Police: CdA man broke young boy’s leg
A Coeur d'Alene man is accused of breaking the leg of his fiance's child over the weekend.
Michael R. Edinger, 27, is jailed on two counts of cruelty to children after he and his fiance, Rebecca L. Mullin, to
ok Mullin's 2-year-old son to Kootenai Medical Center on Saturday with what nurses said was an "unexplainable broken leg," according to a police report.
Mullin sobbed during interviews with police, but Edinger "sat emotionless," according to the report, which was prepared by the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department.
Mullin said the boy was out of their sight when they heard a loud scream and found him at the bottom of a stairway.
But nurses said the boy's injury - a spiral fracture of the left femur - is extremely rare and most likely caused by abuse.
The boy also had broken bones that appeared to have been inflicted several weeks ago, nurses said.
The couple, who work at Buck Knives in Post Falls, blamed the boy's injuries on his clumsiness, but Edinger eventually told police he'd lost his temper and broken the boy's leg while changing his diaper on Friday, police said.
Edinger's parents arrived as he was being arrested, and Edinger reportedly told them what he'd done. Investigators "heard Edinger's mother tell him that he shouldn't be apologizing to her, but to the little boy that he injured," according to the report.
Edinger remains in the Kootenai County Jail on $100,000 bond. His next court appearance is scheduled Oct. 7.