German woman suspected of killing 5 of her babies

BERLIN (AP) - A 28-year-old woman in Germany killed her five infants shortly after giving birth to them in secret at home and in the woods, and hid their bodies because she worried her husband would leave her if she had any more children, authorities said on Thursday.

The woman, who has been arrested on five counts of manslaughter, made a "comprehensive confession" to the killings after turning herself in as a six-year investigation closed in on her, said Mr Ulrike Stahlmann-Liebelt, the head prosecutor in Flensburg, on Germany's border with Denmark. She has two living children, aged 8 and 10.

But then in 2006 she began hiding her pregnancies, staying away from doctors and hospitals and killing the infants after giving birth to two at home and three in the woods, she said.

"She had the impression her husband would leave her if she had any more children, and that's why she didn't tell anyone she was pregnant, including her husband," Mr Stahlmann-Liebelt said. "She has said that the family lived at a certain level of prosperity, that it was clear her husband did not want any more children, and that one reason was to preserve this standard, and she feared that might be endangered if another child were there."