Local woman arrested in connection with baby's death

Great Falls police have arrested a local woman for the death of her 10-month-old daughter, a little girl currently known only as “Jane Doe.”

Jane Doe’s mother, Misty Marie Cutburth (age unknown) has been arrested and placed into the custody of the Cascade County Detention Center, charged with felony criminal endangerment. Court documents state Cutburth has a 2013 conviction for possession of drug paraphernalia in Coeur D’ Alene, Idaho. Two prior Department of Family Services reports filed in October 2015 alleged concerns regarding Cutburth’s drug use in the family home.

The little girl was found unresponsive in a bedroom of the Elmwoods apartment complex at 609 4th Ave. South in Great Falls on Jan. 12. Though the cause of death for Jane Doe has not yet been determined, responding officers to the scene on Jan. 12, 2016, reported the window to her room was “wide open” and the room was “freezing cold.”

According to court documents, a medical first responder on the scene could not register Jane Doe’s skin temperature on a thermometer. The child was declared dead at 4:42 am at the Benefis Emergency Room. Her surface temperature at that point was 78 degrees.

Both Jane and her 2-year-old sibling were found to be covered in “white nail polish.” A forensic autopsy of Jane revealed she had eaten earring backers and sunflower seeds, and hair samples tested at a Pennsylvania laboratory revealed the little girl had been exposed to chronic methamphetamine use during the final weeks of her life.

A court affidavit states Great Falls police officers were called to Cutburth’s apartment from a 911 call stating “we’ve got a child that’s not breathing.” Two male adults also resided at the apartment; Cutburth’s boyfriend, James “Jimmy” Aldrich, and Aldrich’s brother, Carl Tibbetts.

A urine sample provided by Tibbetts tested positive for both methamphetamine and marijuana. The affidavit states Tibbetts told police that everyone in the home is “an addict” and “that is why this happened.” He allegedly went on to state that nobody pays attention to the children.

When officers arrived on scene they observed Aldrich pacing rapidly back and forth drinking water. At one point Aldrich allegedly added salt to his water.

“Based upon their training and experience, it appeared to the officers as if Jimmy was trying to flush his system,” the affidavit states. “He then started drinking milk from a bottle. Jimmy exhibited indicators of impairment.”

Aldrich initially told officers he had heard water running in the bathroom and had observed water running out from under the bathroom door. When he opened the bathroom door, Aldrich claimed he saw baby Jane lying face down on the floor.

Under further questioning, Aldrich claimed there had been problems with the toilet in the apartment.

“His theory regarding Jane’s death was that the children were up in the night, tearing things up, and placing the items into the toilet,” the affidavit states. “He believes that the toilet overflowed causing Jane to drown.”

Aldrich also stated that when he opened the bathroom door a “rush” of water came out.

Officers obtained Jane’s diaper and “onesie” from the emergency room. Both were soaking wet, but upon investigation of the crime scene it was observed the bathroom door opened inward and the floor was strewn with items. There appeared to be no clear space on the bathroom floor for a child to have lain face down.

Cascade County Attorney John Parker said a lack of physical evidence regarding the exact cause of Jane’s death had complicated the charging process, but that did not prevent the state from filing criminal charges against Cutburth.

“We have laws in the state of Montana to establish criminal liability for extreme child neglect, even when there is not medical evidence establishing an exact cause of death,” Parker said. “In previous cases, there have been convictions for criminal endangerment when there is evidence the child had been exposed to methamphetamines. There have been convictions when a child was left in a car in sub-zero temperatures after midnight outside of a business. There are a lot of different factual scenarios that would establish criminal endangerment.”

Parker said it was unlikely additional criminal charges would be filed against either Aldrich or Tibbetts.

“They don’t have a legal duty of care,” he said of the two male adults living in Jane’s apartment. “It’s a fact that’s been established by the Montana Supreme Court, to charge criminal endangerment regarding a child victim, in most situations, you’ve got to establish that there is a duty of care.”