Blackstone To Tear Down Home Where Infants' Bodies Found In Next 45 Days

BLACKSTONE (CBS) - Demolition plans are up for bid on the Blackstone home of squalor where the remains of three babies were found last month.

Town inspectors and potential demolition contractors went to the house at 23 St. Paul Street Thursday for a final look.

The town's Board of Health ordered the demolition last month.  They gave the owner, Kristina Rivera, seven days to demolish the property.

She ignored that order and is now being fined $500 a day. She also owes more than $20,000 for the cleanup.

Demolition bids are due at the Board of Health by Tuesday and a contractor will be chosen soon.

Blackstone town administrator Daniel Keyes hopes to have the property leveled in 10-to-45 days.

He realizes the neighbors are anxious to see it gone, but they're taking precautions and following the law.

"They have to make sure there's no asbestos, they have to make sure that utilities are shut off and really what it's going to cost us at this time and the bill that's going to be incurred by the owner," Keyes said.

Investigators said the inside of the home was horrendous. It was filled with vermin, dog feces and human feces on the walls and ceilings in the attic.

It was still unlivable after 90 hours of cleaning by a hazardous materials team.

"It smells like dead cats and dogs in there. One fellow that was walking through (today) didn't want to go through the whole place," Keyes said Thursday afternoon.

There are also concerns about the terrible odor that will be released once the house comes down.

"We're going to actually have the house de-fumed the day before. We'll make appropriate actions on what we're going to do with everything. But it will be safe and secure for the neighborhood," Board of Health Chairman William Walsh said.

The woman who lived in the home, Erika Murray, 31, was arrested last month. She faces several charges including fetal death concealment, witness intimidation and permitting substantial injury to a child.

Four of Murray's children, ages 13, 10, 3 and 6 months, were removed from the home by the state's child welfare agency about two weeks before police found the remains of the three babies during a search.

Murray's court-appointed lawyer, Keith Halpern, said his client suffers from mental illness.

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