiyanski said as he displayed the bloody kitchen knife.

OMG, that poor baby.

HELLO, a zillion red flags! Damn it, stuff like this makes me so mad. She should be locked up until her last breath. Psycho. :mad

John Schlosser, said he wasn't alarmed when his wife said after church the day before the killing that she wanted to "give the baby to God."

The summer before Maggie died, Schlosser abandoned Maggie and her other two children by running away from the family's apartment. She was found two miles away by Plano police and released from a hospital less than 24 hours later.

Dena Schlosser, who was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis after Maggie's birth, didn't take medication or see a doctor in the four months before the killing.



Now why the hell didnt people, her husband, pay attention to these details? Just ignore it and it will go away or not be true? Dont stick you nose in something because it might hurt the poor woman?:banghead It pisses me off about the people around these women:mad

Why couldn't they decide! :mad The fucking woman cut OFF her baby's arms and the child died. Who cares if she's insane, she needs to go to Jail and suffer for the rest of her life. I don't think the other women in jail would take to kindly to her!

Reason of Insanity. That term always makes my skin crawl. That term indicates that we know, understand and have passed laws based on the fact that at some point in our lives and minds, we will lose total control of our functions and revert to a primal state that knows only a single trait:

Survival, at all costs.

In this case, I would have been the juror who made up his mind on the first day. Let's say, just for a second, that you are driving along, and realize that in .3 seconds, you're going to be in a head-on collision with another vehicle. Your first instinct, if you're a parent, is to disregard your own safety and protect your child by gripping them or shielding their face. If you have no children, it would be to protect your face, head and neck. This is why people throw both of their forearms up over their face.

This woman lacks that trait. When she reached her breaking point, she grabbed a knife and sawed off the arms of the single most innocent thing in the house. This is not the actions of an insane person. She stated the day before that she wanted to see the child to God. Whatever her reasoning was, it was premeditated murder - and her own statement should have been enough to condemn her.

Instead, we see the "coddling of America" - people are not being held to their responsibilites and allowed to skate out of the way when the peacekeepers come prying.

The only real crime here is that the defense lawyers are allowed to breathe. Congratulations, ambulance chasers! Perhaps next time you'll brief your client on how to hide the evidence after she slaughters a pesky infant. <insert string of expletives>

This story has been really big in DFW ... it happened in Plano which is just north of Dallas so we have it on the news everyday... one important thing that the news stations have been saying is that the day of the murder she called her husband and said that "she hurt Maggie", which implies that she knew the whole time that she was hurting her daughter... that's not insane... that's completely conscious and she knew what she was doing... there's your catch right there... that's your smoking gun and your murder confession. She should've been locked up, but because the justice system can be so screwed up sometimes she is off right now and they are waiting another trial which is going to give the defense even more time to prepare a stronger insanity plea.... JEEZ! What is the judge thinking in this case. The woman is a murderer... she killed her OWN baby for goodness sakes... that's not something people just up and do for no reason at all... she had mentality enough to pick up the knife knowing it would work and that losing her arms would kill her.... the jurors in this case were idiots in my opinion... she should be locked up right now

I dont know every detail of the case but with a split jury of 10-2, with 10 saying not guilty, I'm thinking there's a lot more to it than simply pre-meditated murder.

It's easy to blame the people close to her for neglecting to see the signs of mental illness and act accordingly but it's very easy to be too close to realise exactly what is going on.

I concur, Zelda - Tunnelvision is something any of us can suffer from. Those near her probably had no idea, or simply didn't want to know. Her husband left her, which indicates that her action was completely random to him. Obviously, he wasn't paying close attention to his wife's state.

To us looking in through the fence, we all had red flags going off. But that's the story we're fed. I sincerely doubt that as the events before her actions were as dramatic.

Not sure if you're familiar with US Laws, Zelda, but in felony cases, ALL jurors must be in agreement with the verdict. 11-1, and the trial is a mistrial. (A GREAT story on this is "Twelve Angry Men (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_Angry_Men)".)

I concur, Zelda - Tunnelvision is something any of us can suffer from. Those near her probably had no idea, or simply didn't want to know. Her husband left her, which indicates that her action was completely random to him. Obviously, he wasn't paying close attention to his wife's state.

