Aurora – A 52-year-old woman was arrested on murder charges Saturday night after she allegedly butchered her toddler granddaughter and picked up a phone with bloodstained hands to call police.
Officers who responded to the gruesome scene at 17553 E. LaSalle Drive were devastated. The Police Department was offering the officers counseling.
The grandmother, identified as Carol Lynn Pappas, is being held at the Aurora jail on investigation of first- degree murder, said Rudy Herrera, police spokesman.
“This was a horrible scene,” Herrera said. “This baby has been stabbed multiple times. We believe (the grandmother) was responsible.”
They notified the child’s parents and another resident of the home, who they said was distraught when he learned what had happened.
Pappas was living with her son, his wife and the 21-month-old baby, along with at least one other roommate, Herrera said. Neighbors said at least three other men lived at the 1,475- square-foot home, purchased for $207,000 last November, according to public records. Records show the home is owned by Nicholas and Jessica Pappas, 27 and 28, respectively.
The grandmother called 911 about noon Saturday, Herrera said.
Initially she refused to open the front door of her home when police and firefighters arrived, he said. When she finally opened it and came out on the porch, she was still talking to the emergency dispatcher on a cordless phone. Her hands were covered with blood, Herrera said.
Police found the weapon that was used to repeatedly stab the baby, but Herrera declined to say what it was.
“She made statements that led us to believe she was the only one in the home and was responsible,” Herrera said.
The child was discovered on a bed in a back room, he said.
Jim Brown, who lives next door, said he never heard any crying or screaming. The first time he noticed something was wrong was when he saw two police officers in his neighbors’ backyard with pistols drawn.
But Brown said he had observed odd behavior previously at the residence. About six months ago, he said, the grandmother, with hair disheveled, would jump the backyard fence and tirelessly chase and feed ducks near a canal day after day.
“She was out there chasing them around like a kid would,” he said.
John Johner, who lives across the street, said the grandmother often would walk the street, her hair awry, acting strangely.
“She walked around like things were flying around her head,” Johner said.
Herrera said he could not comment on whether the grandmother has a history of mental illness.
He said authorities do not know why the child was killed. In other child deaths, babysitters have become violent when a child cries excessively or wets a bed, Herrera said.
“Obviously something went wrong with her if she did this,” he said. “We will get to the bottom of this, why it happened.”
Neighbors say it was unusual that the little girl’s mother, whom they describe as very attentive, would have left the child alone with the grandmother.
“It was the first time that we know of,” Brown said. “She (the girl) was just a doll, really.”
Brown said he and his wife, Kay, would often watch the mother play with the blond girl in their backyard. The mother would push her in a swing, watch her splash in a small wading pool and play ball with her, Brown said.
Johner’s wife, Reneil, said the mother took a walk every day with the toddler in a stroller.
In 1990, Carol Pappas was convicted of theft, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. The report did not say what her sentence was.
Statewide, at least 15 children younger than 10 were murdered in 2004, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Six of those homicides involved children less than a year old.
Staff writer Christopher N. Osher contributed to this report.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
