Anna Hlatky: The Monessen Twin Killings
Background
Anna Hlatky was a 36-year-old mother living with her husband and children in Monessen, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. In 1928, investigators discovered that four newborn infants had been killed and secretly buried behind the Hlatky family home. The victims were two sets of twins born during separate pregnancies in 1927 and 1928.
Hlatky is sometimes described as a serial killer because the deaths occurred in two separate incidents over more than a year. However, contemporary court records reported that she was ultimately convicted of involuntary manslaughter rather than murder. The surviving records are limited, and the names and sexes of the four infants were not published.
The First Twin Killings
Hlatky gave birth to her first set of twins at home during July 1927. The exact day of their birth and death could not be established. In a confession later introduced in court, Hlatky stated that the twins were born in the morning, approximately half an hour apart. At least one of the babies was alive after birth because she heard the infant crying.
According to her confession, Hlatky deliberately kept the newborns beneath the bedcovers so that they could not breathe. She left their bodies on the bed before wrapping them in old sweaters and a blanket. The bundle was then placed inside a household boiler and hidden in a bedroom cupboard.
After an odor developed, Hlatky instructed her daughter Margaret to dig a hole in the backyard. Margaret reportedly did not know what the bundle contained. Hlatky told her to bury it and pour disinfectant over the ground to hide the smell. She gave the girl a nickel for completing the task.
The Second Twin Killings
On August 11, 1928, Hlatky gave birth to another set of twins at the family home. Reports of the investigation stated that these newborns were also smothered shortly after birth. Their bodies were buried in the chicken yard at the rear of the property.
Hlatky later said that she had concealed her pregnancies and avoided calling a physician or midwife because she feared her husband. She testified that he had threatened to kill her if she gave birth to any additional children. This allegation became an important part of the defense presented during her trial, although it did not prevent her conviction.
Victims
- Unnamed newborn twin: Died on an unconfirmed date in July 1927 at the Hlatky residence in Monessen, Pennsylvania. The infant was smothered beneath bedcovers and buried behind the home.
- Unnamed newborn twin: Died on the same unconfirmed date in July 1927 at the Hlatky residence in Monessen, Pennsylvania. The infant was smothered and buried with the other twin.
- Unnamed newborn twin: Died on August 11, 1928, at the Hlatky residence in Monessen, Pennsylvania. The infant was smothered shortly after birth and buried in the rear chicken yard.
- Unnamed newborn twin: Died on August 11, 1928, at the Hlatky residence in Monessen, Pennsylvania. The infant was smothered shortly after birth and buried with the other twin.
The available historical reports do not provide personal names for any of the four victims. The exact date in July 1927 was also unknown to Hlatky when she confessed, so a more precise date should not be assigned to the first two deaths.
Discovery of the Bodies
On August 25, 1928, Hlatky entered Memorial Hospital. Questions surrounding her medical condition led health officials and police to investigate the recent birth. Authorities learned that there might also have been an earlier concealed pregnancy.
On August 31, 1928, investigators excavated part of the backyard and recovered the remains of the twins born in 1927. The bodies had been buried near the chicken yard behind the house. The discovery confirmed that Hlatky had previously delivered children whose births and deaths had not been officially reported.
Hlatky signed a confession on September 1, 1928. Additional statements were taken during the investigation, and prosecutors later introduced four purported confessions at her trial. She was formally accused of killing the infants and was held without bail in the Westmoreland County jail at Greensburg.
Investigation of the Family
The investigation extended beyond Hlatky. Her husband, John Hlatky, was accused of being an accessory after the fact. Some accounts of the case contained conflicting descriptions of who helped dispose of the first set of bodies. Hlatky’s detailed confession stated that her daughter Margaret buried a concealed bundle without knowing what was inside it. Other testimony and reports referred to a male family member named John in connection with a burial.
Two of Hlatky’s daughters, who were approximately twelve and thirteen years old, gave testimony that the prosecution considered damaging. Their statements helped investigators reconstruct events inside the home and the circumstances surrounding the concealed births.
Trial and Conviction
Hlatky’s trial began in Greensburg on November 21, 1928. The prosecution relied heavily on her written statements, the recovered remains and testimony from family members, health officials and Pennsylvania State Police officers. Her defense attorneys questioned the manner in which the confessions had been obtained and emphasized her claim that she had acted while living under threats from her husband.
On November 23, 1928, the trial ended with Hlatky’s conviction for involuntary manslaughter in connection with the deaths of the two sets of twins. Although she had originally faced a murder accusation, the jury returned the lesser verdict. Her attorneys announced that they would not seek a new trial.
Sentence
On January 21, 1929, Hlatky was sentenced to an indeterminate prison term of seven to twenty-four years. She was ordered to serve the sentence at the Women’s State Industrial Home at Muncy, Pennsylvania.
Newspaper descriptions of the sentencing stated that Hlatky remained calm when the punishment was announced. Her main expressed concern was the welfare of her surviving minor children, who were receiving assistance from Westmoreland County.
Historical Significance
The Anna Hlatky case received significant attention because it involved four newborn victims, secret home births and the discovery of human remains behind an occupied family residence. Hundreds of people reportedly gathered outside the local hearing office when she was first brought before an official on the murder charge.
The case is now difficult to reconstruct completely because many available accounts are brief newspaper reports, and the infants were never publicly identified by name. The verified record establishes that two newborn twins died during July 1927 and two more died on August 11, 1928. All four deaths occurred at or immediately around the Hlatky home in Monessen, Pennsylvania, and Hlatky admitted intentionally preventing the babies from breathing.
Although modern crime databases frequently label Anna Hlatky a serial killer, the most precise legal description is that she was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for killing four newborn children in two separate incidents. The victims remain historically unidentified.
