Otty Sanchez
Okay, so maybe some of us aren’t cut out for parenting. I have a friend whose wife couldn’t wait to have a child…only to realize a few weeks later she wanted nothing to do with raising the child. Doctors called it postpartum depression and thankfully for her child, she ran to her “mother’s little helper” and handled it: Prozac for her and Ritalin for her son. No more problems there.
Otty Sanchez doesn’t appear abnormal for a mom with a newborn son. Just look at her here, lying next to her baby, Scotty Wesley Bucholz-Sanchez.
Sadly, Scotty’s life ended tragically at 3 1/2 weeks. His mom beheaded him before dawn just last Sunday (July 26th) , and left a scene so gruesome that even the police were left shaken. Authorities found the baby with three of his toes chewed off, his face torn away and his head was severed. The Fox New website reports that “Sanchez told police — who described a scene so horrifying that investigators could barely speak to one another — that the devil made her kill, mutilate and eat parts of her only child.” Sickening.
Here’s where the real story starts to unfold. In the Fox New website report, daddy Bucholz stated he “…isn’t buying it. He said although his girlfriend had postpartum depression and told him a week before the killing that she was schizophrenic, she didn’t appear unstable.” “She killed my son. She should burn in hell,” he told the Associated Press.
Was it postpartum depression? In May 2008, Otty Sanchez’s mother, Manuela Sanchez, called police after her daughter didn’t return from a trip to Austin, saying she was concerned 
about her daughter’s safety. Manuela Sanchez told police she suspected Otty was into drugs and specifically told police she wasn’t suffering from any mental issues.
According to other media reports, “the warning signs were there” and “she had been diagnosed with postpartum psychosis, which can cause delusional thoughts and hallucinations.” Her aunt said that she had been “in and out” of a psychiatric ward and that the hospital had called several months ago to check up on her. She even told her boyfriend Scott W. Bucholz, the father of her child, that she “had been diagnosed with postpartum depression and was going to be admitted to a hospital for treatment.”
Bucholz told AP that Otty Sanchez “seemed fine in the days before the killing, even though they argued.” This is from a guy “who is himself schizophrenic and takes six anti-psychotic and anti-convulsive medications.” Now there’s someone I would want to make a determination as to whether the mother of the child is mentally stable. Anyone else see anything wrong with this picture?
The most telling statement found in the news media abut this tragedy to date: “Maybe we missed” warning signs, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said. “I don’t know.”
I guess I don’t know either. Part of me says that this woman should absolutely burn in hell. Another part of me wonders where the compassion was for the woman and her newborn child, especially if the woman was crying out for help. Sanchez and Bucholz lived together during her pregnancy and for the first two weeks after little Scotty was born. What went wrong after that? Why did daddy Scott leave? Why was Otty living in a home where she had access to Samurai swords, especially given her psychological instability?
From the Houston Chronicle:
“On July 20, after doctors at a local clinic determined Sanchez, 33, was having a severe mental breakdown, she was transported to the Metropolitan Methodist Hospital emergency room, but released the same day.”
Then there is her family—her mom and her sister—with whom she lived—were there absolutely NO warning signs that this woman was about to come unglued?
Why, why, why?
One more gem from the elder Bucholz:
“She was a sweet person and I still love her, but she needs to pay the ultimate price for what she has done,” the baby’s father, Scott W. Bucholz, told the San Antonio Express-News Monday. “She needs to be put to death for what she has done.”
Daddy is very quick to condemn…almost too quick. I certainly don’t forgive Otty Sanchez for her act, but from someone who thought the mother of his child was a “sweet person” and he still loves her…it almost goes without saying that he is a guilty in this as she is. Time will tell as the story plays out.
This story saddens me for a variety of reasons, and though I don’t know any of the people involved personally, the death of an innocent child at the hands of a schizophrenic mother is more about why than who. The question of who is at fault will likely point to Otty Sanchez but this story will cause all of us to think about who the real culprit is in little Scotty’s death.
Rest in peace baby boy.
This Story Was Written and Submitted By JayAre – Another Excellent First Effort From A Very Promising Writer
Does Otty Sanchez Deserve Hell?
- Yes (68%, 647 Votes)
- No (32%, 304 Votes)
Total Voters: 951
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118 Comments »
Hell all the way. I don’t buy the mental illness bs, and I don’t buy the PPD either. Yes, PPD does exist, but usually, and in my case you want to kill yourself, not your child.
I want this bitch to fry.
I really am of the belief that too many women are using the PPD excuse for their criminal behavior. We could debate the Andrea Yates case for decades…I still think that bitch should have been killed as well.
Anyhoo….I might be the only one here with this opinion. It isn’t the first time.
I don’t know… Post partum depression and post partum psychosis are different things- a person with PPD is more likely to be suicidal and show traditional signs of depression, while people with PPP are delusional and actually psychotic. The reports I read were the ones that stated there were warning signs leading up to this- and I would think there would have to be. Just like in the Violette post, people don’t usually just go crazy overnight. I am usually pretty skeptical, but I almost think you would have to be insane to not only kill a child, but to OVERKILL the way this woman did. The shitheads that just want to get their kids out of the way usually opt for a less gruesome kill. It’s the crazies like Dena Schlosser who dismember. Either way- this woman is not fit to ever walk the streets again. Ever. I have a new baby boy at home, and this story makes my bones ache.
Right on, Mazzi.
I agree with you 100%. Whilst I will not go into detail, you pretty much said what I feel word for word, I just wanted you to know you’re part of a group :)
Wait? What? LOL
i haven’t posted yet! Though you may change your mind in a sec. I actually agree with Diana here. PPP is a hardcore serious mental illness. It’s not at all like PPD, except that they both are triggered by childbirth.
What I don’t understand is why, if she was diagnosed with PPP, she was not under strict psychiatric care. PPP is really hard to treat, because of the hormonal changes and the life changes, not to mention it’s sudden onset.
As much as I don’t like to pass the blame around, something just sounds weird in this case. Why wasn’t she under constant care. Why wasn’t the family involved? It sounds like the system “tried” to help her, but unfortunately, the way our society is today, you can’t be helped unless you agree to be helped. And. letting a woman in a psychotic state make the decisions on whats best for her, is a pretty bad idea.
I haven’t dug into it enough to make an opinion, but based on what I have read so far, I don’t think she is responsible. What a fucking shame. That poor baby.
Right now I feel like an illiterate douchebag.
I meant Maelstrom, not Mazzi. All these M names mess with my mind.
I’m not excusing my stupidity. It happens more than I care to admit. *grimace*
This one is for you Mazzi, have I ever told you how beautiful your eye is? That’s the most beautiful blue I have ever seen. :)
If someone is having a mental melt down or has had some type of mental disfunction as in depression alone, our hospital personelle make you contact mental health services before you leave the hospital with that baby. How is it that these “medical examiners” that have diagnosed this woman have done nothing. The illnesses that she was diagnosed with are not signs, they are fact of “RED ZONE”! Yes she did it but I feel those who knew of this and know the consequences that can happen to the person themselves or to others are at fault for allowing her to go on without treatment or therapy! This incident is most definately NOT OF GOD, but come on, this isnt the first mother to have done this to her children so signs my eye! Nobody stepped up! Anyone who knows someone in this condition and knows the depth of this condition knows wat can happen! Thats wat infiriates me the most is that the medical teams and family, including this stupid dad that has the same thing, put this baby or left this baby in her care with no supervision when they knew wat could happen! WHY ARE THEY NOT CHARGED WHEN THEY KNEW AND STOOD BY AND LEFT HER ON HER MERRY LIL WAY!! SHES SICK DANG IT! WAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE??????????????????????/
“Daddy is very quick to condemn…almost too quick.”
I’m actually a little surprised by this statement you’ve made. Had he stuck up for her and been on her side saying to ‘please leave her alone’ or ‘she didn’t mean to do it’ we would be calling him a b*tch for not standing up for his little baby.
If someone’s child was brutally murdered, I would imagine their first reaction would be to want the killer rot in hell.
On a sidenote, when I first read this story a week or so ago, I actually wondered if Otty killed the baby as a means to get back at her boyfriend for leaving. She had problems, obviously, but I think it’s a great possibility that the tipping point was him leaving her. Just a thought…
Actually, from what I understand, it was Otty who wanted him to leave. Another article I read said that the dad had called her at one point asking if they could be a family again, and she said that she didn’t want them to be together. However, these are his words, and he’s a little mentally unstable himself – who knows what really happened…
Rest in peace, Baby Scotty.
