WHEATFIELD, Ind. — UPDATE: On Oct. 9, 2024 Steven Valle and Samantha Sebella were each charged with two counts of murder, two counts of neglect resulting in death, abuse of a corpse, obstruction of justice and failure to report a dead body.
Court documents reveal how a night of drinking allegedly led a man to confess to murdering two of his children in northern Indiana.
Steven Valle and Samantha Sebella are both being held without bond on suspicion of murder.
Police say the investigation started after the couple fought over Sebella allegedly using methamphetamines. Valle went to stay with a friend in Wheatfield for a few days. While drinking with the friend, Valle allegedly made a shocking confession.
"I killed two of my kids," Valle allegedly said. "I burnt them in the fire pit at my house."
The friend told police he asked questions after that, and Valle said he and Sebella had "smothered their first born but had drowned the second born and burnt their bodies in the fire pit at their house."
The friend said Sebella tried to call Valle, but he didn't answer. The friend texted her and she allegedly told him "Steven burnt my babies."
After the friend contacted police, they found the couple at a motel in Kentland, Indiana, about an hour southwest of Wheatfield. They were living there with their 4-year-old son, who was born at home and never received a birth certificate or social security number.
The couple allegedly denied ever having any other children at home or any miscarriages or still births. Police seized the couple's phones.
They then went to the home where the couple used to live. A new tenant was staying there, but gave police permission to search the property. Police came out with cadaver dogs, which provided positive hits at several locations. An anthropologist with the University of Indianapolis identified bone fragments at each location.
Police received a search warrant to go through the couple's phones. According to court documents, police found several incriminating messages. Detectives believe that during several exchanges, a friend of Valle's named Alex was using his phone to text with Sebella.
9/17/2024 - 10:17 a.m. - (Sebella to Valle) "GUESS WHAT BABY KILLER"
9/17/2024 - 11:11 a.m. - (Sebella to Valle) "You Killed my kids cause you are a f****** you never loved me"
9/17/2024 - 11:11 a.m. - (Sebella to Valle) "He burnt them in the back yarf alex"
9/18/2024 - 5:08 p.m. - (Valle to Sebella) "Yeah I know the fire will be known for what you did"
9/18/2024 - 5:08 p.m. - (Sebella to Valle) "Lol okay fire burner"
9/18/2024 - 7:13 p.m. - (Sebella to Valle) "YES YOU WILL TO BABY KILLER"
9/18/2024 - 7:13 p.m. - (Sebella to Valle) "BABY KILLER"
9/18/2024 - 7:16 p.m. - (Sebella to Valle) "Make sure he doesn't kill other girls babies"
9/18/2024 - 7:18 p.m. - (Sebella to Valle) "He burnt the babies in the back yard"
9/18/2024 - 7:19 p.m. - (Valle to Sebella) "I don't know anything about that. Sounds absolutely insane"
9/18/2024 - 7:21 p.m. - (Sebella to Valle) "YOU KILLED OUR BABIES I HAVE THERE DNA IN MY BODY FOREVER"
9/18/2024 - 7:24 p.m. - (Sebella to Valle) "Yes and they will be right there to get you baby killer this will happen"
9/18/2024 - 7:25 p.m. - (Sebella to Valle) "They will know everything you took me to the doctor in 2017 to prove i was pregnant THEY WILL KNOW"
9/18/2024 - 7:45 p.m. - (Sebella to Valle) "I have all the pictures from 2017 you holding my belly with bones"
Police also say that Sebella kept logs of multiple pregnancies using the "Baby Center" app on her phone. The dates were allegedly in her Google Calendar.
Using that information, police confronted Valle on Oct. 3 with what they had found. Police say Valle then admitted that Sebelle had given birth to a male child in 2018. Valle said he came home to find Sebella unconscious with the child between her legs. He said the child wasn't breathing.
Valle told police he cleaned the boy up to make him look "pretty" and then wrapped him in a blanket and put him in a box. According to police, "Steven said after three days, he knew the child wouldn't be coming back to life so he wrapped him completely in the blanket and buried him in the back yard near a shed."
Police say Valle said Sebella had a premature girl baby "some time after the male child had died." He said that Sebella told him she'd given birth in the bathtub. He told police he took the baby and buried it next to the male child.
The investigator says Valle admitted the children had been buried for 3 to 5 years before he dug them up and burned them in a fired pit. Valle alleged sifted through the ashes and "kept some of the ashes to make a necklace as a memento."
Police say the couple admitted they both batter each other.
On Oct. 4, prosecutors filed the probably cause and asked for an extension of time before filing formal charges. Formal charges were filed on the following Wednesday, Oct. 9.
