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Aug 21, 2008 11:12 pm US/Central
Police: Mother Stabs 2 Girls, Then Herself
ROSEVILLE, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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Roseville Police were called to the Westwood Village Three townhome complex around 2 p.m. after one of the girls ran to a neighbor's house to seek help.
CBS
Police say a woman apparently stabbed her two 11-year-old daughters and herself at their Roseville townhome.
Roseville Police were called to the Westwood Village Three townhome complex around 2 p.m. after one of the girls ran to a neighbor's house to seek help.
When police arrived they found Sylvia Lynn Sieferman, 60, in the entry area of the home with several stab wounds on her body. Police said the wounds appeared to be self-inflicted and Sieferman was taken into custody after a short struggle.
"It's just a sad case," said Capt. Rick Mathwig, who also said officers found several knives in the home.
After entering the home, officers found one girl with multiple stab wounds. The other girl was with a neighbor a few townhomes away. She had also sustained multiple stab wounds.
The mother and one daughter are in critical condition at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, while the other is in stable condition.
Sieferman's friend, Carrie Micko, said Sieferman was having serious financial problems and had been laid off from several jobs in the past four years.
"Her whole life was about her kids," she said. "After a series of financial mishaps, she just couldn't see her way through. She was under extreme financial, emotional and spiritual distress and didn't want to fail them. She couldn't bear to have them see her fail."
Micko said she had taken Sieferman to the mental health unit of the hospital a month ago. She said Sieferman told hospital workers she wanted to harm her children, but no one was legally able to help her out. Micko said Sieferman had no family to turn to.
"It didn't have to happen. She was very clear about her intentions and told them, and I think that was her way of saying 'Help me, take the children so that I don't do this.' And they didn't respond the way she or I was hoping," said Micko.
While police offer no motive for this incident, sadly her friend may have one.
"This act of violence strangely enough, in her mind I think, was an act of compassion, trying to relieve the damage she thought she was doing to her children," said Micko.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is assisting Roseville Police in investigating the crime scene.
Investigators planned to present the case Friday to the Ramsey County attorney's office. Sieferman faces several felony charges.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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