I haven’t read that article [or anything like it] so thanks Cassie for bringing it to my attention!! Because that takes away a lot from my little theory of this psychotic woman’s thought process, or lack there of.
Buttttt, I’d imagine that now, after the gruesome murder took place, he would definitely say that it was her who asked him to leave. He’s probably feeling one heck of a mountain of guilt.
Saying he’s mentally unstable though may be reaching… if the guy is medicated, he’s about as normal as the rest of us [maybe even more so... because we know there are a lot of messed up 'average joes']
good writing JayAre!
Now this dumb bitch definitely deserves hell! I am expecting my third child and I find those first few weeks the most peaceful, blissful, best weeks of the childs life!
No matter what the reason on why she did it, the point is SHE DID IT. I dont care if she was ‘mentally unstable’ or trying to get back at her bf or whatnot. Fry her. slowly.
If she really has PPP, it’s not just “mentally unstable”. It can be a full-blown psychosis. Those first few weeks may be blissful for you, surreal for others, or depressing for still others. But that is NOTHING compared to PPP. That is a complete break from reality, and we who have never experienced such a thing, can’t really understand it.
I have just a very basic understanding of it, because I did some research for a paper last term. But from the little I know, we can’t compare it to anything resembling “normal” postpartum behavior.
:(
I submitted it too, only i just sent a link, not good at writing.
Sorry Adrea – I meant the actual article was written and submitted by JayAre. There were 7 or 8 people who sent in suggestions that we do a story on Otty, and Min Duhh sent in another story too. Otty was a very popular crackpot.
Okay, I don’t feel so bad then. But if i ever come across a story, I’m going to make my daughter write it up. I don’t think I give myself enough credit.
I sent the link too. I live in San Antonio and was horrified when I heard about this. Glad a story was written. There wasn’t too much info given in the news. I wanted to know more and most of all….. why?
I don’t know that picture of her lying with him kinda gives me the creeps. I have a very similar shot of me and my firstborn, but the look on my face was more….content….serene…I had a dreamy smile and love in my eyes. She’s looking at him like an “it” instead of her baby. I think to say she never bonded with him is a gross understatement.
I think too many women use the PPD excuse. I had it with both of my kids. All I did was lock myself in the bathroom and cry. I believe in forgiveness for everyone, regardless of the crime. None-the-less, this is horrible and she deserves to be punished.
depression is not the same thing as psychosis.
an eye for an eye
What could possess anyone to do something like this to a baby…I don’t know…whatever sort of justice is delivered doesn’t equate to the pain he felt. PPD…seems like a load of horse shit to me, the devil made her do it? Bitch is probably smoking meth through a glass dick. The husband gets some fault too, if he was aware of the fact she says she’s unstable or schizophrenic, then leaving Scotty alone with her wasn’t such a good idea. Although, you can’t ever except a mother to do this to her child…
R.I.P. Scotty, I know you’re in a good place surrounded by love and affection that you didn’t get to experience in this life.
FUCK Otty Sanchez, burn in hell.
A touch of post partum psychosis and mentally unstable are not even the tip of the iceberg. She is a paranoid schizophrenic who (I am quite certain) fell completely off the deep end after the hormonal imbalance experienced after having a child added to her already imbalanced schizophrenic brain. I am sorry if you don’t agree, but a mean, spiteful person does not chew her son’s toes off, decapitate him, then eat his brain, an absolutely CRAZY person does. As horrific as her crime is, it could have been prevented, and the hell you condemn her to (I am again certain) is not nearly as awful as the hell she experiences in her own mind everyday
I completely concur.
When I first read about this case, my first thoughts were:
1) Oh my God, how awful, and
2) That woman was clearly very, very, very ill.
I am so sad for this poor, precious angel. But I know he’s with God now, and he can never be hurt again.
But my outrage lies not so much with the mother as with those who left a newborn baby in her care. Clearly, the people around her had to know she wasn’t well. At all. And yet they left her alone with a baby less than a month old.
Sanveaan,
“But I know he’s with God now, and he can never be hurt again.”
No one knows that for sure, and where was “god” when this child was being beheaded ?
I agree. The chick is nuttier than a Pecan Sandie cookie. Schizophrenics are crazy as hell when they’re unmedicated and only slightly less crazy after their meds, which don’t work that well, even in this day and age. If you think I’m wrong, wander into the county mental health unit and sit in the waiting room, and know that the loonies who sit around you are ALREADY medicated and still talking to themselves out loud.
PPD and PPP are REAL, but still pretty rare. And it’s a statiscal fact that bipolars and schizophrenics experience postpartum depression at a much higher rate. We’re talking about people who were hearing voices even after the meds, now experiencing vast hormonal changes that rattle the cage of a normal person.
That being said, I’ve posted many times on this blog that schizophrenics should NEVER raise children or be left alone with them. It’s not a bright idea.
I do not fully agree with you, Kdb27. It has been reported by her own mother that she is a drug user. Depending on the drug, length of use, etc. it can bring on psychosis. However, if she is a paranoid schizophrenic and a drug user, then she would be aware that illicit drug use will mess her up. And if she was not on her medication because she did not wish to take it, etc., then she is responsible for her actions. Also, it is reported that she was screaming she did not mean to kill her child while her sister was on the phone with the emergency services and she stabbed herself. I say that the enormity of what she did hit her at that point. That tells me she was well aware of her actions. However, I will say she is obviously fucked up for whatever reasons (drugs, mental health, etc) and should never have been left alone with that helpless baby for even one second. I still think part of it was anger towards the father as it was reported that day she became agitated with him because he wanted copies of his birth certificate, etc.
I think the operative word here is “aware”. An individual awareness of their actions and surroundings is a matter of perception. Perception is reality. The way in which a paranoid schizophrenic views reality is distorted, and to fully understand it requires a brain much more prolific than my own. With that being said I do know that they often lack the capacity to reason and comprehend the consequences of their actions in what WE know as the real world, because (in their minds) they do not exist in the same world we do.
Maybe her boyfriend was a piece a you-know-what. Just a guess, I suspect since he would leave her to pick up the pieces(no pun intended). But I’m convinced-it’s a very accurate analysis of her possible state of mind. You wouldn’t be a healthcare professional, would you? You seemed to be aware of the pharmacological aspect.
keep in mind that anti-psychs are not generally good for babies. so if she was off her meds, she might have been just thinking of his welfare.
which she obviously was not doing when she killed him. all i’m saying is, there are a lot of variables here.
Her husband “doesn’t buy” the mental illness thing. I don’t buy and anyone who is not completely demented would dismember and eat her baby. If she simply wanted to get rid of the baby, a la Susan Smith, I would think she would choose a less barbaric and outlandish method than butchering and eating him. Even if she wanted to cover her ass by pretending to be crazy, I still can’t imagine she would have decapitated him and eaten parts of him. My guess is she had a sudden and severe attack of psychosis and killed her baby. I read that when police showed up she was sitting on the couch screaming “I killed my baby!” over and over again. Wow. Two insane people, whose families both knew they were crazy and left them alone with defenseless children anyway. Faith, ignorance, a good kick in the ass… NONE of these things is effective against mental illness. Medication, support and security, however, do tend to work. But who has time for any of that stuff? Some people are just to damn busy to give a shit.
Yeah, she also slit her wrists with her nails and then tried to slit her own throat.
Alot of you are claiming she couldn’t have had PPP or PPD because of how YOU experienced it after childbirth, but every human is different so because you locked yourself in a bathroom and cried, or had thoughts of ending your life, doesn’t mean the same rules apply for everyone else. Generalisations get people into trouble…
Now, OBVIOUSLY this woman is sick if she deemed it ok to eat her baby’s toes, and part of his brain! You tell me! Have you ever seen a sane person dine on someone’s (another human’s brain)? So, yes, she is sick. Very very sick. (I’m surprised this article failed to mention the barin eating).
Nikki, she could have been doped up on PCP, which can cause irrational behavior and hallucinations. I believe it mentioned at one point that she was on drugs, it just didn’t mention which drugs.
Yeah PCP can do that.
Ask Angel Mendoza, Sr. the sick eye eating, fucking demon bastard, spawn of Satan shit stain on humanity.
NIKKI,
Personally, I’m sick of women and others blaming PPD on heinous criminal behavior. And I’m sick of excuses period. These days everyone is “insane”, and let’s just blame it on “god” or the “devil” and be done with it. Well, that is nonsense, and this woman knew exactly what she was doing.
I could make a pretty legitimate argument that no “sane” person could ever possibly harm or abuse thier own children, though most of us know that simply isn’t true.
