Fearing Future, Mother Stabs Betrothed Daughter 97 Times

A woman charged with stabbing her 42-year-old daughter 97 times with a kitchen knife was upset that she was going to be “left out in the cold” because the daughter was planning to marry, police say.

Betty Jane Regan, 64, was charged with first-degree murder Thursday for the stabbing death of her daughter, Carole Ann Baum, Police Chief Richard Morris said.

Friends of the women told police that a discussion of Baum’s marriage plans had erupted into a serious argument last Friday.

“They had a couple of heated conversations,” Morris said. “Friends of the family told us that (Regan) was upset she was going to be left out in the cold.”

Police found the body of Baum, who had been stabbed in the chest, arms, face and back, on the floor beside her bed. Two kitchen knives were near the body, police said.

Police also found a calendar note in the apartment written three or four weeks ago to “sharpen knives” and a later reminder to “pick up knives.”

The women had shared a first-floor apartment in a two-story brick building in this affluent St. Louis suburb since the younger woman’s divorce six years ago, Morris said.

Bond was set at $100,000 for Regan, who was being treated at St. Mary’s Health Center today for shock and minor cuts on her hands and leg that she apparently suffered in the attack, Morris said.