So no one would have imagined the horrors that lay hidden in the two-bedroom apartment Freeman shared with her longtime boyfriend and kids. Last week, authorities discovered the remains of four dead infants and fetuses—all of them believed to be hers—in or near her home. Two sets of remains were found in a trunk in her living room, one in a motor home on her property and the final one under a bathroom sink, wrapped in a blood-stained towel. Though authorities believe all of the dead infants and fetuses belong to Freeman, 37, so far the Worcester County state’s attorney has filed murder charges against her for only one of them—a full-term or near-full term child which she gave birth to in 2004. (Previously filed charges involving a fetus were withdrawn; a preliminary hearing on the new charges is expected later this month.) As cops continue their investigation, Freeman’s family—and the wider public—are struggling to comprehend what could compel someone to commit such heinous acts.
The chain of events that resulted in Freeman’s arrest began on the evening of July 25. According to a charging document, Freeman was at home vomiting and suffering from severe cramps and diarrhea. Her boyfriend called 911, and soon paramedics and police arrived on scene, where they found Freeman on a sofa, bleeding heavily between her legs. Later, when doctors treated her at a nearby hospital, they found through tests that Freeman had been pregnant (despite her denials). Though they found no fetus, they discovered a 30- to 36-week-old placenta inside her womb “with an irregular cut to the umbilical cord,” according to the charging document.
Once police were alerted, a detective came to interview Freeman. No longer denying she was recently pregnant, Freeman said she’d given birth to the infant—which she referred to as “gloopity glop”—in her apartment. The fetus, she said, emerged deformed and dead, and she never sought medical treatment for it. Based on Freeman’s statements, authorities obtained a search warrant for her home. That led them to the gruesome discovery.
Police then re-interviewed Freeman. According to the charging document, she said that the remains found in the living-room trunk were twins to which she gave birth in 2004. One of them is now the basis of the murder charges she faces. In statements to police, Freeman said that she gave birth to that twin while sitting on a toilet at home. When the baby fell into the water, Freeman said, she waited for it to die before removing it. Then she wrapped it in a towel and stored it in various places, finally settling on the trunk. “Freeman stated she took full responsibility for what she did,” the charging document reads. (Freeman’s attorney did not return calls seeking comment.)
Her longtime boyfriend, Ray Godman, says it’s inconceivable she could have committed such atrocities. “Anyone who you can find that knows her will tell you she’s innocent,” Godman told NEWSWEEK. He and Freeman founded the taxi business together (the company once marketed itself by dressing its female drivers in bikinis). Police say Godman is not considered a suspect in the deaths or in any other aspect of the investigation. But they have asked domestic-violence experts to examine 19 bruises lining Freeman’s inner thighs, forearm, stomach and legs. (Godman denies he struck her.)
Freeman’s brother, Randy Freeman, appears to find the charges bewildering. Interviewed by NEWSWEEK at his home near Baltimore, he said the two grew up in the rural Eldersburg area. Freeman was an exceptional student, he claimed, and a prim, well-behaved teenager. In recent years, though, they became estranged; after Freeman left for Ocean City with Godman some 17 years ago, said Randy, she rarely visited him or any other family members.
Those who knew Freeman in Ocean City are less sanguine about her. Though many say she seemed like a devoted mother, she was also known for her short fuse and abrasive manner. Marion Chambers, who lives next door to a run-down motel partly owned by Freeman and Godman, says that over the years, she’s had numerous disagreements with Freeman, whom she described as “frosty” and “mouthy.” Freeman would often tussle with police when they responded to complaints of unruly guests at the hotel, according to Chambers.
L’Hussier, the neighbor whose son Freeman once drove home, has similar recollections. “She could lose her temper and flip out,” says L’Hussier. “She would scare me. I really was apprehensive about how I approached this lady.” L’Hussier recounts an episode in which Freeman retaliated against a person she believed had stood up one of her cabs. When that person called again for a ride, Freeman said that one was on its way. Forty-five minutes later, when the person called back wondering where the cab was, Freeman allegedly replied, “Paybacks are a bitch.”
Some neighbors said they thought Freeman had recently appeared to be pregnant. And while they may have found her foul-tempered, none of them thought she was capable of unleashing such fury on her own baby. As one stunned neighbor put it, “Everyone’s got skeletons in their closet, but not four in their backyard.”
