Mom 'Euphoric' Before Baby Died

A woman accused of killing her baby by cutting off the child's arms seemed oddly "euphoric" in a telephone conversation the day before the slaying, but gave no hint of her plans, her mother said Tuesday.

Connie Macaulay, 58, said there was something troubling in the voice of 35-year-old Dena Schlosser, a mother of three now charged with murder in the death of her youngest child.

"She was euphoric and it bothered me a little," Macaulay told The Associated Press in a phone interview from Canada, saying Schlosser spoke vaguely about her plans for the next day. "She wasn't herself."

Schlosser, hospitalized earlier this year for postpartum depression, was charged Nov. 22 for the slaying of 10-month-old Margaret Schlosser. The mother told a 911 operator she had cut off the baby's arms; police found Schlosser covered in blood and holding a knife while listening to a church hymn.

"I couldn't imagine Dena doing something like that," Macaulay said. "She never did anything wrong."

Macaulay, who has advanced Parkinson's disease, said she fears for Schlosser and is devastated she can't be with her.

"The feeling of not being able to see her again is hard. I'm very ill and she'll be incarcerated," said Macaulay. "I don't think what she did was right, but I love her and I don't want to see her hurt. She's just a gentle soul."

Macaulay said she does not want her son-in-law to get the couple's 6- and 9-year-old daughters, claiming he has little patience for them and is not stable. The girls are in foster care while authorities determine if John Schlosser failed to protect them from their mother.

John Schlosser has declined interviews. His attorney, Howard Shapiro, said there was no reason John Schlosser should not have custody of his children.

Dena Schlosser remains jailed but is improving with anti-psychotic medication, her attorney has said.

Meanwhile, the legal team defending Schlosser is looking into her association with a nondenominational church and its leader, Doyle Davidson, a self-proclaimed prophet, believing it resembles a cult. Davidson has rejected cult accusations and other claims of impropriety.

"I have Parkinson's and she couldn't depend on me," Macaulay said. "He could give her all the answers and she needed them."