To us looking in through the fence, we all had red flags going off. But that's the story we're fed. I sincerely doubt that as the events before her actions were as dramatic.

Not sure if you're familiar with US Laws, Zelda, but in felony cases, ALL jurors must be in agreement with the verdict. 11-1, and the trial is a mistrial. (A GREAT story on this is "Twelve Angry Men (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_Angry_Men)".)

Yes I'm familiar with some US laws. My point was that the majority of the jury voted not guilty. If it was a clear cut pre-meditated murder, surely even in the case of a split jury tha majority would've voted guilty.

It's very easy to be the judge and jury when hearing stories like this one - where the point of defence is an act of insanity. But whilst most people would hear the story and say that the woman should be locked away for all eternity, there's often a lot more to the story that complicates the case somewhat. Personally, I dont think the woman in question fully comprehended what she was doing. Regardless of the verdict, I really hope she gets the help and treatment she needs.

better go to trial again and next time i hope better justice is served.

i don't think she should be put in jail or prison but a federal psychiatric unit. i think she does need help, help that a jail/prison can't give her. i also think the husband should be charged with failure to protect his child or something like that. i think she was aware of what she's doing but just because someone is aware of it doesn't mean that they can control it, hence the psychosis diagnosis. she needs alot of mental help. that is disgusting that someone can do that to their child. and its disgusting that her husband did nothing!!!! that's almost as disgusting

This is disgusting sane or not sane certain people do not deserve to live. This lady is no different to me then a rabid dog that attacks an innocent kid because it is mad. With a rabid dog you don't try to treat it you just put it down. Our society is to sensitive and soft, I wonder if this kind of thing would even get to trial in countries such as Israel which see violence everyday.

This is really sick the lady does not deserve to live.:mad

This is disgusting sane or not sane certain people do not deserve to live. This lady is no different to me then a rabid dog that attacks an innocent kid because it is mad. With a rabid dog you don't try to treat it you just put it down. Our society is to sensitive and soft, I wonder if this kind of thing would even get to trial in countries such as Israel which see violence everyday.

This is really sick the lady does not deserve to live.:mad

My mother and sister both have bipolar disorder, and my mum has suffered from psychotic episodes in the past. My sister, on one occasion had an episode not unsimilar to the woman in this news story, but instead of being propelled to harm someone else she was propelled to kill herself. The brain mechanism is the same though, she could have been propelled to do harm to others. Thankfully, we found her, she didn't die, she got treatment and you now wouldn't know that she was bipolar at all. Does she deserve to be 'put down like a rabid dog' too?

Society is 'sensitive and soft' because on a whole it understands that there is more to a case than simply killing someone. People with psychosis, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder need treatment but it's due to the intolerant people in society that shun things they do not understand that these people refuse to get the treatment they need - they refuse to acknowledge that they're mentally ill because they're afraid.

Edited for spelling

My mother and sister both have bipolar disorder, and my mum has suffered from psychotic episodes in the past. My sister, on one occasion had an episode not unsimilar to the woman in this news story, but instead of being propelled to harm someone else she was propelled to kill herself. The brain mechanism is the same though, she could have been propelled to do harm to others. Thankfully, we found her, she didn't die, she got treatment and you now wouldn't know that she was bipolar at all. Does she deserve to be 'put down like a rabid dog' too?

Society is 'sensitive and soft' because on a whole it understands that there is more to a case than simply killing someone. People with psychosis, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder need treatment but it's due to the intolerant people in society that shun things they do not understand that these people refuse to get the treatment they need - they refuse to acknowledge that they're mentally ill because they're afraid.

Edited for spelling

I have to agree with Phil on this one. While I have suffered from depression, a mental illness of its own....I would say that yes its treatable, as is bipolar & psychotic disorders. The likelihood of something similar occuring again, or even worse is a lot greater once you have had it once. I would not kill this woman, but I absolutely think under NO circumstances whatsoever should that person be able to remain a member of society as if nothing happened. They need to permanently be placed in a psycho ward and spend the rest of their lives there.

