PERPETRATOR DATA: 38 years old was nurse’s aid and some EMT training (but did not complete).

VICTIM:  30 year old Valerie Lynn Oskin

METHOD OF LOCATING VICTIM:  neighbors

SURVIVAL OF MOTHER: yes

SURVIVAL OF FETUS:  yes

DID PERPETRATOR HAVE CHILDREN: 3

FAKED PREGNANCY:  yes, had fake sonograms

MOTIVE: appears to have worried male partner would move out. 

EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE SOUGHT: n/a

OUTCOME: jail sentence

Valerie Oskin had been unwilling to discuss her pregnancy with her neighbor, Peggy Conner, but eventually confided that she planed to give the infant up for adoption.  Meanwhile, Conner claimed to be pregnant also, and claimed to be planning a home birth. 

Conner struck Oskin in the head with a baseball bat then drove her to a secluded area about 15 miles from the neighborhood where the two women live. Conner then struck Oskin with a crowbar and cut Oskin’s stomach along a previous caesarean scar. 

Oskin was rescued when a 17 year old road by in his all-terrain vehicle, saw what was happening who told his father and contacted the police. The adolescent and his father prevented Conner from driving away until the police arrived, and covered Oskin with a blanket.  He later reported that he thought that he had come across a murder. 

Oskin survived the attack and the emergency C-section by physicians to go on to identify Conner as her attacker. 

When Conner was arrested, she had with her a hemostat, bulb syringe, shoelaces, razor, scissors and rubber gloves (birthing kit). During the investigation, police found a bassinet and baby swing in Conner’s home. 

Per her estranged husband, Conner ‘had surgery while they lived together that prevented her from being able to become pregnant’. 

Conner attempted to plead insanity when her case came to court. 

Conner’s defense attorneys sought a psychological evaluation prior her sentencing, in an attempt to have her sentence either reduced or to have her sentenced to psychiatric confinement, 

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna9700943

https://www.reuters.com/article/world/woman-jailed-for-trying-to-steal-fetus-from-womb-idUSN22207573/

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1215497

https://www.telegram.com/story/news/local/north/2005/10/14/police-halt-woman-trying-to/53169095007/

https://www.post-gazette.com/local/north/2005/10/23/Hard-lives-cross-in-horror-in-Armstrong-County/stories/200510230247

https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/local/20070523_Attempt_to_steal_fetus_ends_in_jail_term.html

https://www.wave3.com/story/4677749/woman-accused-of-trying-to-cut-fetus-from-neighbors-womb-claims-confession-was-coerced/

https://www.post-gazette.com/uncategorized/2005/10/29/Evaluation-sought-of-suspect-in-baby-case/stories/200510290197

https://azdailysun.com/pregnant-woman-says-neighbor-attacked-her/article_83f95c3d-f115-52ff-8baf-ea0e0ec66d13.html

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-oct-15-na-bellyslasher15-story.html

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-oct-27-na-briefs27.5-story.html