Page One

5 adults arraigned in baby’s death

The Associated Press
Monday February 11, 2002

SAN FRANCISCO — A strange relationship between a man and four women he lived with has been marred by tragedy. The five adults face a Monday arraignment on charges related to an infant’s death and the mistreatment of their 12 other children. 

Winifred Wright, 45, Carol Bremner, Mary Campbell, 37, Deirdre Wilson, 37, and Kali Polk-Matthews, 20, were arrested Friday for the November death of a 19-month-old baby. 

The 12 other children, ranging in age from 8-months to 16-years-old, were found malnourished at the Marinwood home. A majority of them suffered from rickets, said Marin County Sheriff’s detective Fred Marziano, lead investigator on the case. 

Wright, Bremner, Campbell and Wilson each face one count of second-degree murder and multiple counts of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment. Polk-Matthews faces one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of child endangerment, Marziano said. 

Police began investigating the large family in November after four women brought a baby to Kaiser Hospital in San Rafael, where he died from “severe malnutrition and neglect,” according to the Marin County Sheriff’s Department. Test confirmed that Wright had fathered all 13 children with Bremner, Campbell and Wilson, Marziano said.