I have to agree with Phil on this one. While I have suffered from depression, a mental illness of its own....I would say that yes its treatable, as is bipolar & psychotic disorders. The likelihood of something similar occuring again, or even worse is a lot greater once you have had it once. I would not kill this woman, but I absolutely think under NO circumstances whatsoever should that person be able to remain a member of society as if nothing happened. They need to permanently be placed in a psycho ward and spend the rest of their lives there.

I agree - she should be put in a psychiatric institute and given the treatment she obviously needs. I'm pretty sure I said that in a previous post. I just dont think she should be put down like a rabid dog!

I agree - she should be put in a psychiatric institute and given the treatment she obviously needs. I'm pretty sure I said that in a previous post. I just dont think she should be put down like a rabid dog!

and everybody is entitled to their own opinion. If it were honestly up to me, I would absolutely take an eye for an eye approach to this.

I am totally sickened by this. I am in tears and going offline now to go hug and play with my kids.

Mental illness or not, she knew right from wrong. Same goes for the mother that had to chase down her 5th child so that she could drown him too.

I have an Aunt who is bipolar schizophrenic. she has episodes where she is really out of control. she is on medication but when she stops taking it she has these episodes. We have been learning in abnormal psychology that when these people take themselves off the medication it is not for no reason, the medicines have side effects that can make life miserable for them. I do not think she should go to jail. I think she needs serious psychiatric help. I think the eye for an eye approach is not a good one in ANY situation and especially not in one where the person obviously is suffering from a seriously disabling psychological disease. I think it is sad how many people are so quick to judge and just say "send them to jail". you need to stop and think, what if someone you love suffered from this illness and could not control their actions? would you not want them to get HELP and rehabilitate? She needs to spend a very, very long time in a Psych ward and probably requires supervision forever. I do not think people should just give up on her.

If my dh killed our child he better be ready for something worse than jail.

I have an Aunt who is bipolar schizophrenic. she has episodes where she is really out of control. she is on medication but when she stops taking it she has these episodes. We have been learning in abnormal psychology that when these people take themselves off the medication it is not for no reason, the medicines have side effects that can make life miserable for them. I do not think she should go to jail. I think she needs serious psychiatric help. I think the eye for an eye approach is not a good one in ANY situation and especially not in one where the person obviously is suffering from a seriously disabling psychological disease. I think it is sad how many people are so quick to judge and just say "send them to jail". you need to stop and think, what if someone you love suffered from this illness and could not control their actions? would you not want them to get HELP and rehabilitate? She needs to spend a very, very long time in a Psych ward and probably requires supervision forever. I do not think people should just give up on her.

I dont fully agree with what you said. So maybe the eye for an eye thing is extreme....it's what I feel is fair though. However, if it was my loved one....whether it be husband, sister, cousin, etc that cut a child's arms off, hell yes I think they need to spend their life at the VERY LEAST in a psycho ward. I dont think under ANY circumstance should this woman ever get to live as a normal citizen in society.

If my dh killed our child he better be ready for something worse than jail.

I agree with you there! mental illness or not, I would definitely kill the bastard that hurt my child!

I dont fully agree with what you said. So maybe the eye for an eye thing is extreme....it's what I feel is fair though. However, if it was my loved one....whether it be husband, sister, cousin, etc that cut a child's arms off, hell yes I think they need to spend their life at the VERY LEAST in a psycho ward. I dont think under ANY circumstance should this woman ever get to live as a normal citizen in society.

and i also think she needs to spend some time in a psych ward. However, it disgusts me that people think she should go to jail or worse, be executed. SHE IS ILL! IT IS AN ILLNESS JUST LIKE CANCER IS AN ILLNESS.

Yeah, your family members have those illnesses but they haven't killed anyone, have they?

I agree w/ Hatetank about America making excuses for actions.

Why is it so disgusting her Dh did nothing? I'm sure if he thought his wife was going to kill his kid, he would of taken action. Unfortunately he turned the other way & blew it off. I don't think he should be held responsible for her actions.

As I said earlier, my sister didn't harm anyone but herself, but it's the same problems with 5-hydroxytryptamine reuptake mechanisms in the striatum and hippocampal regions of the brain that cause a person to react in that way, be it harming themselves or others. It's the same illness. My sister wasn't aware of the implications of her suicide attempt, so it's very possible that this woman wasn't aware of the implications of her actions either.

