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The Disturbing Story Of The Man Who Killed His Infant Children & Hid Them In Tupperware
A man who killed his infant daughter in Desert Hot Springs and stuffed her remains in a Tupperware container was sentenced to the death penalty in court today.
Even more disturbing is that 39-year-old Jason Michael Hann is already serving jail time in Vermont for the murder of another infant baby—his son Jason who was less than two months old; he also hid his body in a plastic container, according to The Desert Sun.
The grisly details of the most recent murder unfolded when the remains of 10-week-old baby Montana were found in an Arkansas storage unit in Feb. 2002, according to the L.A. Times and CBS Los Angeles. Hann and his then-girlfriend Krissy Lynn Werntz, 34, who is also the mother of his children, had rented a storage unit there. However, when they were unable to pay the bills, his unit went to auction. The man who won the items inside the storage unit made the shocking discovery of Montana's decomposed body in a Tupperware container.
According to CBS Los Angeles, Hann fatally struck Montana in the head and then wrapped her head in duct tape in February 2001 in Desert Hot Springs. He put her body in a plastic bag and then in a Tupperware container. (They had been living a "transient, gypsy-style life" since 1998.) They moved Montana's body in a trailer to the Arkansas storage unit.
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The couple was arrested in April 2002 at a motel in Portland, Maine, according to the Desert Sun. Just a day later, authorities found the remains of Hann and Werntz's son Jason in a storage unit in Arizona.
"That baby, a boy less than 2 months old, had been killed in July 1999 in Vermont and his remains kept in a plastic container by the couple for more than a year before they rented the Arizona storage unit in December 2000," Riverside County District Attorney’s spokesman John Hall said in a written statement, according to The Press-Enterprise.
Hann pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in Vermont and was sentenced to 27 to 30 years in prison in Feb. 2006 for Jason's death; however, Werntz was not charged, reported CBS Los Angeles.
When authorities arrested the couple at the Maine Motel 6 in 2002, they discovered that they had a third child also named Jason, who was abused as well, according to the Desert Sun. The one-month-old at the time suffered fractures on his skull, femur and ribs, Deputy District Attorney Lisa DiMaria said. Jason has since been adopted by a foster family and his name has been changed to Michael.
A Riverside County judge found Hann guilty of first-degree murder and assault on a child resulting in death in regards to Montana's death in December, according to the Times. Hann's attorney Brenda Miller argued that Hann suffered from a bipolar disorder and was suicidal, thus "incapable of premeditation and deliberation," according to City News Service.
"Just as his anxiety and his rage was reaching its peak, Montana began to cry, and her cries got louder and louder, and his rage just exploded," Miller told the jury, according to the Desert Sun. That's when he struck Montana.
Werntz has been charged in the murder of her daughter Montana. Her trial was supposed to begin at the same time as Hann, but because of family medical problems, her trial was postponed and will begin next month.
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