No Charges in Baby’s Death; Woman Freed

A woman who Burbank police believe wrapped the body of her dead newborn child in a plastic bag and dropped it into a dumpster was released from jail Tuesday after the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office declined to file charges against her at this time.

Aileen Ordelheide, 27, of Sherman Oaks, had been held in the Burbank jail without bail since her arrest on suspicion of murder Saturday. The decision not to charge her was primarily based on a coroner’s preliminary report that the infant boy was stillborn, authorities said.

“The district attorney’s office certainly has not ruled out murder but the evidence is not there at this point,” Sgt. Don Goldberg said. “The gut feeling of the doctor who examined the infant is that he was stillborn. That would have a direct bearing on whether we could get a murder charge.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Phillip Heeger said the case will be reviewed again when the autopsy has been completed by early next month.

“We have reviewed the case and referred it back to the police for further investigation,” Heeger said. “There are some toxicological tests to be done that will be conclusive on whether the child was born dead or alive. At some later point she could be rearrested.”

Police said the body was found Saturday morning at an apartment complex in the 1300 block of West Olive Avenue when a tenant was dumping trash into a dumpster. Police said Ordelheide’s boyfriend lives in the complex but is not believed to have been involved in the incident.

Ordelheide, a self-employed videotape editor, denied to police she was the mother of the child or was involved in placing the body in the dumpster. But police said a medical examination Saturday indicated that she had recently given birth.

“We feel quite certain that she is the mother,” Goldberg said.

Authorities said Ordelheide could still face charges such as illegal disposal of a dead body and child endangerment, depending on the care she sought during her pregnancy. Police said an investigation is continuing.