A mother-of-15 from Colorado has been taken into custody following the discovery of her husband’s body on their property, reports the Daily Mail.
In 2019, Martha Crouch, 57, and her husband Timothy, 62, were accused of running what was described as a
“house of horrors,”
according to their 18-year-old daughter. The accusations against her include beating her children, depriving them of education, and even chaining one daughter to a bed in an attempt to make her lose weight. Most shockingly, she is accused of boiling puppies alive and forcing her children to witness these horrific acts.
“I’ll never be able to get the images out of my mind – seeing my mother dropping newborn puppies into boiling water and the smell of them cooking on the stovetop,”
Lizzy, Martha’s fourth-youngest daughter, told The Daily Mail.
Martha was charged with child abuse, cruelty to animals, and obstruction of an investigation. In an effort to avoid jail time, she took a plea deal in December 2021, pleading no contest to a fourth-degree felony count of attempted child abuse. However, just two days after her probation sentence began, Martha violated the terms, resulting in a warrant for her arrest.
Huerfano County sheriffs located her in Walsenburg, Colorado, almost 20 months later, after the tragic discovery of her husband’s lifeless body that was found on their front lawn. Authorities say she was hiding behind a concealed wall in her trailer.
Law enforcement also learned that her 14-year-old daughter had been missing for the past three years. Following their neighbor’s tip, authorities discovered a hidden wall within the kitchen of their home, where Martha and her missing daughter were located.
Martha was arrested for violating probation and now faces additional charges of misdemeanor child abuse and obstruction of deputies. She is presently detained in a county jail with a cash bond set at $5,000. The date for her next court appearance is yet to be determined.
#Clique, what are your thoughts?