Norma Jean Armistead

Normal Jean Armistead was a 44 year old nurse working at Kaiser hospital in Los Angeles when she used the hospital records to locate a pregnant woman at the end of her 3rd trimester. Armistead’s live-in boyfriend Charles Armistead was married and had threatened to return to his wife. Armistead thought having a child together would persuade her boyfriend to stay, despite the fact that she had a hysterectomy years previously. When Mary Childs came to the obstetrics ward where Armistead worked, in labor, Armistead sedated her heavily, took her newborn girl, and presented a stillborn corpse from the morgue to Childs and the physicians. Armistead then presented the newborn girl to her boyfriend, who complained because he wished to have a son. Using the hospital records, Armistead then located a woman at the end of her trimester. Armistead went to the home of 28 year old Kathryn Viamontes, cut her throat, and cut out the fetus. Armistead presented herself and the male infant at the same hospital where she worked, claiming to have given birth at home but the staff were suspicious due to the fact that the 44 year old did not show signs of having given birth. When Viamontes’ corpse was discovered, with the fetus missing, suspicion turned to Armistead. Armistead had planned the crime for over 9 months, forging her own medical records to create a false report of being pregnant.. This infant girl was found at Armistead’s home during the investigation of Viamontes’ murder. The parents of that infant girl, William and Mary Childs were able to recover their daughter months later when blood tests showed they were the parents. Armistead attempted to plea insanity but was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.