Midwife Convicted in 1981 Charged in Stillborn Death

MODESTO — Midwife Rosalie Tarpening, convicted in a nationally publicized 1981 trial over the death of a newborn, has been charged with murder in connection with a stillborn death.

As her supporters wept in the courtroom Friday, Tarpening, 61, of Turlock was denied release from jail by Stanislaus County Municipal Judge Augusto Accurso. Accurso also denied reduction of her $100,000 bail and set a preliminary hearing for Oct. 26.

Tarpening, arrested Thursday, pleaded innocent to a murder charge and eight other counts, including practicing medicine without a license, providing a fraudulent cure for cancer, illegal possession of a hypodermic needle and administering unnecessary medical treatment.

Prosecutors charged that Tarpening treated a patient during her pregnancy between Aug. 15, 1987, and Jan. 15, 1988.

The woman was in labor for 50 hours and Tarpening was present for most of that time, according to investigators. The woman and her husband finally insisted that she be taken to a hospital where she delivered a stillborn infant. An autopsy showed the child had been dead 16 to 20 hours before birth. Cause of death was listed as pneumonia.

Doctors attributed the death to treatment of the mother administered by Tarpening, including weekly coffee enemas.

Charges originally filed against Tarpening were dropped Sept. 15. Dist. Atty. Donald Shaver said Friday that those charges were dismissed because further investigation was necessary.

Tarpening’s attorney, Richard Murphy of Lodi, said refiling of the charges revealed a “tremendous vendetta” was under way against Tarpening, who has been a physical therapist for 35 years.

Tarpening was convicted in Madera County in 1981 for the death of a baby she delivered at home. The infant later developed complications and died at a Madera hospital. She was given a one-year suspended jail sentence and placed on two years’ probation.