AZ - Daniel Bechtel, 4 mos, starved to death, Phoenix, 17 April 2007

[Kymistry35]

This is such a sad story, made even sadder by the fact that it could have been prevented. Some people may use the excuse that with her being so young with so many children she was overwhelmed, but that is no excuse at all. I was 19 with two children, working full time, and trying to go to school and my kids were NEVER neglected or mistreated in anyway. Some people were just never meant to have kids.

 

[Vegas Bride]

This is such a sad story, made even sadder by the fact that it could have been prevented. Some people may use the excuse that with her being so young with so many children she was overwhelmed, but that is no excuse at all. I was 19 with two children, working full time, and trying to go to school and my kids were NEVER neglected or mistreated in anyway. Some people were just never meant to have kids.

I agree, some people should not be parents, so I have to ask, in this day and age when pregnancy is SO preventable, why did she have all these innocent lives that were dependant on her? I don't care if someone wants to spend 24/7 in their fantasy life on-line, go ahead and go for it if it doesn't hurt anyone else, but for gawds sake don't be breeding then if you can't be a real parent.
When that baby was born IMO there would have been many couples who would have loved to open up a real home for it full of caring and plenty of food and it just makes me sick how these "parents" let a wonderful little life suffer until it was to late. Did this baby have even 1 day of actual care after leaving the hospital? The more I think about what that baby went through the madder I get. I hope the other 2 babies never have to see the sperm and egg donor again and can somehow find a home where they can find out what true love and caring is about, it's a miracle they have managed to survive as long as they did. I also have to wonder if there was anyone else out there who had any knowledge of what was going on. Shouldn't the baby have been taken in for a Dr's visit? Was there any other family around? Didn't anybody out there ever care enough to want to see these little ones?

VB

 

[Taximom]

That IS the default setting. This must be the fourth or fifth case where this question has come up. Someone always makes a comment about that, thinking it indicates something dark, and others always have to let them know that "I don't want children" is the default. I've even seen mainstream press reporters point this out as if it means something. Nine times out of ten, it just doesn't. Steve/Mr. A.

(snipped)

Totally off-topic, but it would be cool if Myspace would just leave that off the profile until the user checks the box they want.

 

[kazzbar]

Maybe if this stupid person had spent less time setting up profiles of herself on the Net...
What a sick pair these two are.
Why would you not feed a baby?
I just cannot get my head around this tragedy at all..
What possible reasoning could thre be?
I feel sad, sad and angry...

 

[kazzbar]

I've always been interested in the internet lives of alleged criminals, and if I can google something about the person or case I will try. She left a lot of footprints on the web, and after I a while I stopped googling out of boredom!

My mom always said to me "curiosity killed the cat". :waitasec: Oh yeah, she also always said "never put anything in writing unless you don't mind if others see it." I guess that now applies to the internet as well.

I learned some tips from MisterAllGood as well. I didn't know he wrote anything about this case till just now though. (Nice to see you, Steve.)

Thanks for your great work, Taximom. I sometimes google criminals also...very interesting and you are right regarding footprints. What a busy net person this woman was...

 

[Taximom]

You're welcome, kazzbar! :blowkiss:

In her defense (the only thing I'll defend her for), I don't think there was too much internet activity recently.

There had to be something going on mentally for her to starve her 3 children. I'm not making excuses for her though.

I had 3 under 5 yrs at one time, a lovely teenage girl , and a very hard-working husband with two jobs so he was barely home. The only one that didn't eat was me. I ended up getting help for post-partum depression though.

I feel so sorry for that little baby.

 

[Taximom]

Very interesting comments at this blog re: this crime:
http://www.parentsbehavingbadly.com...tarve-four-month-old-daniel-bechtel-to-death/

I love that blog!

 

[mrsjonnob]

Taximom, I hear you about forgetting to eat. I have 7 kids, the oldest is almost 16, so I have had days where I realize at 3 pm haven't eaten yet! Of course, my kids are well fed and happy.

I can't imagine not feeding your children

 

[kazzbar]

You're welcome, kazzbar! :blowkiss:

In her defense (the only thing I'll defend her for), I don't think there was too much internet activity recently.

There had to be something going on mentally for her to starve her 3 children. I'm not making excuses for her though.

I had 3 under 5 yrs at one time, a lovely teenage girl , and a very hard-working husband with two jobs so he was barely home. The only one that didn't eat was me. I ended up getting help for post-partum depression though.

I feel so sorry for that little baby.

It sounds like this lady was not copeing well at all. I wonder if he pregnancies were planned and if they were 'wanted'. Maybe she was just floundering with no help.
However, I am not making excuses for her terrible cruelty just trying to get a grip on it all, somehow. It is so awfu to fathom wwhat must have been occuring in that household and how the kids felt... that poor baby must have been in such distress that it is just unthinkeable.
How did she just sit there ignoring it?
All i can think as others have said, is that there is a mental problem at play here.
I know it is hard being a parent sometimes but to starve your own kids is just to bizarre and awful.

 

[SieSie]

How awful, that poor baby. I can't imagine how hungry he must've been, and for so long.

I went to the MySpace link, for those who don't have an account there, I saved the pic from her profile, here it is:

Prayers for those innocent children, may they find loving homes and have happy futures. May the baby boy rest in peace, with no more hunger or sadness in his little life.

 

[Texana]

How tragic.

I wonder if she was severely depressed, and her husband was trying to support the family.

