Mom to face murder charge

INDEPENDENCE -- Even after a three-day investigation, no one can explain why Michelle Kehoe attacked her own children. Or why the 35-year-old Coralville woman drove to a remote location near the small town of Littleton, applied duct tape to the wrists and eyes of her children, and then attacked them with a knife -- apparently planning a fake kidnapping for more than two months.

Perhaps Michelle Kehoe doesn't know herself, an affidavit released Thursday shows.

What became more clear Thursday afternoon during a news conference in the Buchanan County Courthouse is what authorities think happened Sunday afternoon near the Hook N Liner Pond. That's where Michelle's 2-year-old son, Seth, was found dead the next day outside the family's minivan. His brother, Sean, 7, was found wounded inside.

Buchanan County Attorney Allan Vander Hart said authorities are prepared to charge Michelle Kehoe with first-degree murder, attempted murder and child endangerment resulting in a serious injury once she is released from treatment of her injuries from University Hospitals.

Vander Hart would not comment about much of the details of the case, stressing that Michelle Kehoe deserves her fair day in court.

"Premature disclosure of evidence jeopardizes that," he said. "I cannot speculate on a motive. I cannot speculate on the condition on the defendant or the surviving child. I cannot speculate on the impact of the community."

Vander Hart said the possibility of a competency hearing preceding would have to be decided by the defense attorney representing Michelle Kehoe.

Affidavits and criminal complaints released by authorities at the news conference depict a grisly scene. On Monday morning, the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office dispatch received a 911 call from a resident in Littleton. Emergency responders who arrived at the scene encountered a severely injured Michelle Kehoe, who told them an unidentified male had kidnapped her and her children, according to the documents.

Medical personnel arriving at the family's minivan, using information Michelle Kehoe had given them, found Seth Kehoe dead and Sean Kehoe injured.

Duct tape was found on the scene, and a knife was found in the nearby pond. Inside the van was a handwritten note describing a kidnapping of Michelle and her children by a man in Jesup.

Investigators later interviewed Sean, who said his mother drove the van to that location and duct taped his eyes, nose and mouth and removed him from the van, according to the documents. He told investigators she later cut him on the throat, and that he saw her hurting his brother, Seth.

When confronted, Michelle Kehoe at first stuck with the story she had first told responders, but then admitted to buying the duct tape two months ago and the knife one month ago. She also said she wrote the fake abduction note a month ago and rewrote it Sunday morning.

She said she took Sean out of the van and duct taped him first because he is older.

According to the criminal complaint, Michelle Kehoe said she applied the duct tape and cut her sons' throats at about 1:25 p.m. She was unable to explain to the investigator why she did it, investigators wrote in an affidavit. She said she could not face anyone now, and wanted to die or be locked up where she couldn't hurt anyone else.

An autopsy Tuesday revealed that Seth Kehoe had died from sharp force injuries to the neck. His brother, Sean, survived, requiring surgery at the Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo for his injuries.

B.J. Franklin, a victim advocate for the Horizons Survivor's Program who is representing the Kehoe family, said Thursday that Sean Kehoe is out of the hospital and with his family. She said he is doing well as far as his physical health is concerned.

Franklin said the family is doing the best they can during this difficult situation.

"There's been a lot of interest in regards to what happened," she said. "They just want the media to respect their privacy during this difficult time."

Michelle Kehoe and her two boys were rescued from an icy Iowa River last December in a dramatic scene attracting news attention after Michelle hit a curb and drove off the road into the river.

However, Iowa City Police Sgt. Troy Kelsay said Thursday nothing can be gained by reopening the investigation into that accident. He said no evidence exists that Kehoe intentionally drove her vehicle into the Iowa River, although he understands why people would speculate now that she did.

"Short of her saying that to an investigator, there isn't any way to prove it."

Seth Kehoe's funeral has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Wenceslaus Church in Iowa City.

By Stephen Schmidt, The Gazette