French couple before judge over deaths of eight babies

Villers au Tertre, France: A couple suspected of killing eight newborn babies after their skeletal remains were found in gardens in a sleepy French village, were expected to appear before a magistrate Thursday.

The pair, described as in their mid 40s, were taken in a police van to the northern town of Douai and expected to be charged later in the day, in what could be the country's most serious infanticide case.

Mayor Patrick Mercier told reporters that the female suspect worked as a nursing assistant, while her husband was in the building trade and a respected member of the local village council in Villers-au-Tertre, a 700-strong farming community in France.

"He's on his third term in office. He used to volunteer in the community. He's a respectable man," Mercier said.

Mercier described the councillor’s wife as a more withdrawn person who rarely took part in village life and had a weight problem.

He speculated this might be the reason why any pregnancies she may have had, may have passed unnoticed.

"No-one was aware of anything at all," he said.

On Wednesday, police used sniffer dogs to search two addresses after the new owners of a home found what turned out to be the bones of two infants, while digging in their garden.

The house had previously belonged to the parents of the arrested woman.

Search teams then arrived at the couple's home in another part of the village, where six more sets of remains were found, a local councillor said.

Police were deployed outside the house where the remains of the babies were found. Police sealed off the entrance to the macabre scene with plastic sheeting.

"I'm still in shock," said a former mayor of Villers-au-Tertre, Daniel Collignon. He said the village as a very calm and rural place.

Neighbours also reacted with astonishment. "They are normal people, who even have a role in the community," said one about the suspects. "It's incredible."

Another neighbour, a man in his 50s, added: "These are attractive, helpful, polite and courteous people, who did nothing to make you think them capable of anything abnormal.”

"The husband was even elected to the town council," he added.

A resident said the couple had two adult daughters and were grandparents.

Two teenagers in the village, Laura and Charlene, aged 17, who didn’t want their surnames published, said the couple's daughters were nice girls. One described the mother as a simple, quiet woman "who wouldn't harm a fly".

Neighbours said the couple had lived in the village for at least 15 years.