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Mum faked daughter's cancer for money
March 29, 2004 - 8:43AM
An American woman imprisoned for faking her daughter's leukaemia to gain thousands of dollars in donations said she concocted the scheme to keep her husband from leaving.
Teresa Milbrandt told The Columbus Dispatch newspaper that she regrets what she did, which included shaving her daughter Hannah's head and giving her sleeping pills to make it look like she was undergoing chemotherapy. She also made Hannah wear a protective mask and put her in counselling to prepare for death.
"Last week, I said to someone, 'I wonder if I could pay the doctor and have him give me a lethal injection'," she told the newspaper in an interview at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. "I can't hardly live in my own skin."
Milbrandt was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty last August to felony charges of endangering children, grand theft and theft.
Authorities said Milbrandt and her husband fooled 65 people and businesses in their hometown of Urbana, Ohio into donating an estimated $US31,000 ($A42,000) for Hannah's treatment.
Robert Milbrandt was sentenced to four years and 11 months in prison. He has said his wife handled all doctor visits and medical bills and that he believed her when she said their daughter had cancer.
Teresa Milbrandt said the ruse began in early 2002 during intense arguments with her husband.
"I knew how much he cared about Hannah and if she's sick, I thought, he's not going to leave us. I just said she had cancer and next thing I know, people were giving me money," she said.
Hannah Milbrandt, now eight, has been placed in a foster home and is doing well, said James Smith, director of the Champaign County Department of Job and Family Services.
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Is she attempting to garner sympathy by giving that as her reason for doing it? Could have at least come up with a better story.
March 29, 2004 - 8:43AM
An American woman imprisoned for faking her daughter's leukaemia to gain thousands of dollars in donations said she concocted the scheme to keep her husband from leaving.
Teresa Milbrandt told The Columbus Dispatch newspaper that she regrets what she did, which included shaving her daughter Hannah's head and giving her sleeping pills to make it look like she was undergoing chemotherapy. She also made Hannah wear a protective mask and put her in counselling to prepare for death.
"Last week, I said to someone, 'I wonder if I could pay the doctor and have him give me a lethal injection'," she told the newspaper in an interview at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. "I can't hardly live in my own skin."
Milbrandt was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty last August to felony charges of endangering children, grand theft and theft.
Authorities said Milbrandt and her husband fooled 65 people and businesses in their hometown of Urbana, Ohio into donating an estimated $US31,000 ($A42,000) for Hannah's treatment.
Robert Milbrandt was sentenced to four years and 11 months in prison. He has said his wife handled all doctor visits and medical bills and that he believed her when she said their daughter had cancer.
Teresa Milbrandt said the ruse began in early 2002 during intense arguments with her husband.
"I knew how much he cared about Hannah and if she's sick, I thought, he's not going to leave us. I just said she had cancer and next thing I know, people were giving me money," she said.
Hannah Milbrandt, now eight, has been placed in a foster home and is doing well, said James Smith, director of the Champaign County Department of Job and Family Services.
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Is she attempting to garner sympathy by giving that as her reason for doing it? Could have at least come up with a better story.