I wonder where the rest of the family was--it seems so sad today that we do not have the extended family support that years ago, most mothers had. Mothers, aunts, grandmothers, cousins and sisters who would keep an eye on each other and pitch in as needed.

Heartbreaking!

 

[timetravel]

a four month old is too damn young to have an eating disorder - i think mom had the "eating disorder" and projected it onto her baby - i watched the video clip and a neighbor swore she always saw that mom had a bottle for the baby - i can't believe this neighbor didn't notice the baby's emaciated state!!!

 

[Taximom]

a four month old is too damn young to have an eating disorder - i think mom had the "eating disorder" and projected it onto her baby - i watched the video clip and a neighbor swore she always saw that mom had a bottle for the baby - i can't believe this neighbor didn't notice the baby's emaciated state!!!

Hi, timetravel. I love that you take care of cats! :blowkisss:

I don't think a 4 month old is too young to have an eating disorder, but that IS too young for any doctor not to have hospitalized him before it reached the point it did. There's no excuse for that.

That leads me to think she wasn't getting him the medical care he needed, OR that there wasn't really an eating disorder-she just wasn't feeding him enough and nobody saw the poor child (or the others) while this was happening.

 

[Taximom]

It sounds like this lady was not copeing well at all. I wonder if he pregnancies were planned and if they were 'wanted'. Maybe she was just floundering with no help.
However, I am not making excuses for her terrible cruelty just trying to get a grip on it all, somehow. It is so awfu to fathom wwhat must have been occuring in that household and how the kids felt... that poor baby must have been in such distress that it is just unthinkeable.
How did she just sit there ignoring it?
All i can think as others have said, is that there is a mental problem at play here.
I know it is hard being a parent sometimes but to starve your own kids is just to bizarre and awful.

I know what you mean, kazzbar. I have lots of family around but nobody really offered to help after I practically had 3 in a row. To them, everything was fine and I didn't ask. My husband? He's the sweetest guy on earth, but was totally clueless!

Inside I was dying because I just couldn't get anything done besides feeding and changing diapers. I was well aware of post-partum depression, thank goodness, and sought help on my own.

I'm not excusing her at all, but I do wonder if she felt like I did and at some point you literally can't do anything.

I hope her other children are doing much better now.

 

[Taximom]

Taximom, I hear you about forgetting to eat. I have 7 kids, the oldest is almost 16, so I have had days where I realize at 3 pm haven't eaten yet! Of course, my kids are well fed and happy.

I can't imagine not feeding your children

Wow! 7 kids! You are amazing!

We always wanted more (8), but once we had 4....we thought that was enough. Now that they are all getting a little more independent though.... Guess I'll wait for grandchildren.

I do know that when my kids start having babies that I will do everything possible to help them out to avoid something like what happened in this case. Maybe there just needs to be more awareness, especially when there are already other young children at home.

 

[timetravel]

if a four month old has an eating disorder than its a sign of severe emotional neglect - and for a four month old to be emotionally neglected that means he is also being physically neglected - the two, unfortunately, go hand and hand ......or else a baby is severely depressed cause it lost its mom after three months of attachment - or the child is being sexually molested......what i can't get over is that neighbor on the video who SAW NOTHING WRONG.....are people blind today? Is this kitty genovese all over again???

thanks for the catsup, by the by - i posted somewhere else about the kittykarekit i karry with me everywhere i go....

 

[timetravel]

by the by - i have two kids - eight years apart in age - and when they were both being weaned from breastfeeding i went through a bit of postpartum depression - which can lead to feeling overwhelmed whether its one kid or seven you are caring for - and everyone around was clueless - because in spite of it i took great care of my babies.....i think mine was more mourning them starting to grow.....
which makes me think - perhaps this mother wanted, somehow, to keep this kid a "baby" forever - by keeping him small, he would always be as a newborn - just a thought here - too many psych courses when i got my degrees in mental health and psychology lol...

 

[Taximom]

if a four month old has an eating disorder than its a sign of severe emotional neglect - and for a four month old to be emotionally neglected that means he is also being physically neglected - the two, unfortunately, go hand and hand ......or else a baby is severely depressed cause it lost its mom after three months of attachment - or the child is being sexually molested......what i can't get over is that neighbor on the video who SAW NOTHING WRONG.....are people blind today? Is this kitty genovese all over again???

thanks for the catsup, by the by - i posted somewhere else about the kittykarekit i karry with me everywhere i go....

I guess when I hear "eating disorder" about a newborn I'm thinking of food allergies and possible physical problems w/ingesting what is needed to grow.

At one time doctors thought my son had "pyloric stenosis" which can cause severe dehydration and other problems if not taken care of.

There are other "disorders" that a newborn can have that can be metabolic and/or physical in nature. I don't think they were talking about something like anorexia or bulemia (sp).

Just my two cents.

 

[Belinda]

By James King, Monday, Mar. 29 2010 @ 3:30PM

A Phoenix mom, who plead guilty to the second-degree murder of her 4-month-old son, was sentenced to decades in prison today in Maricopa County Superior Court.

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office announced that 25-year-old Katherine Hatten got 37 years in prison for the murder of her infant.

snip

In April of 2007, Phoenix police found the emaciated, dead body of Hatten's baby and found that his injuries were consistent with neglect, prompting police to take a look at Hatten and the baby's father, Thaddeus Bechtel.

snip

Bechtel went to trial and was found guilty of two counts of child abuse. He is serving a 22-year prison sentence.

More at link:
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2010/03/phoenix_mom_sentenced_in_murde.php