Phila. abortion doctor guilty of murdering 3 newborns

Sean O'Sullivan, The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal | USATODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Philly abortion doc guilty in 3 babies' deaths A Philadelphia doctor accused of performing illegal, late-term abortions in a filthy clinic has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of three babies born alive but acquitted in the death of a fourth baby. (May 13)

Witnesses testified that records of illegal third-trimester abortions were routinely altered

The clinic served low-income women and teens for decades

Defense attorneys insisted there were no live births at the clinic

PHILADELPHIA — A 72-year-old doctor whose abortion clinic was described by prosecutors as a "house of horrors" was convicted Monday afternoon of first-degree murder in the deaths of three fetuses born alive.

Kermit Gosnell was acquitted of killing a fourth newborn during an illegal late-term abortion in a dirty clinic that served mostly low-income women and teens, and went years without a state inspection.

The jury of seven women and five men also convicted him of involuntary manslaughter for a patient who died from an overdose of sedatives.

Gosnell showed no emotion when the verdicts were read.

Jurors will begin hearing evidence May 21 on whether Gosnell should be sentenced to death or imprisoned for life without parole.

The jury returned the verdicts after 10 days of deliberation. Earlier in the day, jurors told the court they were deadlocked on two unspecified counts but were ordered to keep trying.

Gosnell did not take the stand in his defense. He was charged with the premeditated murders of four newborns who were allegedly delivered alive at his clinic, and with third-degree murder for the 2009 death of 41-year-old patient Karnamaya Mongar, who prosecutors said died from a drug overdose administered by Gosnell's untrained and unsupervised staff.

Prosecutors said Gosnell delivered the babies alive and killed them by cutting their spines with scissors. His attorneys argued there were no live births at the West Philadelphia clinic.

The jury also convicted Gosnell of one count of infanticide, one count of corrupt organization, five conspiracy counts, 21 felony violations of Pennsylvania's ban on abortions past the 24th week of pregnancy and 211 misdemeanor counts of violating Pennsylvania's requirement for a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion.

He was acquitted of 16 counts of violating the 24-hour waiting period and three counts of violating the 24-week limit.

His co-defendant, Eileen O'Neill, 56, of suburban Phoenixville, was found guilty of two counts of theft by deception and two counts of conspiracy for working as an unlicensed doctor who saw patients at Gosnell's Women's Medical Society. She will be sentenced July 15.

The nearly seven-week trial brought out grim descriptions of Gosnell's clinic, which District Attorney Seth Williams called "a house of horrors."

Ashley Baldwin, a clinic worker, testified she saw such fetuses moving, breathing and, once, "screeching.'' Another employee, Sherry West, described a 2-foot-long fetus that "didn't have eyes or a mouth, but it was like … making this noise. … It sounded like a little alien."

Lynda Williams, another ex-clinic worker, testified that, as ordered, she used surgical scissors to snip the spine of an aborted fetus she'd found in a toilet, its arm still moving. "I did it once, and I didn't do it again," she said. "…it gave me the creeps."

Witnesses described an institution where employees, many with personal or financial problems that left them few options, were paid meager wages off the books to perform tasks for which they were unlicensed and untrained, such as taking ultrasounds, administering anesthetics and other prescription drugs orally or intravenously, and assisting in abortions.

In an apparent attempt to standardize staffers' tasks, Gosnell had them administer uniform dosages of painkilling medication and other drugs, according to one who testified, Latosha Lewis. Some patients, given inappropriately high doses of labor-inducing drugs, abruptly aborted and expelled their fetuses in toilets or on floors.

Testimony from Lewis and others indicated that Gosnell performed many illegal third-trimester abortions but always noted in the patient file the same at-the-legal-limit gestation period — 24.5 weeks.

Gosnell's lawyer insisted during the trial there were no live births at the clinic, and blamed Mongar's death on unforeseen medical complications.

Contributing: Doug Stanglin, Michael Winter USA TODAY