An Indiana couple was arrested after police made a gruesome discovery at their backyard bonfire.
Officers began investigating Steven Valle, 31, and Samantha Sebella, 25, on Sept. 20, when Valle allegedly confessed to his friends to killing two undocumented children and burning their bodies in his backyard bonfire. in Wheatfield. Fox 32 reports.
The children did not have any documentation such as a birth certificate or social security number and therefore never existed in government records.
But when Jasper County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived at the Wheatfield home where Valle and Sebella used to live, they found “partial bone fragments” that a specialist in Indianapolis was able to determine were human. according to Law and Crime.
The couple was then arrested Thursday and charged with murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in death, abuse of a corpse, obstruction of justice and failure to report a corpse.
Samantha Sebella, 25, and Steven Valle, 31, were arrested Thursday for allegedly killing their children and burning their bodies.
Authorities say the couple initially denied any knowledge of children being burned in their backyard bonfire when officers found them at a hotel in Newton County on Sept. 20.
They admitted they had a son, for whom they did not have a birth certificate because the birth occurred at home and the child was not documented, according to court documents. obtained by Fox 59.
The couple also allegedly told deputies they never had a miscarriage or stillbirth, and authorities conducted a records check with the Jasper County Health Department and determined there was no documentation indicating Sebella had given to light ever.
But police still took their cell phones, from which they were supposedly able to discover numerous messages indicating that Valle killed and burned several children.
“You killed my children because you are a bastard, you never loved me,” one message said, according to court documents.
‘YOU KILL OUR BABIES, I HAVE (sic) DNA IN MY BODY FOREVER,’ said another message between Sebella and Valle.
A third undocumented child was then taken from custody, authorities said.
Then, on September 30, the sheriff’s office, Indiana State Police and the Jasper County Coroner’s Office, along with two cadaver dogs, arrived at the Wheatfield home where they used to live. Valle and Sabella had reportedly been evicted from the property earlier this year.
The dogs pointed out a fire pit and a pile of ashes near the garage, prompting investigators to dig up part of the backyard with shovels and discover the bone fragments, according to Fox 59.
On October 3, court documents show, Valle admitted that Sebella had given birth to a child in 2018.
He told officers that Sebella gave birth to the child while he was away, and claimed that when he returned home, he found Sebella passed out and the child lying between her legs.
The child was not awake or breathing, Valle said, stating that he cleaned the newborn, placed him in a blanket and put him in a box.
Valle allegedly went on to say that he buried the child in his backyard after three days because “he knew the child would not come back to life.”
The suspect proceeded to tell officers that Sebella became pregnant for the second time and prematurely gave birth to a child in a bathtub while she was at work.
He said the boy was dead and wrapped in a blanket when he got home, and he buried him in the backyard near the first one, according to court documents.
Police also say Valle told them the children had been buried for between three and five years before he dug them up and burned them at the stake.
She allegedly added that she saved some of the ashes to make a necklace.
As the investigation continued, officers learned that Valle and Sebella had been physically violent toward each other and determined that Sebella took no steps to protect her two deceased children, her living child, or herself from the violence.
Police also said they made no effort to notify authorities about the children’s death, burial or burning.
Valle and Sebella are now serving time at the Jasper County Detention Center, where they remain without bond.