Mom cooks baby in microwave oven - police
An urban legend no more
By Thomas C Greene in Dublin
Published Tuesday 28th November 2006
Police have charged an Ohio woman in the death, by microwave oven,
of her one-month-old daughter, the Associated Press reports.
Mom China Arnold, 26, stands accused of aggravated murder after
bringing her dead infant daughter, Paris, to a hospital, with a
"high body temperature". The woman was arrested, and later
released.
"We have reason to believe, and scientific evidence to support,
that a microwave oven might have been involved in the death of this
child," Montgomery County Coroner's Office Director Ken Betz is
quoted as saying.
It has taken authorities over a year to develop their case. "There
is not a lot of scientific research and data on the effect of
microwaves on human beings," Betz explained. (An observation for
which we can all be thankful. The Nazis missed out on that
opportunity by mere months.)
The microwave oven is an established fixture of geek / hobbyist
intrigue, often featured on shows like Brainiac and on Mythbusters,
which once threatened to investigate its effects on a small dog,
but backed away in the end.
There is a well-known urban legend about a baby sitter who gets
wasted on recreational drugs while on duty and cooks a "roast" in
the microwave. The parents return to discover that she had cooked
the baby by mistake.
If Arnold is found guilty, it will mark only the second known
instance of infanticide via microwave. The first is the case of
Virginia mom Elizabeth Renee Otte, who in 2000 pleaded no contest
to charges of involuntary manslaughter and received a sentence of
five years' incarceration. ®
