Foetal abduction: Mom-to-be Kills Attacker

Sarah Brady and her husband eagerly anticipated the arrival of their baby -already five days overdue- in mid-February 2005 when a woman calling herself Sarah Brody called her home.

A Package Mix-Up

Sarah Brody claimed that a package had been inadvertently delivered to her home from a baby registry mix-up. Brody told Sarah Brady that she, too, was expecting a baby and suspected the delivery man misread their similar names when he left the package on the doorstep. Brady agreed to drive to Brody’s home to pick up the package.

Photo: Oprah.com

The package contained items Sarah Brady had listed on her registry, but there was no indication of the sender. Sarah Brody claimed her husband misplaced the billing information included with the delivery.

Days later, Brody again called Sarah Brady claiming another package addressed to her arrived at her home. This time the two women chatted for about an hour. Sarah Brady told her husband about the other Sarah and how she thought she had made a new friend. She would later tell Oprah Winfrey during an interview on her talk show that Sarah Brody was just a “lonely pregnant woman.”

Sarah Brady drove to Sarah Brody’s home the next day. The package again arrived from an unidentified sender; Brody gave the same story about misplacing the billing information. Brody told Sarah Brady she would find the misplaced slip and asked her to join her in the bedroom to search.

Katie Smith Asthma Inhaler

Entering the bedroom, an asthma inhaler caught Sarah Brady's eye. The name on the label of the inhaler read “Katie Smith.” Sarah Brady began to suspect something afoul.

Suddenly, Brody grabbed her stomach and collapsed to the ground, telling Brady she was in labor. Brady helped Brody into the bathroom and attempted to walk out. That’s when Sarah Brody, real name Katie Smith, grabbed Brady and pulled her close to her body. With a knife to Brady’s stomach, she said, “You aren’t going anywhere.”

"I was thinking that me and my child were going to die here in this apartment and no one was going to know it," Sarah says.

Sarah Stabs Katie

A fight ensued, lasting about 20 minutes. Sarah managed to grab the knife from Katie’s hand, using it to stab the woman in what she thought was her shoulder. Katie stopped fighting and Sarah ran for her life.

"You could see the blood seeping from the top of her sweatshirt," Sarah says. "She even looked at me and said, 'You stabbed me, you stupid b***h.' At that point, I took the knife out of my hand, and I fled the apartment."

Sarah didn’t realize she had killed Katie.

She called the police who found evidence of the perpetrated crime. Katie had a padded bellysuit covered in bloodstains. Katie wore the disguise to convince family and friends- and Sarah-that she was pregnant. A room made into a nursery held all the essentials a baby needed, including diapers, a crib, formula, and toys. A diaper bag contained surgical gloves, various cutting instruments, a homemade umbilical cord clamp, and medical gauze.

Strange Claims From Katie's Family

Things took an odd turn when police focused their investigation on Sarah -the woman Katie attacked. Katie’s family members claimed Sarah planned to sell the baby for $5,000 but changed her mind and planned to kill her. A six-and-a-half-hour-long lie detector test proved Sarah was telling the truth. Police found she was not at fault and that Katie Smith planned to steal Sarah’s baby and kill her after luring her to the home.

Sarah was not the first pregnant woman Katie had targeted. Not only had Katie faked three prior pregnancies, but she also found women’s personal information from their online baby registries and used it to locate potential victims.

McKaila Grace was born healthy on February 16, 2005.

Sarah's Emotions About Katie

How does Sarah feel about Katie? She told reporters: "Some days I'm angry, and other days, I feel sorry for her," she says. "I feel sorry that she led such a horrible life to feel that she needed this child to love her or for whatever reason that she'd be so desperate to take the life of someone else."