If I’m jaded and desensitized by claims of so-called mental illness, than so be it. I accept that. What I don’t accept is a claim of mental illness, and or PPD every time some crazy selfish cunt decides to murder her innocent children.
Maelstrom, don’t confuse PPD with PPP. The only thing they have in common is that the onset occurs after childbirth.
PPP is a real genuine psychosis, while PPD is depression. I totally agree with you about PPD, but psychosis? That’s a whole nother ball of wax.
you have clearly never had a mental illness or loved someone with one. i’m sick of fake insanity defenses too, but it’s a different situation when your brain is actually turning your life into a nightmare.
Why? Why? Why? Let’s start sterilizing these people! This broad needs to be sterilized like RIGHT NOW, so she can NEVER breed again (and her boyfriend, he is a psycho, too). I hope to God she doesn’t get out on an insanity plea…that would make me very angry!
How is this woman not insane?
She’s CLEARLY insane, but I don’t think she deserves a padded cell, she deserves those steel bars.
If anyone truely understood what paranoid schizophrenia is and how it affects the brain and the person, I doubt one would be so quick to judge. You are not the same person. You can not make rational decisions. You are delusional. And it can happen in cycles. Was she even taking her medications? A paranoid schizophrenic may not have a sense of reality to even remember to take medication. Someone must help the person do this because if you are not in touch with reality, how can you remember? On this post I would also like to mention a video I watched. It is a Frontline episode entitled The Released. It gives a stark look at the lives of a few paranoid schizophrenics and other mental illnesses. As someone who suffers from mental and personality disorders, I wish society would realize that is a disease just as cancer is. You wouldn’t look at a cancer patient with disgust would you? It is a disease of the brain brought about by genetics and environmental factors. Please educate yourself about the diseases before you are quick to judge. Please watch a video so you can really see how it affects the person. I am on medication and I am much better. Although I do not suffer from paranoid schizophrenia, I feel for those who do. They need help from others as they are unable to help themselves. It is a disease. Not a choice. And mental illness is completely horrifying and something I would never wish upon anyone! Simply put…you aren’t you anymore.
I think I will scream if I see someone else use depression of any kind as a defense for murder .
Our judicial system was set up to determine GUILT or INNOCENCE. It was NOT set up to determine the WHY of a crime.
Who honestly cares why? If someone falls off kilter randomly because of a mental instability, isn’t that just more of a reason to keep them off the streets? If they’re too “sick” to deal with the repercussions of their actions, they’re too sick to be free.
If somone kills someone else, why should we excuse them and allow them to make decisions? Does the person they kill get that choice, better yet did they choose to die?
To hell with the WHY, determine guilt or innocence and punish accordingly.
Min_duhh…
Damn !!! You took the words right out of my mouth. Too fucking right.
Excellent post !!!
I agree… if someone is “too mentally ill” to function in society then that shouldn’t excuse them from such terrible crimes…if anything that just proves how unpredictable they are and that they shouldn’t be allowed to walk the streets. That can turn a simple argument into a killing spree with no warning at all. In some ways it almost makes it more scary…people who kill that aren’t insane usually have some sort of motive. With someone mentally unstable they could snap for any random reason or lack there of.
Hence the reason I used PCP as an explaination. It doesn’t exonerate her by any means, however.
PCP, also known as Phencyclidine is a Schedule III Depressant. It can cause behavioral changes and unpredictable mood swings. Psychological effects include severe changes in body image, loss of ego boundaries, and depersonalization
The drug has been known to alter mood states in an unpredictable fashion, causing some individuals to become detached, and others to become animated. Intoxicated individuals may act in an unpredictable fashion, driven by their delusions and hallucinations.
Included in the portfolio of behavioral disturbances are acts of self-injury including suicide, and attacks on others or destruction of property. The analgesic properties of the drug can cause users to feel less pain, and persist in violent or injurious acts as a result. Recreational doses of the drug can also induce a psychotic state that resembles schizophrenic episodes which can last for months at a time with toxic doses, which could explain why she was believed to be schizophrenic.
Word to the wise: Expand your minds with Knowledge, not controlled substances
I’m scrolling up backwards- and I think that you, min_duhh, have hit the nail on the head. I don’t so much care WHY someone does something like this. It’s too late for that baby. Do I think she deserves hell? I’m not sure on that one because I truly believe this woman had to be crazy to do this… I could be wrong… I do however think there is no reason to keep her around.
She needs to be off the street probably forever. As I said in the Violette case, once someone has slipped so far into psychosis that they are capable of something like this, they should be confined forever – for their safety as well as society’s. There is no “cure” for this kind of mental illness, no matter what the doctors and hospitals say – so put her in an institution and toss out the key.
But I still don’t think she is consciously responsible, so jail is not the right option. She doesn’t need to be punished – she needs to be protected from herself.
Mazzi- I was thinking about this a bit ago, and I know I have heard you discuss it around here before- did they close down a lot of the state run mental institutions? I live in a pretty small town in Texas, but we still have a state run hospital. I know that this is where this woman needs to be. It’s just so easy to hate people who kill babies. If you will look down below- you will see where I posted a quote from the sister of Otty. I truly believe these people could have prevented this baby’s death.
It’s not so much that they have closed them down, it’s WHY the have closed them.
Don’t hold me to exact data here – I am going from memory…. but starting in the 1960′s (with JFK I believe), the focus changed from inpatient confinement for the insane to “community based” mental health care. In other words, the government felt that it was better to move the insane back into the community than to keep them protected. No doubt it was better for SOME patients, but as with many programs that start with good intentions, they often end up completely fucked up. In this case, people who really needed to be inpatient were allowed to leave at will.
In the 1980′s there was a mass release of patients, especially in big cities. The patients were not only permitted to leave, they were often FORCED to. At that point, it became almost impossible to even get someone committed. (And, coincidentally the homeless rate skyrocketed.) Many of these people were crazy as loons, and completely unable to take care of themselves, and sank into alcohol or drug addiction. So, even though they got a government check every month (IF they could figure out where to pick it up) they were for all intents and purposes completely incompetent. They also tended to commit a lot of violent crimes, which put them squarely into the punitive prison system, rather than the theoretical care and treatment in a hospital.
So, that’s basically it. Because it’s damned near impossible to get anyone committed these days, many of the state-run hospitals have closed, and even the criminally insane are usually treated with the idea of moving them back into the community.
If you sense that I am disgusted by this idea, then you are very observant. I don’t understand why compassionate people can’t understand that sometimes confinement is the best thing we can do for individuals who lack the ability to care for themselves – not to mention that it is often for the greater good of society.
Like most things that our Government tries, they go so far overboard in the opposite direction, that they usually make a bigger mess than we had before. And we want to trust these idiots with our healthcare? LOL.
Mazzi,
Good god almighty, don’t get me started on ANYTHING concerning the government, but most especially government run healthcare. We will be here for weeks, quite literally. Though I’m quite sure you and I would agree for the most part.
Yes, let’s expand an already broken medicare system. BRILLIANT !!! A bee, a bee, a bee…that’s all folks. – Ok, seriously, I have to switch topics.
- I do understand PPD, and confess that I know very little about PPP…however, the facts of this case make it IMPOSSIBLE for me to feel anything other than pure hatred for this woman. Mental illness or not. Perhaps that makes me insensive, or brutal…..I don’t know. But I honestly can’t wrap my head around this one.
No doubt we would agree on most everything, Maelstrom. And it’s only getting worse.
Do go look up PPP. One key thing that leads me to believe that she is not responsible is that she was diagnosed before she did this terrible thing. Whether it was somehow self-induced or not wouldn’t override the fact that she is certifiable. Even if she was an addict of some sort, she would not have been trying to go insane, nor could anyone have expected it.
But, the impression I got was not so much that she was a known druggie, but that the family suspected it – while she was breaking down. That sounds like her behavior was SO erratic that they knew there was a problem, and guessed it was drugs. Which would be a logical conclusion, since PPP is relatively rare.
Regardless, some behavior is so far over the edge that simple evilness can’t explain it. In order to do what she did, she had to be insane, and it’s not fair to ‘punish” people who are so insane that they don’t know what they are doing. Clearly, she didn’t know or she couldn’t have done what she did… if that makes sense.
Anyway – I don’t want her on the streets, even if I don’t think she deserves jail. She is far too dangerous.
Duhh indeed… part of the Jurisprudence system is to establish mens rea (literally ‘guilty mind’)…
Ah well, one can expect no better.
And as to being hellbound… she’s already there, medicated or no…
Absolutely.