I do think that until the woman is treated she is a danger to society and therefore should be in a secure place, but I dont think that usual methods of punishment in this case are ethically viable or beneficial to anyone. JMO

and then again some people are just mean

All these statements are excuses, our society especialy nowadays accepts behavior that is irrational and unexceptable. In the past behavior like this was not tolerated. Our society has become a festering bowl of excuses, oh your sad alot you must be depressed, oh life is tough here here take some pills oh and if you do something crazy its ok because your bi-polar.

NOW don't get me wrong I ACKNOWLEDGE that there are people with chemical imbalances that simply make them unable to be a functioning member of society and while in no means do I support a euthinasia approach to these people I do support an isolationist viewpoint.

However, I believe that the majority of people who get "depressed", "bi-polar", and "psychotic" are weak minded people who need to suck it up. Our soceity coddles people and just encourages the weak to be weak and seek medical and scientific scapegoats for their actions.

I believe someone here said that this chic called her husband and said she hurt her daughter and that her daughter needs to be with god. IF THAT ISN"T PREMEDITATED WHAT IS???? If she was insane she would not have recognized that she was hurting her daughter.

I want to stress I believe in things such as PPD, Bi-polar, Depression, anxiety. HOWEVER, I strongly believe that in most cases it is more a mentality then a medical disorder. Our society needs to stop being sensitive and caring so much about everyone being happy and everyones "needs" and get real.

I normally don't post but in the fitness forum, but being a person who went through bad stuff because of adults I dispise ill treatment of children there is no reason for this behavior and this woman should be ostracized from all society and banished from the face of the earth to suffer long and slow.

I agree with you, Boatguy, to a certain extent. There are two different types of mental illness - endogenous and reactive. Generally speaking, endogenous mental illness manifests itself at the onset of puberty. It's partially genetic and partially social. People with endogenous MI's generally need medical treatment. People with reactive illnesses develop symptoms after experiencing a particular situation, for example, after the death of a loved one. These people generally benefit more from counselling - clinical treatment doesn't yield high benefits. IMO a lot of the people with reactive illness are coddled by society. But the lines blur when the people with endogenous illness exert reactive symptoms. In the case of this woman, she had bipolar disorder complexed with PPD, which in her case most probably brought about the reactive psychosis. Yes, she's a danger to society and should be put in a secure place, but throwing her in jail isn't going to help. She needs clinical treatment. The news article I read stated that if the woman was found guilty she'd be given life imprisonment, whereas if found not guilty she'd get hopsital treatment. I think this is why the majority of the jury voted not guilty. Again, JMO.

I've also been through a hell of a lot, things I cannot post here, through other adults - both mentally ill and otherwise. I still maintain that clinially ill people need medical treatment, whether that illness is manifested physically or mentally.

I agree to an extent with you also. I acknowledge that some people are just chemically imbalanced and need medical help. But this chic acknowledged what she did! SHE CALLED HER HUSBAND AND SAID SHE HURT HER DAUGHTER. This reminds me of these women who get so depressed that they just lash out on anything around them. There may have been underlying factors and none of us know all the facts but based on what I have read she deserves corporal punishment not medical treatment she does not deserve to exist in any form of society. To me shes a waste of air, space, and time.

I agree to an extent with you also. I acknowledge that some people are just chemically imbalanced and need medical help. But this chic acknowledged what she did! SHE CALLED HER HUSBAND AND SAID SHE HURT HER DAUGHTER. This reminds me of these women who get so depressed that they just lash out on anything around them. There may have been underlying factors and none of us know all the facts but based on what I have read she deserves corporal punishment not medical treatment she does not deserve to exist in any form of society. To me shes a waste of air, space, and time.
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. :dunno I think she needs medical help. Yes, she called her husband and said she'd hurt her daughter. My sister told my mum that she'd hurt herself. She still didn't understand the implications of what she had done. She didn't fully understand that slashing the length of both her arms and taking at least 30 different pills could end her life. It wasn't until after treatment that she understood. After treatment, she was shocked at what she did, was completely remorseful and I believe that whilst she is treated she wont attempt it again. She's happy and leads a normal life. How can you say with complete certainty that it's not the same with this woman?

