Warmke v. Commonwealth

180 S.W.2d 872 (Ky. 1944).

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Early in an evening Warmke (D) borrowed a coat to wrap her illegitimate child in and returned the coat two hours later and did not have her baby. D's motive for getting rid of the child was that it was illegitimate. D did not say anything about the missing baby when she went to a relative's house the next day. D was eventually arrested. D led the sheriff to the scene of the crime. The baby's cap was found. D confessed to killing the baby. In court, she changed her story and said that she had been scared and did not remember saying the she had dropped the baby into the creek on purpose. D was convicted of manslaughter. D appealed, alleging that corpus delicti was not established because there was no eyewitness and the body was never found.