This is an excellent write up JayAre, I just want to add that she is being held on a 1 million dollar bond for capital murder. She was also treated for self inflicted knife wounds to her chest and abdomen (an attempt to end her life). Last time I checked she was still a patient at the hospital.
wow…2 back to back beheading stories…there are some crazy people in teh world
In my immediate family history, I have suicide, clinical depression, homicidal tendencies, insanity, alcoholism, drug addiction, schizophrenia, as well as heart disease, scoliosis, cancer and Paula Abdul. Both sides of my family are similarly afflicted. I made the decision long ago to leave this earth without cursing the next generation of humans with ‘another one’. There are enough healthy, sane people on the planet who are breeding. The species isn’t in danger of disappearing for any natural cause anytime soon. This is my gift to you all. You are welcome.
Don’t have kids if you are schizophrenic, especially if your partner is as well. Aside from the fact that you may end up trying to make a coin purse out of the skin from your baby’s butt cheeks at some point, you are also most likely making ‘another one’ for future generations to enjoy and be terrified by.
(haha) What? It’s funny…!
So does Paula ever show up at Christmas? Is it awkward?
Hanukkah, and no. :) She did send me an autographed poster of herself years ago for my 16th birthday, though. Paula’s a giver.
LMBO @ vBecky…wow!
when cases like this come about, you can’t help but wonder: where the hell were these “caring” family members when this woman was on a downward spiral? its just like when poor nixzmary brown was murdered by her mom and stepdad.. all of a s udden the family comes out the woodwork trying to sue the city of NY and its like “well, where the eff were you, stupid?!’
i feel for this woman, but i also think she should be severly punished for what she did to that beautiful baby.
as for the babys father: pot calling the kettle black, much?
So- all of you people saying you don’t buy PPP as an “excuse”- do you just not believe that mental illness exists? And again- we need to differentiate between Postpartum Depression and Postpartum Psychosis- (I hear a lot of people saying they don’t buy the depression excuse- that’s not the case here. She was diagnosed PPP, not PPD)
Now, I am the first one to say that I think mental disorders are majorly overdiagnosed, and I think a lot of people use it as an excuse, but I am more inclined to lean toward insanity when someone eats a baby’s brain than I would be if the mother drove her kids into a lake to drown. Now, as NavyCop stated, PCP causes psychosis. I am sure if that is the case, we will hear about toxicology reports as this case progresses.
I also have to agree with the people above who say “If this person is so insane that they decapitate babies, they should fry.” I don’t think we should execute all the mentally ill, just the mentally ill that kill babies. I do not know if Otty Sanchez is truly crazy, but I would believe it more than I would believe most of these motherfuckers we hear about.
I cried for days over this. I live in San Antonio and it is heart breaking to have this happen so close to home. I have no words to express the way that I feel. Im sad and confused. My husband and I are still trying to get pregnant, and people are killing their children. I suppose that is the reason that I stopped commenting. I feel like this is hell on earth…..I know its wrong but I start to question my faith……..WHY???
I tried to get prego for a million years ( I had a ruptured tubal pregnancy and they had to remove one tube, cutting my chances in half).
I took 2 vacations one year and bought tickets for a music festival 8 months in advance. I decided I liked being kid-less (I at least let go of the grief I was putting myself through and decided to enjoy my freedom).
Then guess what? I got pregnant!
Hang in there. You will be blessed with the opportunity when God finds it amusing. ; )
And it’s not like it isn’t fun to keep trying! :D
I am just thinking out loud, obviously she knew she had a history of mental illness, schizophrenic issues, had been on medication, hospitalized, depressed-wouldn’t her doctors have told her what stopping medication would do, to call for help, so as I see it, as she knew she had a major mental illness history, was she not under more of a duty to monitor it and be aware of what could happen? And her family knew her history as well. I think if she had never known of her psychosis before this tragedy, maybe permanent purgatory but not hell, but as she knew of her mental illness and chose not to medicate for whatever reason knowing the risks then she deserves hell..make sense to anyone or am I just rambling!
I think I like what you are saying… I so wanna send this lady to hell myself. But a truly nutty person might not be capable of that kind of responsibility. Which is why we should sterilize them :) It is so hard to know where to stand on the mental health issue.
An excerpt of Otty’s sister, Priscilla – I think this is from the 911 call:
P.G. “She’s just sitting on the couch. She was going crazy last night. She was hearing voices. She kept bringing me the baby and finally she calmed down and I took her back the baby. And now I just woke up to hear her screaming.”1:52
I get so angry when I hear things like this. Just like in the Violette case we just read, and just like in the case where the dad tried to eat the kids eyes out… Someone KNEW something was wrong, and they allowed an unstable person access to a baby. They could have called the police! This could have been prevented by a FUCKING PHONE CALL.
Wow – this is the first time on this site I’ve ever NOT voted for Hell.
While this is obviously horrifying, it’s pretty clear to me that this woman suffered from severe mental illness. She was already diagnosed with post partum psychosis (PSYCHOSIS, not depression – two very, very different things). She literally didn’t know what she was doing was wrong. She’s not like most of the people on this site who are simply uncaring pieces of **** – she was actually, seriously ill.
I lay most of the blame at the feet of the baby’s father who KNEW she had problems and did nothing, the family who KNEW she had problems and did nothing and the freaking psychiatrist who DIAGNOSED her with pp psychosis (!) and did nothing.
“She’s not like most of the people on this site who are simply uncaring pieces of ****”
You do realize that most of the people just CARE more about the baby than the mother, right? It is hard to have empathy for someone who kills babies, whatever the reason. So maybe don’t call people pieces of shit, mmmmkay?
Um, I was referring to the other people who are written up on this site, not the commenters.
Oh hell! I was wondering why it seemed like that came out of nowhere! I apologize for the defensiveness, I’m on the ass end of a 24 hour shift with very little sleep. Sorry bout that!
No worries!
I just want to add an experience I went through last year. I was depressed over losing my dad to cancer (who wouldn’t be) but I wasn’t abnormally depressed, but normal grief. About 7 months later after just starting to feel better, I suddenly started feeling very very blue. It was that feeling of thinking you are still actually sleeping and dreaming. It was the strangest feeling I ever had and it went on for weeks. I didn’t even want to get out of bed. I felt like I was in a total daze and then I found out that I was about 2 months pregnant. (My first time). I was devastated because my doctor told me that my depression could be directly related to the pregnancy and I didn’t believe her. No way, I said. Well, a few weeks after that, I had a miscarriage and within days that “depressive” feeling went away. It scared the shit out of me. I am actually relieved in a way and I’m not sure I ever want a baby after that experience.
Here’s my thoughts – I do believe Otty is truly insane, but I don’t feel she should ever see the outside of an institution. As a few writers stated, she didn’t just kill, she OVERKILLED. Her behavior is far beyond just wanting her baby dead. Would any of you actually eat a human beings brains just to score an insanity defense?
The whole thing is tragic and I DO understand those who want to see her fry – I’m just not sure that I agree. given time and more information, I may feel differently.
I’m one of the people who voted that she DOES NOT deserve to go to hell. If anything, her family, peers, baby’s daddy, and her shrink who diagnosed her as a schizophrenic are the ones who deserve hell for not taking the appropriate actions to ensure that this woman was never left alone with her child.
Schizophrenia is not cute and funny, nor is it something that shouldn’t be taken seriously.
The murder of this helpless, sweet infant involved cannibalism and decapitation. So there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that this woman was whacked out beyond her control.
I myself was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic ten years ago. Fortunately, my doctor considers me to be a success story due to my ability to control my behavior. But I attribute my success in controlling my schizophrenia to The Big Man Upstairs, my friends, family members, and my shrink for working together to monitor my behavior and keeping me in check.
Who knows where I’d be today without all of their combined efforts?
If Otty Sanchez’s friends, family members, and medical staff would have paid proper attention to her behavior, then her baby would still be alive.
I have been thinking about this “mental illness” topic ever since I read the original news article on this story.
Mental Illness. What is the definition, in “laymans terms”? Basically it is a psychological disorder that causes atypical behavior.
I have read comments on this story from people who think this woman doesn’t deserve hell because of her illness, and I got to thinking.
The very basis of this site is to hypothetically decide if a crime committed is deserving of hell. Every case here is just as heinous as the next.
So if mental illness describes behavior opposite of what is “socially acceptable”, wouldn’t every person featured here literally be able to be coined “mentally ill”?
“Normal” people don’t go out and torture, rape, murder, maim, etc, etc people for the hell of it; and thats exactly what we see here on a daily basis, isn’t it?
