Witness refuses to testify in sect child-murder trial

TAUNTON, Mass. — A witness for the prosecution is refusing to testify today in the trial of former Attleboro religious sect member Karen E. Robidoux, who is accused of starving her child to death.

David Corneau, who led investigators to the body of Samuel Robidoux in a Maine state park, was scheduled to testify today, according to prosecutor Walter Shea, a Bristol County assistant district attorney.

The trial started yesterday in Taunton Superior Court with opening statements from attorneys and witness testimony. Robidoux is on trial for murder by depriving her infant son of solid food. The 11-month-old boy died in 1999 after subsisting on a 51-day diet of only breast milk.

Robidoux’s attorney, Joseph F. Krowski, is arguing that Robidoux was not at fault, that she was under control of the powerful sect, The Body, and unable to act against its orders.

Robidoux restricted her son’s diet to breast milk as the result of “a vision” by another sect member, G. Michelle Mingo, who said that Robidoux had to atone for vanity in her appearance. At the time, Robidoux had become pregnant again and was unable to produce enough milk to sustain Samuel.

In a hearing this morning, Corneau’s attorney, J.W. Carney, Jr., told Judge Elizabeth Donovan that Corneau believes he would be violating his religious beliefs by testifying.

Shea argued that Corneau should be found in contempt of court. He said that a previous immunity deal given to Corneau also covered his trial testimony.

The judge held off on a ruling, in part because officials are trying to locate that original document.

Police yesterday arrested Corneau, a member of The Body, earlier this week after he failed to appear in court. He was arrested at a gas station after a Taunton Superior Court judge issued a warrant for him.

If convicted on the second-degree-murder charge, Robidoux faces life in prison. Jacques Robidoux, her husband, is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder in the boy’s death.

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