By STACEY SHACKFORD
Staff Writer
Thursday, December 21, 2000 -- (NORTHAMPTON) - Like most babies her age, 7-week-old Rhianna Jeanne Podkowka slept during the day and cried throughout the night.
One day in September 1999 she developed a mild cold, which made her a little more cranky and irritable. She lost her appetite and had trouble sleeping, her parents said. A few days later, she was discovered face down in her crib, dead.
Details of the final week of Rhianna's life came to light for the first time Wednesday during a hearing in Hampshire Superior Court as prosecutors presented some of the evidence they intend to introduce at the trial of 19-year-old Kevin Podkowka, who is charged with murdering his baby daughter.
Podkowka, formerly of 7 Water St., Easthampton, pleaded innocent to one count of murder, three counts of assault and battery on a child causing bodily injury, and one count of assault and battery on a child causing bodily injury. He is being held at the Hampshire County Jail pending a trial scheduled to begin early next year.
Six police officers and one investigator from the Department of Social Services testified at the hearing, which was held to determine whether prosecutors can use several statements Podkowka made to investigators. Podkowka's lawyer, Alan Black of Springfield, filed a motion to suppress statements Podkowka made during four separate interviews, arguing that investigators did not warn Podkowka of his rights to remain silent and have a lawyer present before questioning him. The hearing was to continue today, and then the matter was to be turned over to Judge Daniel A. Ford for a ruling.
Wednesday's testimony provided a rare glimpse into the investigation undertaken by DSS investigators and detectives from the Easthampton Police Department and State Police shortly after the death of the infant.
When Easthampton Police Detective Gary E. Pease arrived at 7 Water St. at 9 a.m. Sept. 24, 1999, Rhianna was en route to the hospital and her parents, Podkowka and Toni Battistoni, were still in their basement apartment. Battistoni was sitting on a couch, knees drawn up against her chest, rocking back and forth as she wept, Pease said. Podkowka was standing off to the side, Pease said.
"There was an absence of emotion of any type. He seemed very calm," Pease said. "I don't recall ever seeing him cry."
DSS investigator Michael Jenkins said it was a red flag for him.
"I was alarmed at his flat affect. I asked if anyone could have deliberately hurt Rhianna. He denied that anything like that had happened. He said the baby would cry for hours on end but he could handle it," Jenkins said. "I asked how he was going to deal with (his baby's death). He said it was going to be hard without her. He said: 'She was pure and innocent and I love her to death.'"
Pease and Jenkins said they initially interviewed Podkowka not because they suspected any wrongdoing, but because they needed more information about Rhianna's illness and Battistoni was too distraught. "She kept saying 'Oh my God, Oh my God,' and falling apart," Pease said.
Podkowka told investigators that Rhianna had been sick for a few days, and that he and Battistoni called a nurse around 12:30 a.m. Sept. 24 when the baby was had trouble breathing. The nurse advised the couple to take Rhianna into the shower so the steam could relieve her congestion. They did as advised, and it seemed to work, Podkowka told investigators, so they put her to bed at 5:30 a.m. and went to sleep. When Podkowka awoke three hours later, he found the baby slumped over and blue.
An emergency room doctor at Cooley Dickinson Hospital initially thought Rhianna had died from sudden infant death syndrome, Pease said. But an autopsy revealed several internal injuries, including 13 leg fractures, rib fractures, a compressed lumbar vertebra and a linear skull fracture. Podkowka attributed injuries to rough play by children who lived nearby. The latest bruise was caused by a slip in the bathtub, he told Jenkins. He denied knowledge of any other injuries to the baby, Jenkins said.
State Police Detective Michael Barrett said Podkowka later acknowledged Rhianna might have sustained other injuries during attempts to resuscitate her, and that Podkowka told him Battistoni "lost it" during resuscitation and slapped Rhianna several times on her back. Podkowka also said he bounced Rhianna around on his knee for a while to try to calm her. "She was really, really fussy. She was crying a lot, crying a lot," Barrett quoted Podkowka as saying.
When Barrett questioned him further about the bouncing, he said Podkowka became agitated and defensive. "He said, 'I never shook her. I know you never shake a baby. You can break its neck.' He said he read it in a parenting magazine," Barrett said.
Barrett said Podkowka later admitted during an interview Sept. 28 that his conduct may have caused the injuries, but he characterized them as accidents. He said once he may have squeezed his daughter too hard in frustration. Battistoni has not been charged with any crime in connection to her daughter's death. She and Podkowka are not married.
