Episode 12: Constance Fisher
Constance Fisher had a pretty rough start. Born in 1929, she was a ward of the state of Maine for the first year of her life and then was adopted. Unfortunately by the age of 5, both of her adopted parents had died. She was then sent into foster care, where she lived with a family who had 7 biological children of their own… except 5 of those children had died in infancy. She was surrounded by tough family situations, and when she met the love of her life, Carl, at the age of 17, she knew she wanted to create a happy, healthy family of her own.
Soon after the two wed, Constance gave birth to their first child, a boy, named Richard. Not long after, Constance gave birth to their second child, another boy, named Daniel. Several short years later, Constance then gave birth to the couple’s third child, a little girl named Deborah. It was at this point when Constance began to struggle with a diagnosis of postpartum depression that ultimately turned into complete psychosis. She was only 24 years old, a mother of 3, and dealing with a very difficult mental health issue, in which she had began to hear voices and believed that God was talking to her. Unfortunately, “God” was telling her that she needed to not only kill herself, but her three young children as well. And so, she did just that. In March of 1954, Constance drowned her kids in the bathtub and then attempted suicide.
Constance survived her escape with death and was subsequently tried for the murder of her three children. She was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and sent to the state psychiatric hospital in Augusta, Maine, where she spent 5 years recovering from her psychosis. Carl, a faithful husband, stayed by her side and when she was officially released in 1959, he took his wife home. It was less than a year later that she gave birth to their 4th child, Kathleen. Then their 5th child, Michael Jon, and then their 6th child, Natalie Rose.
Unsurprisingly, the postpartum psychosis made a reappearance for Constance, especially after the birth of her 6th and last child. One warm day in June of 1966, Constance drowned her three children in the bathtub and then attempted suicide again. While she was successful in the death of her kids, she survived her attempt and was sent back to the psychiatric hospital, this time never to be released. She managed to stay there until October of 1973, when she escaped to the nearby Kennebec River and jumped to her death.
Image sources:
nydailynews.com - “Mentally Ill Mother Commits Same Horrific Crime Twice”