The Misery Machine - The Case of Fardoussa Omar Abdillahi

Episode Date: September 8, 2023

Support Our Patreon For More Unreleased Content: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Join Our Facebook Group: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast Discord: https://discord.gg/kCCzjZM #themiserymachine #podcast #truecrime Source Material: https://lawandcrime.com/crime/mom-admits-slicing-her-infant-across-the-throat-and-tossing-his-dead-body-in-dumpster/ https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca/bca-divisions/forensic-science/Pages/forensic-programs-crime-scene.aspx https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21274826/mn-v-fardoussa-omar-abdillahi-key-documents.pdf https://lawandcrime.com/crime/minnesota-mom-who-said-she-cut-her-3-month-old-son-across-the-throat-and-threw-his-body-in-a-dumpster-is-competent-for-trial-doctor-says/ https://www.stcloudlive.com/news/local/st-cloud-woman-pleads-guilty-to-killing-her-3-month-old-child https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23509535/notice-of-judicial-determination.pdf https://www.startribune.com/for-many-somali-americans-happy-new-year-means-happy-birthday/566639041/#:~:text=Many%20refugees%20were%20assigned%20Jan,generic%20and%20easy%20to%20remember. https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/somali-culture/somali-culture-family https://coms.doc.state.mn.us/publicviewer/OffenderDetails/Index/267346/Search https://mn.gov/doc/facilities/shakopee/ https://www.revisor.mn.gov/court_rules/cr/id/20/ https://www.wctrib.com/news/st-cloud-woman-now-also-faces-first-degree-murder-charge-in-november-stabbing-death-of-infant-son-found-in-dumpster https://knsiradio.com/2023/06/05/mother-accused-of-killing-baby-in-2021-pleads-not-guilty/ https://www.kare11.com/article/news/crime/st-cloud-woman-charged-with-murder-in-her-infants-stabbing-death/89-0c5f1a55-4f85-4d79-b547-ee16183cf388 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVveORLSWxI&ab_channel=CBSEveningNews

On November 28, 2021, at 6.29 a.m., officers with the St. Cloud Police Department responded to a call at an apartment building located in the 2000 block of Main Prairie Road in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The call was placed by a man known in reports under his initials, M.B., who told dispatchers that a baby was missing, and that the mother was telling people that she had killed the child and thrown him into a dumpster. The baby's mother was then 26-year-old Fardusa Omar Abdalahi, who lived alone with her infant son in the apartment since October of the same year. The baby boy, who has not been named, was born on August 5, 2021. Allegedly, Fardusa called her mother who lives out of state in the early morning hours of November 28th. Now, during that call, she shared with her mother what had been reported to the police, but she had killed her infant son and discarded his body. Without any options available to her as she was living out of state,

Farduce's mother contacted friends and relatives for help. M.B., along with a couple of female witnesses, responded to Fardous's apartment prior to calling 911, to see what was going on. But when they arrived, they found the young mother alone and in tears. She kept repeating what she had already told her mother, that she had killed her baby and thrown him away. M.B. and the female witnesses searched for the child,

but they could not locate him. Afterwards, they called 911, unsure that Fardusa was even being truthful with them. After officers arrived on the scene, they observed children's furniture within Fardusa's home, but the little boy was not present. When asked where her son was, the young mother directed the officers to the dumpster in question, which was located in the back of the apartment building. Hoping this wasn't actually the case, the officers commenced searching through the trash. As they were doing so, Fardusa shared with them that she had stabbed her baby

and put him inside of a black plastic trash bag for placing his lifeless body inside of the dumpster. At the same time, the officers made a grisly discovery. Fardusa was not making any of this up. Inside of a trash bag was the body of her son. His tiny throat had been slit. He was just days shy of turning four months old. Fardusa was placed under arrest

and the scene of the crime was preserved in order to collect evidence. She was charged with second-degree homicide, which is a felony that can carry a weight of up to 40 years in prison. At her arraignment in December, Fardusa was indicted by a grand jury on counts of both first and second degree homicide. District judge Chris Davick Halfin set her bail at $2 million unconditional or $1 million with conditions. All of the adult witnesses, including M.B, cooperated with this investigation. Due to their quick action and their willingness to reach out to the authorities for help,

the little boy's final resting place did not need to be the city. Now, that may sound crude, but we've seen this numerous times in multiple cases we've covered on this channel, such as Jackson 6 Manson and Jesse Shockley. We'll get into the rest of the story in just one minute. Please stay with us for the following ad. It not only supports the show, but it helps us support local charities in our area. This week's episode has been brought to you by Murder by Choice, a fully interactive murder mystery adventure set on a tropical island in modern times.

