The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

! 6 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, Wednesday, August 31,1994 Section Two Norma Jean stole babies from T here was a degree of inevitability drawing Mary Childs into the life and obsessions of Norma Jean Armistead. You see, Mary was having a baby and Norma; an obstetric nurse, desperately wanted one. Mary was a 26-year-old grocery store employee in Los Angeles. Her pregnancy pregnancy had been routine in every way. On Sept. 20,1974, she entered the Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Hollywood to have her baby. Mary's doctor estimated estimated the baby would weigh about eight pounds. In the hospital, Mary met Norma Armistead and instantly liked the friendly, outgoing 47-year-old nurse. That night, Norma administered several several drugs to her patient before Mary dozed off to sleep. When she woke up in the wee hours of the morning, Mary felt that something was drastically wrong. She had no control over her limbs and was unable to get her mind to focus. She peered at her stomach and was shocked to see that she wasn't big anymore. Was this some kind of fantastic dream? No, there were doctors and nurse Armistead at the side of her bed. They were all so serious. Mary tried to concentrate and listen as Norma spoke to the doctors. She told them she had visited the ward minutes earlier to find Mary unconscious with a stillborn baby in the bed between her legs. When Mary came to, she screamed and kicked until Norma managed to calm her down. In the next few hours, Mary was told blood tests indicated her body contained contained large quantities of narcotics, none of which had been prescribed. Mary was stunned. She had never taken any drugs on her own and informed the doctors of this fact. The medics didn't answer. After all, it was quite customary for women to deny they had anything to do with the death of their own baby. The stillborn child weighed slightly more than three pounds and had been dead for a week. Something was strangely amiss. The admitting doctor had told Mary her baby had a strong heartbeat and she could expect a healthy baby. There followed more denials. The consulting doctors didn't bother to check what they felt were this woman's obvious falsehoods with the admitting physician. They suggested she go home and try to forget the whole unpleasant experience. Heartbroken and depressed, Mary did as she was told. In the following months, Norma Armistead became the very dear friend of Kathryn Viramontes. What a coincidence. Kathryn, who already had three children, children, was once again pregnant and Norma was an obstetric nurse. The father of Kathryn's unborn child had left her during her pregnancy and she needed a friend. Norma more than fit the bill. She was kind, gentle and caring. She also took a great interest in Kathryn's health, insisting she see her doctor on a regular basis. Kathryn assured her friend that her doctor had told her throughout her term that her pregnancy was normal. She could expect a healthy baby. In mid-May, on her last visit to her doctor, Kathryn was told to expect the birth of her child during the first week in June. Four days later, Kathryn's nine- year-old son, Richie, ran to a neighbor's house crying that something was wrong with his mother. The neighbor found Kathryn's body on the bedroom floor in a pool of blood under a mattress. mattress. Bedsheets and clothing were strewn about the room. The neighbor called an ambulance. Across town, Norma walked into Kaiser Foundation Hospital carrying a newborn baby. Norma told a physician she had given birth to the baby on the way to the hospital. The doctor was a bit mystified. This woman, whom he had never seen before, seemed to be past childbearing age. After seeing to it that the baby was cared for, he proceeded proceeded to examine Norma. His suspi- Max HAINES Crime Flashback cions turned to amazement when he discovered his patient had no cervix or uterus. The doctor realized Norma had had a hysterectomy. Authorities were notified. The strange but true tale soon unfolded. Norma, who was living common law with Charlie Armistead, felt she was losing him because of her inability to have a baby. As an obstetric nurse, she had the opportunity to steal a live baby and replace.it with a fetus available to her from the hospital morgue. She had given massive doses of drugs to Mary Childs to induce labor and render her helpless. At the time, the doctors had believed their obstetric nurse rather than the confused patient. If they had taken the time to check out Mary's story, the evil that was Norma Jean Armistead would have been stopped then and there. As matters turned out, Norma had walked to another hospital with Mary's baby, telling them she had given birth on the way to the institution. institution. She had refused medical help and left the hospital with the baby. She later procured a birth certificate in the name of Carrie Armistead. Shortly after, Norma ingratiated herself herself into the life of Kathryn Viramontes. At the same time, she gained weight in order to appear pregnant. pregnant. All the while she posed as a caring, caring, concerned friend, more than willing willing to assist Kathryn through her pregnancy. pregnancy. On May 16,1975, while visiting Kathryn, the obstetric nurse injected her friend with various drugs, rendering rendering Kathryn unconscious. To make sure there would be no outcry, Norma placed tape over her victim's mouth and slit her throat, killing her immediately. immediately. It is not necessary to go into detail here. Suffice to say, Norma performed performed a Caesarian section on the dead woman. W ithin 24 hours, the relationship relationship between Norma and Kathryn was known to police. Norma confessed her terrible crimes and gave her reasons, as briefly outlined here. Her common- law husband had threatened to return to his wife and children. Norma was convinced that only by producing babies could she prevent Charlie from leaving. Despite Norma's strange behavior, psychiatrists found she knew the difference difference between right and wrong and had acted with full knowledge of the consequences consequences of her actions. In March 1976, she was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. She is currently incarcerated in the California Institute for Women. An aftermath of this strange case was provided when Mary Childs' eight- month-old baby, who had been living with Norma and Charlie, was returned to her. Mary sued the hospital and the attending physicians for $24 million. She was awarded $375,000, a large portion portion of which went to pay legal fees. I r- i J I iv a ;! I; I