Woman accused of killing three sons

BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio — A mother accused of killing her three sons was dominated and isolated by her husband, a man nearly twice her age who had been her own mother’s live-in boyfriend before they married, authorities said Wednesday.

Investigators believe Brittany Pilkington used each boy’s comfort blanket to suffocate them in their crib or bed over the last 13 months, because she wanted her husband to pay more attention to her and their 3-year-old daughter, Logan County Prosecutor William Goslee said.

Pilkington, 23, is jailed on murder charges in all three deaths, including her 3-month-old son Noah, who died Tuesday, less than a week after he was returned from protective custody on a judge’s order.

Goslee said he won’t likely seek the death penalty because of the background of Brittany Pilkington, including the fact she had been dominated by her husband, Joseph Pilkington, 43, who had been her “semi-stepfather” at one point. Goslee said she apparently feared how the boys would grow up, and described her daughter Hailey as her only friend.

Her uncle, Joe Skaggs, was furious that a judge ordered the surviving children returned to the couple last week.

“Why would you give them back after a little boy just died and when you’re in the middle of an investigation?” Skaggs, standing in front of his niece’s apartment, told The Columbus Dispatch on Tuesday.

But Goslee said Wednesday they didn’t have any evidence of a crime in the earlier deaths, and no one could have predicted Pilkington would kill her remaining son.