I believe mental illness is a real and rampant thing; but I dont think it is a viable excuse. No matter what the exact diagnosis is. Depression, psychosis, delirium, schizophrenia–no, no, no, no, and no.
If schizophrenia was a true excuse, there would be an exception in the law.
Same with depression. Same with delirium. Same with psychosis.
But, you know what, there is no exception.
There are people out there diagnosed as “mentally ill” who have achieved amazing things–they dont commit horrible crimes.
The truth is the truth, no matter whos feelings get hurt, it stays the same. You cant excuse one persons wrong doing with a “diagnosis” and hold someone else to a higher standard. Whats done is done.
Basically, if you can decide ONE person on this site can go to hell for their crime, why is it so easy to find someone else not worthy.
Every single person featured here committed a crime outside the realm of normalcy–so is every murderer, baby rapist, puppy killer, sick son of a bitch the exception to the rule because they are “mentally ill”?
Maybe Im just talking out my ass here, but it sounds reasonable to me.
Okay, here’s a hypothetical situation: Four year old boy walks up to a woman in the mall, and looks up her skirt, cops a feel. I’m guessing we can all agree that you tell the boy it is wrong, explain why, and everyone probably moves on, right? I mean, a four year old is hardly capable of understanding what he is doing in this situation. Now, 25 year old man walks up to a woman in a mall, and looks up her skirt, cops a feel. This guy is a sexual predator, right? Stupid example, I know- but I am just saying differently developed brains behave differently and we make allowances for that.
I think intent and the ablity to differentiate right from wrong play a very big role in determining if someone is “hellworthy” or not… I mean, this woman should be put away, no doubt- she is too dangerous to be on the streets- but can we really condemn her for something that she may not have had any control over? I do not believe everyone who commits a crime is insane. They may have a social defect, but most of them have the ability to differentiate right from wrong. Psychotics can’t differentiate reality from their hallucinations, much less right from wrong. I think that is where the difference lies. Now- I genrally have to see some pretty hardcore evidence before I believe someone is truly psychotic- and eating a childs brain is pretty serious evidence. The fact of the matter is, there were plenty of warning signs that should have provoked someone to call for help, and to get this child away from her. The sad fact is, no one did.
Look, I don’t know if this chick is mentally ill. I’m not a psychiatrist, and I don’t exactly trust that profession completely anyways, so theres that. It’s a pseudo science at best.
Eating your child’s brain ? Yeah, sounds pretty loony to me, but again, I’m not in any position to diagnois.
Though I do think mental illness does in fact exist, I also think that it is used as a convenient excuse way too often, and is not as commonplace as we’ve been told.
Just seems to me that every one in America is either crazy or depressed. Is your child a little more hyper than the others you see ? Oh, let’s pump them full of Ritalin…problem solved. Did you have a bad day at work ? Well, you must be depressed…here’s your Paxil.
We’re creating a nation of medicated, doped up, hypochondriacs who flat out refuse to take responsibility for their own actions. So and so was “crazy”, “depressed”, “bi-polar,” and had 67 split personalities, and had no idea what they were doing. – It’s utterly ridiculous.
Is this chick truly insane ? I don’t know….but I still want her punished to the fullest extent of the law. Crazy or not.
I actually agree with everything you say here (except for the punishment part- I’ll get to that in a second). I think we are overdiagnosing and over medicating. I was put on meds in high school for anxiety and depression… Once I quit taking them and dealt with my problems the way anyone else would, I felt better than I ever had. Every since then, any time I have a stressful event in life, or get bummed out, my docs are screaming to put me back on Zoloft- which I refuse. I’m more well adjusted than a lot of people, and am certianly happier than many. I just learned to deal with my own issues. It’s frustrating that the medical community is so quick to medicate.
As far as punishment goes- I’m not really sure how I feel. I have been reading over my posts from yesterday and I’m starting to think I may be schizophrenic, lol. Long shift at work. I can understand the feeling of “Yeah, let’s kill her. She can never be released into society anyway.”, but then I think of all the people that truly believe the mentally retarded should be executed at birth. It’s not their fault any more than it is a schizophrenics fault that they are crazy.
I guess the fullest extent of the law in the case will probably be locked up for life in a psych facility. I think that’s appropriate. I can say I hate this woman for what she has done, crazy or no. I hate the family for not protecting that baby. This case has been on my mind a lot. I’m in Texas. I have a new son. These also hit me close to home because I am a paramedic- I can’t imagine rolling up on a scene like this. I can’t imagine having to care for and transport the MOTHER after she did this. It’s been on my mind…
Diana,
I completely understand where you are coming from, your being a paramedic and all. I am a labor and delivery nurse, and I think to myself a lot about “what if I delivered that baby and would I have seen the signs”. I applaud you for what you do, I have never been first on scene to any kind of emergency and I don’t think I could do it. I worked in the emergency room right after graduation for about a year and went home crying about 2\3 of the time because of some of the cases.
I wonder how I would feel if one of the babies I was the first to hold, bathe, and bundle safely in its blanket was the victim of one of these stories. I like to consider myself a good judge of character, but what if I missed an obvious sign and did nothing. Would I be allowed to feel grief?
I have to concede something to you. When you mentioned in your above post about “intent”, I guess I never thought of it like that.
I do however stand with my opinion about every criminal possibly being mentally ill, at least at the time of the crime. I think in the heat of the moment intent is thrown out the window.
I also want to say, maybe I am using this site wrong, but I tend to put myself in the victims families shoes and think how I would feel if someone committed a crime against a loved one of mine. Would I care why or what their intent was? NO. Would I care if they were a looney tune? NO.
Would people think differently about someones assignment to hell if it was their child? More than likely. Would they want the person to burn even if they had a clinical diagnosis from a psychiatrist? More than likely.
I agree with Maelstrom about overdiagnosis and overmedication. I agree with her about
Dang it I didn’t mean to post that yet.
Anyway, I agree with her about this being a convenient excuse.
I just get tired of reading about everyone being mentally ill AFTER they do something. I have a feeling Otty knew what she did was wrong because why else would she try to take her own life directly following her crime? Something was working in her head.
Min-
Thanks for the props, I am still at the point where I wonder about every move I make at work. It scares me that I may have to deal with a case like this. I will admidt, though, that I think you have it worse. OB stuff scares the hell out of me.
I get what everyone is saying about how they are tired of hearing this excuse. I am too. The reason this case got to me is that it has been reported that this woman WAS hospitalized for her mental health prior to this. She didn’t just go- oops killed someone, beter pretend to be crazy… Now, even these circumstances make me a little leary.
I also empathize with the victim more- even in an extreme case like this where I believe that this woman was out of her mind. I know that if it were my family- I would be screaming for her blood. I still want to, even though I think legally she will probably be found insane. I do try to be objective and look at the case from all around, but I by am by no means dismissing the nature of the criome she commited just because she is crazy. Of course I am also disgusted by the fact that someone who WAS in her right mind gave this raving woman access to this child while she was in the midst of what would appear to be a massive psychotic break. That really bothers me.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/asylums/view/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/released/
IF she gets off based on mental illness then she needs to be spayed so that this can NEVER happen again – she can spread her legs like the bunny she wants to be and noone INNOCENT will have to suffer.
Of coarse the guy that fucked her will definately suffer once the hang over kicks in and he sees in the morning light what he actually went to bed with…..
People like her are why I stopped drinking at singles dances before I remarried.
Crazy is Crazy and you cant rehab Crazy. Crazy ate parts of her newborn!!!! poor thing my ass. She needs her uterus severed and worn on her chin.
I voted no, but I do think she should be confined for life in a mental hospital. I do think she sounds truly insane but it’s not safe for her to be out among people if she’s that sick.
Can we vote to send the idiot sister who gave the baby back to her when she was having delusions to hell?
All I can say on this one is it’s so awful when something like this happens and it could have been prevented. Sadly, the most important thing in this entire situation is now gone and can not be brought back. This beautiful little angel died a horrific death that should have never happened. RIP Scotty!!
Had to try really hard not to cry when looking at that picture and couldn’t do it. I have a real problem condemning insane people, but at the same time, how many fucking warning signs do people need to keep babies from being decapitated? News alert, people. If someone is TELLING YOU THEY ARE SCHIZOPHRENIC or throwing around words like “I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH POST PARTUM PSYCHOSIS” perhaps, don’t leave them alone to care for an infant???
I mean seriously, everyone knew this bitch was crazy and no one did a damn thing. I am really touchy about this, and obviously I did some research on this for the Violette story, WHY do people have a problem admitting that their loved ones might be mentally unstable? Why? If my husband told me “Hey honey, I’m schizophrenic” I would probably have my daughter stay with my family while seeing him through treatment. If his mental state didn’t improve or I felt unsafe, I’d have to take my daughter and leave the situation, hard as that would be.
