Gosnell Kept Babies' Hands, Feet as Trophies, Much Like Serial Killers, Says Prosecution
Editor's Note: Warning, graphic material in following article.
In the fifth week of Kermit Gosnell's murder trial, jurors learned about severed hands and feet Gosnell kept in jars of formaldehyde, clogged toilets filled with aborted babies' arms and legs, and a federally-funded children's vaccination program Gosnell scammed to obtain vaccines for his grandchild.
On Monday, Dr. Sam Gulino, Philadelphia's chief medical examiner, gave his testimony about the 47 dead babies recovered from Gosnell's office that were delivered to him for examination, including the aborted remains of Karnamaya Mongar's baby.
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Gosnell, 72, faces seven counts of first-degree murder for allegedly killing babies who were born alive; and one count of third-degree murder for the death of Mongar, 41, who died in 2009 from a Demerol overdose administered to her at the West Philadelphia Women's Medical Society abortion clinic that Gosnell owned and operated for 40 years.
"Mongar's baby was estimated to be 16 to 19 weeks gestation," wrote Cheryl Sullenger, who's covering the Gosnell trial for Operation Rescue. "The baby sported a head of dark brown hair; and Gulino testified that he found no fetal anomalies when he examined the baby's body. A photo of the baby [presented to the jury] showed a deep gash approximately an inch long in the back of the neck."
Gulino told the court the remains he received included five jars containing babies' feet. Two of the jars were from the same baby, estimated to be between 14 and 19 weeks gestation, and contained a right and a left foot.
He also estimated that at least three babies had the "possibility of viability, which Pennsylvania law requires an examiner must report," according to NBC-10. And two of the babies he examined were older than 24 weeks gestation, and 26 were aborted during the second trimester.
"The fetuses were fragmented in several places" Gulino said, testifying that he inspected the babies' lungs, eyelids, and other body parts to calculate their gestational ages.
Gulino also testified that there was no medical reason for Gosnell to keep the babies' feet and hands in jars of formaldehyde.
"The prosecution believes that the feet and hands were taken as trophies by Gosnell, just as serial killers often engage in the practice of taking mementos from victims they kill," wrote Sullenger.
Toilets clogged with body parts
James Johnson, the common law husband of Elizabeth Hampton, the foster sister of Gosnell's wife, Pearl, was among the three witnesses who testified in the Gosnell trial on Tuesday.
Sullenger told The Christian Post that Johnson and Hampton live in a house that's owned by Gosnell. Johnson worked for the abortionist as his handyman for basic repairs, such as fixing the corroded obstetrics table that was falling apart.
Johnson testified about the rat infested clinic and the basement that was filled with bags of babies' remains. He also described in detail the gory scene he witnessed on a weekly basis when the clinic's toilets would back up.
"When Johnson opened the clean out drain on the outside of the building, tiny arms and other body parts gushed out. … Gosnell told him to clean it up. Johnson took a shovel and scooped up the human remains with a shovel into a plastic bag and put it in the freezer," Sullenger wrote about Johnson's testimony.
Children's vaccination scam
Lorraine Matikjiw, a quality assurance nurse for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, testified on Tuesday that she twice reported Gosnell to her supervisor for fraudulently enrolling in a federally-funded children's vaccination program when he didn't provide health care to children.
Matikjiw testified that Gosnell claimed he was providing vaccinations for 19 to 20 children, but that Eileen O'Neill, who worked as a nurse for Gosnell with no license or certification, said he enrolled in the program so that his grandchild could receive vaccinations.
Her supervisor didn't act on the violation reports, and describing her two visits to the clinic, she testified that Gosnell wasn't available to meet with her and the charts she requested were not provided. She was, however, taken to the refrigerators "where she observed filthy conditions, the smell of cat urine, and a freezer where aborted-babies' remains were stored along with the vaccines," according to Sullenger.
Thursday will conclude the fifth week of the Gosnell murder trial, which will continue on Monday.
District Attorney R. Seth Williams' grand jury report reveals that the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Human Services' last inspection of Gosnell's abortion clinic was in 1993.
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