Dad to stand trial in death of infant found in Creek (Uniontown, Pennsylvania)

Dad WARREN ERNEST BIRCHER is charged with homicide, conspiracy, and concealing the death of a child.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/s_634954.html#

Man to stand trial in death of infant found in creek
By Mark Hofmann
DAILY COURIER
Thursday, July 23, 2009

The man reputed to be the father of an infant whose body was found in a creek nine years ago will stand trial on homicide and related charges.

After hearing testimony during a preliminary hearing Wednesday, District Judge Wendy Dennis of Uniontown ordered Warren Ernest Bircher, 34, of Adah, bound over for trial in Fayette County Court on charges of homicide, conspiracy and concealing the death of a child.

The remains of the infant who came to be known as "Baby Mary" were found June 2000 in Cove Run Creek off of Yauger Hollow Road in North Union.

The incident went unsolved until November, when police determined "Baby Mary" was the child of Bircher and his then teenage sister-in-law Sarah Sue Hawk of North Union.

Hawk told authorities she delivered the baby in the yard behind Bircher's mobile home and Bircher then placed the baby in plastic bags, a flannel shirt and a backpack and dropped her in a creek, according to the criminal complaint.

Bircher's attorney, Jack Conner, said during the hearing yesterday that the state had not established that the baby was alive at birth. He said there were no facts to back up that statement. He pointed out that previous testimony stated the baby did not cry when born.

"They're guessing that the child had to be alive," Conner said. "Their opinions are based on facts that don't exist."

District Attorney Nancy Vernon said autopsy reports from forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht and Fayette County Coroner Dr. Phillip Reilly agree that the baby was a viable fetus, age eight months.

In his testimony yesterday, Reilly said a baby at that age can live outside the womb with no special treatment.

Reilly said the cause of death was listed as deprivation of any supportive care to a newborn with lack of warmth, nourishment and oxygen and intentional abandonment and exposure to a hostile environment.

Hawk, who is free on bond, testified against Bircher. She said she felt the baby moving in the womb up to two hours before she gave birth.

But Conner said criminal intent had not been proven by the state, and he asked Dennis to withdraw charges of homicide and conspiracy.

"Murdered babies don't breathe," Vernon said, adding that Bircher had told Hawk and an independent witness that he was going to put the baby in a bag and then in the creek like he did with dogs and cats.

Bircher remains in the Fayette County Prison without bond.