Also, I’m sick to death of the PPD story. Guess what, yes it’s hard to walk into a doctor’s office and tell them you’re experience with motherhood hasn’t been the happiest time in your life. It straight up sucks, but there are ways with dealing with it that don’t involve killing your baby. When my daughter was 4 weeks old I had a friend stay with me at my apartment every night while my husband went to work because I was a sobbing, useless mess. The next week I went and talked to a doctor and faced it. Now I’m no longer taking an antidepressant and am back to my happy self. There are people who can help these parents, but only if someone (including them) gives enough of a shit to seek it out. Unfortunately I don’t see stories like these going away any time soon. The world is just getting crazier by the day. Everyone’s broke, there is no emphasis on families staying together, there is no human connection. And the ones who suffer for it are our children.
Am I the only one who actually hopes that this woman didn’t know what she was doing?
I mean, if human beings are capable of doing that of their own free will, then there’s no such thing as a human being. If people can actually choose this sort of thing, then humanity as we understand it is a myth and the most you can hope to be is a very well-trained monster. I don’t think that’s the case.
Part of me wants to have faith that a person CAN’T do these things unless their brains have gone haywire – that naturally, we’re put together in a way that makes us unable to voluntarily eat our kids.
I suspect you meant this rhetorically, but no, you are not the only one.
In fact, that’s one of the reasons I am so sure she is insane. Plain old evil is when one systematically abuses someone for sadistic pleasure, sexual or otherwise. Irresponsibility and anger is what normally causes the intense neglect and most of the punishment overkill abuse cases. Mental illness, frustration, substance abuse, lack of education and mental retardation is threaded throughout both of those which can overlap with each other to make it very complex.
But this is different. What this woman did was not human as we know it. It was brutal and horrific, but there is no indication that she got pleasure from it. It certainly didn’t happen by neglect from ignorance. She didn’t seem to have any memory or knowledge of doing it (thank God). It is so extreme and so unheard of that it HAS to be the result of a brain wiring problem.
That’s the only reason I don’t think punishment is appropriate for her. PERMANENT confinement is what seems compassionate to me. If she didn’t do this because of a conscious choice (which ultimately DOES exist in the other two cases), she should not be punished. But she can never be allowed out into society again. It’s not safe for her, or anyone else.
This sums up exactly how I feel.
Please forgive me if this was mention already, this is one of those cases where she should be guilty because she may have PPP but I find it hard that she wouldn’t have caught onto signs and symptoms before it was escalated to the point that an innocent life was taken. I also think that people around her would have seen a change and they should be help responsible as well, she was living with her family so it wasn’t like she was isolated …….. a shoulder was turned to signs that could have prevented this from happening !
This is part of the story that came out in my hometown newspaper.
Sanchez and Buchholz lived together during the pregnancy and the first two weeks after their son was born, he said. An infection complicated Sanchez’s recovery from giving birth, and she was required to use a catheter for about a week. That setback darkened her mood, and she was soon diagnosed with postpartum depression.
She moved out of the couple’s shared home July 20. On Saturday, she showed up to see Buchholz at his parents’ house. She became agitated when he told her he needed a copy of the baby’s birth certificate and Social Security card, Buchholz said.
Sanchez ran out of the home with her son in a car seat, threw the car seat into the front passenger seat of her car and sped away without buckling him in, the San Antonio Express-News reported. She left behind a diaper bag, her purse and her medication.
Buchholz’s mother called 911, and a sheriff’s deputy investigated the incident as a disturbance, according to court records. The next day, authorities said, she killed her son.
Officers called to Sanchez’s house at about 5 a.m. Sunday found her sitting on the couch screaming “I killed my baby! I killed my baby!” San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said.
This was in an article in my hometown newpaper.
Sanchez and Buchholz lived together during the pregnancy and the first two weeks after their son was born, he said. An infection complicated Sanchez’s recovery from giving birth, and she was required to use a catheter for about a week. That setback darkened her mood, and she was soon diagnosed with postpartum depression.
She moved out of the couple’s shared home July 20. On Saturday, she showed up to see Buchholz at his parents’ house. She became agitated when he told her he needed a copy of the baby’s birth certificate and Social Security card, Buchholz said.
Sanchez ran out of the home with her son in a car seat, threw the car seat into the front passenger seat of her car and sped away without buckling him in, the San Antonio Express-News reported. She left behind a diaper bag, her purse and her medication.
Buchholz’s mother called 911, and a sheriff’s deputy investigated the incident as a disturbance, according to court records. The next day, authorities said, she killed her son.
Officers called to Sanchez’s house at about 5 a.m. Sunday found her sitting on the couch screaming “I killed my baby! I killed my baby!” San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said.
If she truly was mentally ill and schizo at the time of the death of the baby, then once stable and on meds my understanding is then she would be aware of what she had done and if not an evil person she would be so horrified at what she had done she most likely will be in a hell of her own making-how could someone forgive or live with themselves knowing they did what she did??? Unless you are truly uncaring and evil?
The people who believes she deserves hell are scum of the universe. What the hell is wrong with you people?
No Anon, they are not “the scum of the universe”. They are affected quite deeply over this story, and unable to wrap their heads around the fact that this woman ate her own child.
The mental illness aspect of this case has been discussed throughout this entire thread. Some of us believe she is a total fucking loon, and some of us do not. And while that might be a matter of opinion that you simply don’t agree with, usually the people who post here are far more concerned about the victims in these situations.
If you see this woman as a victim..then fine. That is your right. But don’t condemn decent people who simply can’t or won’t conform to your ideas concerning the sanity of this woman.
Well said Maelstrom. You continue to be the voice of reason in this thread, which, because of the horrible circumstances surrounding the baby’s death, have set off some seriously extreme emotions. I wouldn’t touch this story myself when it was suggested that I write it up, because like everyone else, I’m only human, and I was torn between being very angry with Otty Sanchez and wanting to understand that she might be a very sick woman. Since then I’ve come to the conclusion that she’s just sane enough to be responsible for her actions, but there are other people who need to shut up and look in the mirror for their part in what happened, like the father and Otty’s mother. There is no way this woman suddenly became this crazy – she must have been like this for a very long time, and others must have been aware of it. Of course, I’m speculating a great deal here, and I could be way off base, but it makes sense to me.
Thank you very much Max. I agree with you totally on this one, and just can’t bring myself to buy into the I am crazy theme 100% here.
- Still loving the fact that I found this website. :)
This terrible incident has been staying in my mind for a few weeks now. I waited to comment so that I could calm down and get my thoughts out more coherently.
What happened is awful. Awful, horrible, terrible, abominable, unhuman–none of them describle what happened to that baby. But I couldn’t bring myself to vote Yes. I’m no “bleeding heart,” and I do feel that heinous acts need to be punished. But in the case of Otty Sanchez, I think some mercy is in order.
Otty Sanchez is a very sick woman. She knew it and everyone around her should have known it, too. I’ve been around paranoid schizophrenics–there’s no way the people around her didn’t know she was unstable, unless they were all imbeciles. She needed help and was denied that help. The people around her left her alone with that baby. I’m pretty sure she was suffering from PPP. She needed to be in a hospital and that baby needed to be with someone other than his mother. (Temporarily. Believe it or don’t, but a mentally ill person, given the proper support, can be a good parent.)
I always feel bad for women suffering from PPD and PPP. After I gave birth to my son, I suffered severe PPD. Thankfully, my doctors, therapist, parents and husband were prepared because it’s well-known that I have high-functioning autism. (Schizophrenic, bipolar and autistic women are statiscally more likely to suffer PPD or PPP than others.) If you’ve never had extreme PPD or PPP, then be grateful. It’s terrible. The best way I can describe it is that It’s like being trapped in the worst nightmare you’ve ever had, and no matter how hard you try, you can’t wake up. At least, that’s how it was for me. Everyone experiences it differently, I’m told.
Everything was so twisted and out of control when I had PPD that sometimes I thought about killing myself. Or about killing my child and then killing myself. (At the time, it seemed to me that bringing him into the world only to abandon him was selfish. Of course, now that I’m over the PPD and am once again lucid, I realize that murder-suicide and infanticide are even more selfish than suicide.)
