Attorney says Bible guided woman who severed baby’s arms

McKINNEY, Texas – A mother who admitted killing her baby daughter by severing the girl’s arms was guided by a Bible passage in which Jesus refers to cutting off body parts to cast away sin, the woman’s attorney said Tuesday.

Dena Schlosser, 35, a housewife with a history of mental illness, has referred to the New Testament passage since the killing of 10-month-old Margaret, attorney David Haynes said. In the Book of Matthew, Jesus says: “If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”

Schlosser was charged with capital murder Nov. 22, after she told a 911 operator she had cut off her baby’s arms.

Haynes said Schlosser was mentally ill at the time. He said Schlosser is still disoriented but is improving under medication she is receiving in jail. “She knows the baby is dead,” he said. “I think she understands generally the physical facts of how that came to be, but she is now conscious that her mind has not been clear for years and she’s still coming to grips with that.”