No charges in the case of the four dead babies in a South Boston freezer

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced today that his office will not be bringing charges against a woman who, at some point between 1982 and 2011, had five babies with the same man. They gave one up for adoption, the other four wound up frozen in a freezer in her South Boston condo.

This investigation, which is one of the most complex, unusual and perplexing that this office has ever encountered, is now complete. While we have some answers, there are many elements of this case that will likely never be answered.

We will never know exactly where or when the four babies found in Alexis Aldamir’s apartment were born. We will never know if the four babies were born alive, and we will never know exactly what happened to them. We will never know how Alexis Aldamir concealed her pregnancies, or why she chose to do so.

According to a report by Hayden's office, Boston Police responded to 838 East Broadway in South Boston on the afternoon of Nov. 17, 2022 on a report about a possible baby inside a freezer, called in by Aldamir's brother, cleaning out her condo after she moved to a residential healthcare facility.

In all, four babies were discovered that day. All were frozen solid. All were found in shoe boxes wrapped in tin foil. Two were male and two were female.

All of the babies were full term, which means they were determined to be between 37 and 40 weeks of gestational age. All four had their umbilical cords attached and the two females had their placentas attached.

DNA tests concluded that the babies were full siblings.

The medical examiner reported that there was no scientific method to determine how long the babies had been frozen. The autopsy found no signs of internal or external trauma and no evidence of obvious injuries. There were no signs of food, or milk, or formula inside the babies’ stomachs.

The medical examiner found the cause of death for all the babies to be “undetermined.”

The medical examiner’s office also reported that it could not definitively determine whether the babies had been born alive.

The report continues:

Investigators determined that the apartment was owned and occupied by Alexis Aldamir. Aldamir, 69, moved with her family from Maryland to Amherst in 1971, when she was almost 17 years old. She moved to Boston from Amherst around February 1979. Records show that Aldamir purchased the South Boston apartment in October 1983, and likely started living in the apartment as early as April 1982.

Investigators located Alexis Aldamir in a residential healthcare facility and eventually gained a court order to obtain a DNA sample.

The DNA results and subsequent analysis by Bode Technology (a Virginia-based DNA research firm) and the Boston Police Crime Laboratory led investigators to conclude that Alexis Aldamir is the mother of all four babies.

Investigators also found that Aldamir had worked for an accounting firm in Boston from March 1980 to October 2021.

Co-workers who spoke with investigators described Alexis Aldamir as a hard worker who rarely took vacations. They also said she was a heavy-set woman who had a penchant for wearing loose-fitting clothing regardless of the season. None of Aldamir’s co-workers knew her to be pregnant at any point.

Investigators eventually learned who the likely father of the babies was and that he had died in 2011. They secured an order in June 2023 to obtain his DNA, which after testing, revealed that he was indeed the father of all four babies found in Aldamir’s apartment.

Investigators also determined that Aldamir gave birth to a baby girl in April 1982. The birth certificate listed Alexis Aldamir as the mother but did not include the father’s name.

Investigators also found two parental rights surrender forms, one signed by Alexis Aldamir and the other signed by the individual determined to be the father of the four frozen babies.

Investigators found no other records of Aldamir giving birth.

The report continues that as they compiled all the evidence, investigators struggled with where to bring any criminal charges.

First, to charge any homicide, there must be evidence that the victims were alive. There must also be a cause of death determined by the medical examiner.

In this case, investigators cannot prove that the babies were ever alive and they have no cause or manner of death.

Second, the autopsy found no signs of internal or external trauma to the babies and no evidence of obvious injuries.

Third, as the father is now deceased, he cannot not be charged with any crimes.

And then, even if they could come up with a criminal case, there was a good chance Aldamir would not be fit for trial:

In late 2022, investigators visited the healthcare facility where Aldamir now lives. They questioned her about the babies found in her apartment. Throughout the interview Aldamir appeared confused and demonstrated a lack of understanding about where she was and who she was speaking to. As a result, she was unable to provide investigators with any significant information.

To further assess Aldamir’s cognitive ability, investigators reviewed publicly available probate court records and spoke with a lawyer for Aldemir. The information obtained suggests strongly that Aldamir would be unlikely to stand trial.

A prosecutor’s office cannot ethically move forward with a case that, in good faith, it believes it cannot bring to trial. Here, based on the evidence obtained throughout the investigation, including the many unanswered questions about the cause of death of the four babies, prosecutors have made the determination that they will not be able to bring this case to trial. Therefore, this investigation will not result in criminal charges.

The condo remains in Alexis Aldamir's name.