When I had these thoughts, I’d notify someone in my support network right away! (Support network = husband, father, mother, grandmother, neighbor) Even though most people in my support network didn’t understand what I was trying to say, (when I’m upset, speech doesn’t come easily to me) they still took it seriously and would come to get my son for a few days at a time. Having a plan to deal with PPD and possible PPP before my son was born saved both of our lives. Now, he and I are together all the time and I am a wonderful mother, even with my limitations.
I think that the mentally ill (and, in my case, the neurologically different) can be good parents with the proper support. I’m a very good mother, especially now that the PPD has run its course. My son is a happy, healthy, inquisitive little 1-year-old boy who loves everyone around him. I feel bad that Otty Sanchez will not have the same experience. She didn’t get the proper support. Because of that, an innocent baby died a gruesome death at the hands of his extremely ill mother. Pitiful.
Do I feel that Otty Sanchez deserves hell? No, I do not. She’s living there already. Do I think the death penalty would be just? Yes, I do. Death will be her only release from the hell she’s in now.
SC,
After reading your post am I correct in assuming that you’re actually advocating mercy killings for the those you deem mentally ill ?
Please tell me I’m wrong.
I was only talking about one person, not the entire mentally ill community. I don’t think her condition alone warrants death–it’s what she did and how that knowledge is going to affect her for the rest of her life. Also, I didn’t deem her mentally ill–a psychiatrist did. It’s not for me to deem anyone mentally ill. I can suspect all I want, but that’s as far as it can go. I guess the part where I wrote that “the mentally ill…can be good parents with the proper support” didn’t mean a thing, since my entire post gave the impression that I want them all dead. Never minding that I’m also considered mentally ill. Egads, I hate it when people skim, take things out of context and twist words.
I find it interesting–and irritating–that it’s perfectly okay to say “fry the bitch and send her to hell for killing that precious baby!” but it’s not okay to say, “that poor woman–she didn’t get the help she needed and ended up brutally murdering her baby. She will suffer for the rest of her life, so she should be allowed to die for mercy’s sake.” Basically, it’s okay to advocate death for someone on the condition that it’s done out of sheer hatred and rage and a malicious desire to torture the condemned. If this is one of those social taboos that I don’t understand, then good. I don’t want to understand that one.
SC,
If you aren’t advocating death for the entire mentally ill community then perhaps you should have stated so. But you did not. I am not a mind reader who knows exactly what you mean whether or not you articulate it. We get enough lunatics on this site as is, and sometimes clarification is not only needed but demanded.
Also, I find it irritating and hypocritical that you can speculate all you want about the so-called mental illness of this woman, but people who may disagree with you can not. Then out of nowhere we are accused of “taking things out of context and twisting words”. I wrote you two sentences. One of which was framed as a question. I took nothing “out of context” and asked a very legitimate question. Perhaps in your next post you can be more clear and concise, thereby leaving no room for error.
In closing, if you can not understand arguments made for the use of the death penalty, either by people who post on this site or by the victims family, then I am afraid that you can not be reasoned with upon any platform. – To understand and to agree are two seperate issues.
Also, please take the time to read all the comments posted by the person you are commenting back to by simply scrolling up. Perhaps after that you won’t make the same mistake.
That is all.
Attorney Told Mom Competent To Stand Trial
Jail Psychiatrist Says Otty Sanchez Functional, Mentally Aware
POSTED: Friday, September 25, 2009
UPDATED: 8:26 am CDT September 25, 2009
Otty Sanchez and Scotty Wesley Buchholz-Sanchez
SAN ANTONIO — The attorney for a San Antonio mother who allegedly told authorities the devil made her kill and mutilate her 3-week-old son said Thursday that a jail psychiatrist believes his client is mentally competent to stand trial.
A judge will consider that opinion at a November competency hearing for Otty Sanchez, 33, and make a final decision, said Ed Camara, Sanchez’s attorney.
Sanchez is accused of decapitating and dismembering Scott Wesley Buccholz-Sanchez and eating parts if his body in a bedroom at her sister’s house in July. Police say swords were used in the attack.
Camara said a jailhouse evaluation indicates Sanchez is functional and mentally aware because of medication she is taking. But he said the report also suggests Sanchez, who is charged with capital murder, was not mentally stable at the time of the killing.
Camara said she likely will plead not guilty for reasons of mental illness.
“It was pretty clear … that she was mentally ill at the time,” Camara said of the report’s findings.
Camara said the court would not allow him to provide a copy of the evaluation. The office of Bexar County Magistrate Judge Andrew Carruthers, who ordered the evaluation, referred questions to attorneys.
An autopsy report obtained Thursday shows Sanchez’s son was nearly completely decapitated. The baby also was missing his ears, portions of his toes and fingers, other body parts and some internal organs.
Medical examiners requested additional forensic consultation for “possible bite marks,” according to the autopsy.
Camara said Sanchez had a history of mental illness and had been taking citalopram, an antidepressent, but had to stop after becoming pregnant. The infant’s father has said Sanchez suffered postpartum depression and that she told him she was schizophrenic a week before the slaying.
Camara said he’s learned Sanchez spent six weeks at a state mental hospital in Austin last summer. She went there after police removed her from a drug store where she had been wandering for eight hours without purchasing anything, Camara said.
Sanchez remains in Bexar County Jail on $1 million bond. Camara said she is aware of the charges she is facing but does not discuss the crime with him.
“I don’t think she really understands what’s happening yet,” Camara said. “I don’t think she’s come to grips with it.”
Authorities responded to a a bloody scene July 26 after Sanchez’s sister found her in the middle of the night and called police. On a tape of the 911 call, Sanchez can be heard screaming, “I didn’t mean to do it. He told me to!”
Other Texas mothers accused of killing their children have been found competent to stand trial. Andrea Yates was found innocent by reason of insanity in 2006 for drowning her five children in suburban Houston. Dena Schlosser was also found not guilty by reason of insanity for cutting off her 10-month-old daughter’s arms with a kitchen knife.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Text SizeAttorney Told Mom Competent To Stand Trial
Jail Psychiatrist Says Otty Sanchez Functional, Mentally Aware
POSTED: Friday, September 25, 2009
UPDATED: 8:26 am CDT September 25, 2009
Text SizeAttorney Told Mom Competent To Stand Trial
Jail Psychiatrist Says Otty Sanchez Functional, Mentally Aware
POSTED: Friday, September 25, 2009
UPDATED: 8:26 am CDT September 25, 2009
Text SizeAttorney Told Mom Competent To Stand Trial
Jail Psychiatrist Says Otty Sanchez Functional, Mentally Aware
POSTED: Friday, September 25, 2009
UPDATED: 8:26 am CDT September 25, 2009
Otty Sanchez and Scotty Wesley Buchholz-SanchezScott Wesley Buchholz Sanchez
9:23 P.M. GMT july 27, 200910:53 P.M. GMT july 28, 2009Mom Had Mental Illness, Family Says
A mom charged with capital murder in the stabbing death of her son had a history of mental illness, her brother says.Baby Death 911 Call
San Antonio police Wednesday released the recording of the 911 call about the gruesome death of nearly 4-week-old Scotty Buchholz-Sanchez.Transcript of 911 Call
7:36 P.M. GMT july 29, 2009 7:37 P.M. GMT july 29, 2009 Baby Scott’s Father Speaks Out (Complete Interview)
Scott Buchholz says he didn’t think the mother of his child was capable of what she claims to have done.Reed: Mom To Be Held Accountable
Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed says her office will prosecute the mother accused in the gruesome slaying of her newborn son.Neighbors React To Baby’s Death
Residents in the area where a baby was killed Sunday morning say they’re still trying to understand why the child died.Child Killed By Mother, Police Say
Scott Wesley Buchholtz Sanchez is allegedly killed by his 33-year-old mother on Sunday morning.SAPD Chief McManus News Conference On Baby Death
EDITOR’S NOTE: The information in this press conference may be graphic and disturbing to some viewers. Discretion is advised.Police: Mom Used Knife, Swords To Kill Baby
Police Chief Bill McManus says the horrific slaying of a newborn baby was one of the worst scenes his officers have ever seen.Doc: Mom May Have Had Psychosis
A woman whom police say killed her recently born baby may have been suffering from postpartum psychosis, says a local doctor.
http://www.ksat.com/news/21113005/detail.html
Thanks Sherry – this needs to go on the front page. I’m going to wait until the judge makes his final decision however. The report also stated that Sanchez was obviously mentally disturbed on the day of the crime, and I have a feeling this case is going the way of Andrea Yates.
Actually, Baddie76, Mendoza turned out to be a schizophrenic and blood tests confirmed he had absolutely no PCP in his system.
It’s almost as if you guys WANT these people to be on drugs, since them simply being crazy robs you of your ability to be righteously indignant.
