Elizabeth Otte Case Summary

Introduction Authorities are investigating what seems to be an indication of murder after an infant child was discovered stuffed in the microwave early morning by relatives. Elizabeth Renee Otte and Joseph Anthony Martinez Sr., the mother and father of infant baby Joseph Lewis Martinez Jr. lived with the father’s elder parents in a small, one brick rancher in Lenexa, Virginia. Elizabeth Otte, who apparently suffers from severe epileptic seizures and blackouts up to 50 minutes, claims that she remembers nothing about the incident besides feeding the child. Is it possible that she could have become so disorientated after a blackout that it caused her to mistaken Joseph Lewis Martinez for a bottle of milk that needed warming, placing him in the oven, cooking and eventually killing him? According to Timberg and White (1999), of the …show more content…
Unlike the other cases she was suffering from a blackout that could cause her to be disoriented, it was very hard to prove that was or was not the reasoning that resulted in Joseph Martinez’s death. Otte family created a website in her line of defense pleading her case. In Otte line of defense, neurologist specialist described Elizabeth Otte as having “automatism seizures” which mean it was possible for her to perform the action of putting her baby in the microwave mistaking it for a bottle without conscious thought or intentions and then no remember anything that took place. Neurologist W. Stephen Corrie, an expert on epilepsy was appointed to evaluate Otte, said she suffers from a prolonged period of confusion and disorientation after seizures. During that time she was able to operate an audio cassette tape but would have no memory of ever manipulating it afterwards. That would explain how she was able to operate the microwave and have no memory of even put the baby inside and turning it