Woman, 75, arrested over 1970 murder of her toddler

Handwritten letters have led to the arrest of a 75-year-old who claimed her baby died from falling from a crib 55 years ago.

WARNING: Distressing content

A woman has been arrested and charged with murder for the 1970 death of her toddler, after resurfaced letters revealed how much she resented him throughout his short life.

At the time, she claimed her 16-month-old died from falling out of a crib, but now, 55 years later, police say his mother, Alice Rollinson Bunch Idlett, 75, was responsible.

Idlett, who is from Louisiana, in the US, was charged with second-degree murder of her son on January 20, 1970, according to KPLC, but the investigation was ultimately closed because of a lack of evidence.

In 2022, the Sulphur Police Department began an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Earl Dwayne Bunch III, following a request from the child’s family.

Alice Rollinson Bunch Idlett, 75, was arrested for the 1970 death of her baby 55 years later. Picture: Calcasieu Parish DOC

Police allege that Idlett, who was 20 at the time, took the baby to the emergency room on January 19 and said he had fallen out of a crib. He had suffered multiple fractures.

“Earl Dwayne was limp and gasping for breath,” the public records state.

“The X-rays revealed multiple fractures of the skull and right shoulder.

“An investigation was conducted by the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office. No arrest or charges were levied against Mrs Bunch as a result of the investigation.”

But handwritten notes led detectives to eventually reveal the truth.

Idlett pictured two years before the baby’s murder. Picture: KFDM

Idlett had written to the baby’s father, Earl Bunch Jr, who was serving in the Vietnam War at the time of his child’s death, and admitted to “hating” her son and “wanting to kill” him.

The horrifying letters surfaced in court records following their divorce filing in 1983, as they battled for custody of their daughter, born in 1975.

“I just got through whipping that little b**tard. I hate him. That’s the honest truth,” she said in a letter on November 4, 1969.

“Now I know how those people feel that get rid of their kids. I believe I could do it. I’m serious.”

“I honestly wish he had never been born. He knows he won’t get his way around me. I’ll kill him before he becomes spoiled. I honestly mean that,” she wrote a few weeks later.

“If he starts crying when I put him down to play, I’m going to whip him until his darn seat is red,” she said two days later. “I can’t put up with this mess … I hate your son. I wish he was dead”.

She wrote letters to the boy’s father saying she hated her son. Picture: iStock

Court documents reveal that the doctor who assessed the baby in the hospital believed the child’s injuries were not consistent with a fall from the crib.

The boy was “brought into the hospital in a comatose condition” and had “multiple bruises over his body,” as well as bite marks and burns on his body, Dr J.M. Thorkelson said.

“These were not the type of injuries I would have expected to see from a fall from a crib, for example, or a porch, or something like that, where you get a fairly severe injury,” he added.

“It looked more like a child that had been beaten … that perhaps somebody had taken it by the feet, and swung it against a piece of furniture or the wall.”

After the case was reopened, the baby’s remains were sent to the FBI for a forensic autopsy, which revealed the manner of death was a homicide.

Last Thursday, Idlett was booked into the Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center on a $950,000 bond, according to The Independant.