Yeah, I’m really sure most of the people here would rather someone be on drugs than just plain crazy when they hurt their children… How does a person’s insanity rob anyone here of their “ability to be righteously indignant”? IMO the insanity defense- in some (if not many) cases- is a way for fucked up individuals to blame their fucked up actions on something/anything other than themselves.
Personally, I would rather people just not kill/mutilate/rape their children. Drugs or no drugs, crazy or just plain fucked up, NO person has the right to take the life of an innocent child or to mutilate them beyond recognition. As a mother and free-thinking adult I have the right to be angry as hell at what monsters like Otty Sanchez and Angelo Mendoza have done to their own flesh and blood. Personally, I don’t give a flying fuck if that bastard is schizophrenic or was on PCP, he is one sick motherfucker who deserves no less than what he did to his son.
If she was “crying out for help” then all of the adults in hers and the baby’s life are also culpable. Most people don’t take it seriously when a woman is postpartum–as it is known, postpartum can run anywhere from the “baby blues” all the way into psychosis. Her boyfriend says “she didn’t seem unstable” but mental illness is a wound that you can’t see until it causes such devastation as this. Her boyfriend is just as responsible because it was HIS baby, and HE should have been there to support them emotionally! And if HE was TOO sick himself, then someone else should have helped her and the baby–for the BABY’S sake!
No she doesn’t “deserve hell” She IS in hell, and her hell will be all the more acute when or if she ever realizes what she has done. It makes me dizzy to think of how I would feel–I can’t fathom the pain of realizing such a horror. Because that is beyond a “crime” that she needs to “pay for” as her boyfriend so quickly judges—what does he feel HE needs to pay for?? What does HE have to say for himself for leaving them alone?? That he is “mentally ill”?? Doesn’t he think about that? Or is he so busy giving himself all the excuses? So lenient on himself, yet so quick to condemn Otty! He just pisses me off!
Another update.
SAN ANTONIO — A Texas mother accused of dismembering her 3-week-old son will have a jury decide if she is competent to stand trial.
Otty Sanchez appeared in court Thursday for the first time since being charged with capital murder in the July slaying of her first born.
Prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty.
Ed Camara, Sanchez’s attorney, said he received a medical report Tuesday indicating that the 33-year-old mother’s mental condition is deteriorating. Camara previously said he did not plan to contest her ability to stand trial.
A Bexar County judge ruled that a jury will now decide the issue. A date was not immediately set.
http://www.ksat.com/news/21596318/detail.html
I also heard on the radio this morning they’re going for the post-pardum depression plea. Go figure.
i have an eight month old with a man who is bipolar schiophernic. i adore him and love him dearly. this summer he tore apart the store he owns, pushed me, broke his store sign, then went outside running through traffic with no shirt and a “cape”, then he started talking about he was the second coming of solomon and that he was looking for his 1000 wives. the cops picked him up and he spent the next three weeks in the psych ward. he had been off his medication for about three months, but what sent him over the deep end was his ex wife wanting more money from him during a recession when we could not get by. i feel bad for this lady after dealing with my boyfriend. sobriety and mental stability are not her friends anymore. me and my boyfriend joke about his episodes, when she remembers what she did, it will send her over the edge all over again. p.s. i never leave our child with him for more than a few hours because i know if he does something it is not all his fault.
I’ve said this before, I’m sure I’ll say it again… ARE YOU DAFT, WOMAN? Why would you leave your child with him EVER? When he’s on his meds and sane, IF he’s sane, he should be advising you never to do that. You’re either joking, or you’re one of those people who’s too stupid to have kids.
It takes only seconds to maim or kill a child. In a few hours, he could have her skinned and made into jerky. Within a few hours, he could rape her and string her up in the garage like some other monsters did in a story on this site.
You’re leaving a child with Dr. Jekyl. You’re a moron.
Taking a rough guess I’m going to say she’s in that second category…
(and is going to remember the name ‘lovey’ as I can see her here in about 3-6 months defending him)
…….do not reply to posts whilst in bad mood…
ahhh fuck it…..
Are you fucking kidding me?????????????????? I almost bought your post….almost…right up until the last two lines…….
..breathe janey….just breathe….
after dealing with a man with mental illness, i realized that they are not that different for the most part. they have episodes, much like a short tv show. the reality is that all of us can be diagnosed with mental illness on a bad day. i am not a psychiatrist, but it has been my observation that once on psych meds, you cant come off ever. these meds work by altering the levels of chemicals in your brain. it is not like when you stop the medication you are back to your old self, wether it is for better or worse. if you take sythentic hormones that mimic hormones that is already in your body, sometimes your body will stop making it naturally. estrogen and testosterone, are the two most common. i think the same applies to chemicals in the brain, once they are adjusted by medication, they go crazy trying to readjust after madication. he was not like that when he was younger. the medication along with him getting off them makes him worst. also you have to remember that what this lady did is not the norm, in any demographic. there are plenty of good parents who have some form of mental illness, wether it is diagnosed or not. also a major portion of the mentally ill community is extremely talented. wether it is some art form, or math are science, these people are truely touched. your favorite writer, movie star, musician, or the inventor of your gadget, was or is probably off their rockers. dont you think it is a crazy idea to want to fly, or to talk to someone miles away realtime? this tourted lady is probably very bright. i think the problem was that she had too many tourted souls around her, who probably thought what she was going through was normal, but its not. that is the saddest thing with mental illness, it runs in families, so unless your hearing voices, you probably wont get real help. it is the norm in your circle.
The planet needs a cleansing!!!!! Not that I advocate putting to death everyone with a mental illness, but for christ’s sake when is this shit ever going to end? In my opinion if you are too screwed up to be a part of society and therefore have to be locked up in an institution for the rest of your days to keep the normal people safe from you then what the fuck is the point of keeping you around? So the rest of society can fork over their hard earned money to support your miserable ass? NO, NO, NO!!!!!! I think we as a society have too much compassion and need to address some of our problems with a little more clarity! Supporting a person who will always be a danger to society should not be an option any longer. It does not help the greater population in any way, shape, or form. It is a waste of resources that could be better used to sustain the people who are not a burden on every level. Whether it is bug shit crazy, murderers, serial rapists, etc. etc. I would like to see the day where we end this bs of locking them away for the rest of their lives and just get it over with. Give the people connected to them a sensible time frame to say goodbye (1 year tops) then get rid of them permanently!!! I really wonder how much money we would save as a nation by not allowing these excuses for humans to waste away in our institutions year after year after year!
She and everyone who knew she was sick and did nothing deserve hell. They’ll be living it, of course, knowing that they could have and should have done something to help her, but they DID NOT. If my daughter had a history of drug use and mental illness and had done the things that she had done leading up to the murder of her son, you bet your ass I wouldn’t leave my daughter alone with her newborn. I had PPD and was in an abusive relationship, and my daughter and I wouldn’t have been as healthy and happy as we are now without the support of my mother, my ex’s mother, and my friends.
Sanchez deserves a long, lonely sentence, but her mother, her sister, her baby’s father, and DFS need to be held accountable, too. They knew. They could have saved the baby. They have to live with that knowledge for the rest of their lives. I hope the memories of Scotty and what they could have done to help him but didn’t haunt them for the rest of their lives.
what ever the reason she did it,i really dont give a fuck another ray of sunshines gone.kill er and let the devil figure it out.
I am sorry but things like this make my blood boil!!!! I don’t know how people can be so calm about such a barbaric and disgusting story!!!! This woman is as psychotic and crazy as it gets… murder is one thing… but eating a child’s brain??? how completely evil and off your rocker must you be??? In no way am I condemning murder but this is just too gruesome for words. I am a female who looks forwrd to having kids and I feel sorry for those who can’t. Bearing kids is a gift from God… this woman decided to murder the purest and most innocent of our beings… a child! She deserves all the pain, all the hurt and all the torture she gets! Screw the “we will pray for her” crap… she needs to feel EXACTLY what her baby must have felt being murdered at the hands of its mother. absolutely disgusting!!!!!!!!! I am mortified!!!!
I’ve been lurking the past couple weeks and just recently started posting. Max, your site has definetely drawn me in. I am disgusted by what I read but at the same time feel the need to read it, I haven’t figured out why yet.
Anyway, I remember this being all over the news. I was curious if there were any updates on this so I looked around a bit and this is what I found. I was not sure if you knew about it or not.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/mom_who_mutilated_newborn_enters_plea_97608114.html
Yeah, decapitating your baby and eating parts of it that’s perfectly sane.