MAINZ, Germany — A woman was sentenced to 14 years in prison Wednesday for killing four of her babies.
The 45-year-old was found guilty of four counts of manslaughter after police found the remains of eight newborns wrapped in towels and plastic bags at a home in the Bavarian town of Wallenfels.
"The judge found the woman fully criminally liable" after taking into account the results of a psychiatric assessment, court spokesman Ingo Knecht-Guenther told NBC News.
Knecht-Guenther said that the remains of the other four infants were in “a state that did not allow judgment on whether the babies were alive when they were born” when they were discovered last year. As a result, the woman was only tried over the deaths of four children.
Local reports identified the woman as Andrea Goeppner, but she was not formally named by court officials in the city of Coburg.
The woman's 55-year-old husband was acquitted on charges of complicity in failing to stop the killings, which took place between 2003 and 2013.
Defense lawyer Till Wagler was quoted by NBC’s German partner channel ZDF as saying the the mother of eight had “blocked out” the pregnancies and panicked.
“The opinion of the court was fair and with an understanding for the situation of my client," Wagler added. "We will not appeal the ruling."