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My favorite is Margot St. Germain. She clearly likes her cat as much as I do. Additionally, if you download the game only through my link, you'll receive a 500 energy gift to solve the case faster. Thanks and back to the episode. Investigators with the St. Cloud Police Department, as well as the crime scene team from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, responded to the main Prairie Road address and executed the search warrant.

A search of Fardusa's cell phone corroborated the timeline of events, in particular the early morning call to her mother. Consensual searches of the witness's phones also further confirm the timeline of the reported concern for Fardousa's son. Investigators observed multiple knives and bedding that had also been haphazardly discarded into the dumpster. All items of evidentiary value were seized and sent to the BCA laboratory for examination. Fardusa has read her Miranda rights and agreed to speak with the police. During her interview, she shared that after the birth of her son, she experienced headaches and feelings of worry and fear. She also claimed that the baby's father was denying paternity. With her mother out of state and her baby's father refusing to be in the picture,

Ferdusa had no idea what she was going to do to get help. She went on to admit to the police how she stabbed her son with a kitchen knife and claimed that he was crying prior to the incident. She demonstrated to them how she sliced her baby boy's throat open before stuffing his body along with some of his clothing, into the black plastic trash bag. Five minutes later, she hurled it into the dumpster. Twenty minutes later, she called her mother to confess what she had done. An autopsy was performed by the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office.

A preliminary examination found sharp force injuries to the baby's neck, which were consistent with Fardousa's admission that she had slit the little boy's throat. The little boy would have quickly died from bleeding out. The manner of death was ruled to be a homicide. On December 18, 2022, Dr. Jody Blaswick of the Minnesota Department of Human Services penned a letter to the Honorable Judge Sarah Hennessy with regard to Fardousa's mental state and her competency to stand trial. It read, I opine she presently has the requisite skills and abilities for trial competency. I request additional time to complete the rule

to 0.02 evaluation. In part, this is due to the nature and gravity of her criminal charges and the amount of discovery to review. Additionally, her clinical presentation is somewhat complex. I believe there are cultural aspects to understand relative to her history and presentation of mental illness. Naturally, I plan to interview relevant subjects in order to further clarify issues. I will require interpreter services, which I anticipate will lengthen my time working on this evaluation. I would like to target January 31st, 2023 if the court would so allow. Dr. Blasick was subsequently granted additional time by the courts.

What I find interesting about Dr. Blasick's letter is the cultural aspects that she mentions. Many cities in Minnesota, much like our home of Lewiston, Maine, have a large refugee population from East African countries such as Somalia. Fardusa was one of these immigrants, and we can tell that by looking at her birth date, which is January 1, 1995. This is not because she was a New Year's baby. Many Somali refugees escaping war overseas didn't have birth records. In some cases, none of that information was recorded to begin with.

Due to this, many were signed January 1st as their birthday. What's interesting to me is that Fardusa was of the impression that no one would be available to help her with her new baby. Even though her own mother was out of state, the moment that members of her community heard that there was trouble, they dropped everything to see what they could do to help. In my experience with the Somali community here in Lewiston, I found that families tend to share responsibilities.

For example, the whole family community is considered to be responsible for a child's parenting and upbringing. It is commonplace and accepted for a Somali child to be disciplined by another adult in the community that is not their parent. Families often pool their resources so that everyone can meet collective needs. So with this in mind, I find it troubling that Fardusa felt like killing her son was her only option. Now, one could speculate that she was stepping outside of cultural, norms as an unwed mother. But I think we need more information to discern whether or not this played a part, if any. Either way, the fact that this little boy had to lose his life is incredibly tragic.

After initially pleading not guilty, on Wednesday, August 2nd, 20203, Fardusa, now 28 years old, pled guilty to one count of second-degree homicide in Stearns County Court. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 18th of this year. She's currently being held at MCF Shacopi, which is at all levels correctional facility. Although Dr. Blaswick found Fardousa competent to stand trial, it's unclear whether or not the young mother was evaluated for possible postpartum psychosis. In her Mirandai's interview, she shared with the arresting officers that after giving birth to her son, she experienced headaches and feelings of worry and fear.

There was also the added stress of living alone with the baby's father out of the picture. As we outlined previously in our Lindsay Clancy case, even in the best circumstances, new mothers fall through the cracks, which allows this disease to take hold. So if we can't save someone like Lindsay, a labor and delivery nurse who knew what to look for, how do we help the millions of other new moms out there who maybe aren't aware of what to look out for and don't have the same access to resources? Are we just doomed as a society as a whole? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section,

down below.