I can't say that this woman is not this way and that she won't turn out peachy after some treatment. The fact is our society should not tolerate those who slaughter innocents on any level sane or not sane. If this lady wanted to kill herself so be it but to take the life of an innocent, I can show no sympathy for this woman.

We should not waste our resources on people like this I agree in helping those who are ill, but people like this should be cast aside. If they hurt themselves thats one thing but to harm an innocent is a crime that shouldn't be forgiven in my book.

I am not disagreeing with you nor am I agreeing with you. Neither of us will ever know all the facts I just believe that people who harm innnocent little children do not deserve to be helped.

No, my aunt has never hurt anyone other than herself. However, if she did I would not want her dead. I would want her to be watched over and recieve the best care that could be offered to her. People who hurt innocent children are either incredibly cruel or incredibly ill. If they are incredibly ill they deserve a chance to be rehabilitated.

I guess I just don't see why she deserve's to be rehabilitated. That little baby deserves to be alive, but she isn't.

UPDATE!!! They are now wondering whether or not they are going to have another trial or not... this is based on the evening news here in DFW.... we'll see what happens, but some psychiatrists have been getting involved and are talking to the judge and both the defense and the prosecution saying that if one jury was hung then more than likely another will be the same... that they should just get her into a hospital.... the psychiatrist on the news tonight said that people don't stay insane forever if they take their medication right. :dunno that one kind of threw me.... someone has to be there ALL the time to make sure they take it... my sister is an example... she's clinically depressed and doesn't take her meds all the time unless my mom gets on her about it and she can get really bad when she's off of them

Not all the time - my mum can regulate her meds herself. She just goes to the Dr once a month for a checkup.

Not all the time - my mum can regulate her meds herself. She just goes to the Dr once a month for a checkup.


Well that's an encouragement, but I just hope they can get her help and if she can't be rehabilitated then I just pray for her soul!

Can you keep us updated Steph? I'd like to know what happens to her.

Sure thing... I'm a news-a-holic so tomorrow night there should be an update if not then wednesday... they said the next couple of days they should have a decision on a new trial or not...

Thanks :)

yeah, i would like to know too!

Ok, so what happens to her IF she gets the treatment? They just said if you take your medication, you can be ok.

So when she is a bit more sane, what happens? She deserves to be punished.

Ok, so what happens to her IF she gets the treatment? They just said if you take your medication, you can be ok.

So when she is a bit more sane, what happens? She deserves to be punished.

I completely agree, and who's to say if we release these people back into society that they are not going to stop taking their medicine?? Thats a choice they make every day.....

This is the problem with your judiciary system at the moment. The jury only had the choice between sane and guilty or insane and innocent. They didn't have the option to say she was insane and guilty. IMO she should be put in a secure facility where she can get the help she needs. That way she is incarcerated AND she gets the necessary treatment. At the moment the laws are just too clear-cut - they need to be amended.

Your judiciary system is set so that people are only incarcerated if the prosecution can prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. That way, as few people as possible are incarcerated for crimes they are innocent of. Compare this to the Japanese system, where ~90% of people arrested for a crime are convicted for that crime. They may incarcerate all of the guilty people but they imprison a lot of innocent people too. To enjoy the benefits of a free country, you must also suffer the flaws.

This is the problem with your judiciary system at the moment. The jury only had the choice between sane and guilty or insane and innocent. They didn't have the option to say she was insane and guilty. IMO she should be put in a secure facility where she can get the help she needs. That way she is incarcerated AND she gets the necessary treatment. At the moment the laws are just too clear-cut - they need to be amended.

Your judiciary system is set so that people are only incarcerated if the prosecution can prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. That way, as few people as possible are incarcerated for crimes they are innocent of. Compare this to the Japanese system, where ~90% of people arrested for a crime are convicted for that crime. They may incarcerate all of the guilty people but they imprison a lot of innocent people too. To enjoy the benefits of a free country, you must also suffer the flaws.

I agree with you on that....they should have a guilty and insane plea!

what i said earlier about her getting psychiatric help was instead of her serving her sentence in a prison serve it in a psychiatric ward so she can get help that she needs, no reason to put her in prison, her get out on good behavior and then just keep cycling through our jail systems