DA: Woman tried to cut baby from neighbor

Pennsylvania--A Pennsylvania woman beat her eight-month pregnant neighbor with a baseball bat before taking her to a remote area and trying to cut out her unborn baby, a district attorney said Thursday.

Peggy Jo Conner, 38, attacked Valerie Oskin, 30, at her Ford City, Pennsylvania, home late Tuesday or early Wednesday, said Armstrong County District Attorney Scott Andreassi.

Oskin, whose injuries were described as "severe," underwent an emergency caesarian section at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh and her baby -- a boy -- "appears healthy at this time," Andreassi said.

Ford City is in western Pennsylvania, about 45 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

Conner was arraigned Thursday on charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and aggravated assault of an unborn child. She was being held without bail in Armstrong County Jail.

Andreassi said Conner hit Oskin with a baseball bat, then took the pregnant woman to a rural area where she attempted to get the baby by cutting Oskin's abdomen.

"It would appear from the defendant's statement that her goal was to get the victim's unborn child and take it as her own," Andreassi said.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Andreassi said Conner appeared to have waited hours, thinking Oskin would die before she cut out the baby.

A 17-year-old boy on an all-terrain vehicle discovered the two women and sought help despite Conner's insistence that Oskin, who was bleeding from the head and abdomen, was fine, the district attorney said.

Andreassi said Conner, who has three children, had lied to her family and boyfriend about being pregnant.

Thomas Wilks told The Associated Press he is Conner's estranged husband and said the allegations were "impossible." He had seen evidence that Conner was pregnant, he said.

Wilks also said Conner and Oskin were close friends