DNA links infant’s body to parents held in death

ATTLEBORO, Mass. – DNA tests performed on a body buried in a Maine state park have confirmed they are the remains of Samuel Robidoux, an infant who was allegedly starved to death by his parents, members of a Christian sect, according to a published report.

The test results, which were expected, came after DNA obtained from court-ordered saliva and hair samples from sect leader Jacques Robidoux and his wife, Karen, were analyzed by a laboratory, along with DNA tests performed on the remains, Assistant District Attorney Walter Shea told The Sun Chronicle.

Jacques Robidoux is charged with first-degree murder in what authorities say was a bizarre plan to withhold solid food from the boy to fulfill a religious “prophesy” by Jacques Robidoux’s sister, Michelle Mingo.

The boy died shortly before his first birthday in 1999.

Robidoux’s wife was charged with second-degree murder. Mingo was charged with being an accessory to commit assault and battery on a child.

The remains of Samuel Robidoux were recovered last October when one of the sect members, David Corneau, cooperated with authorities and led them to the burial site in Baxter State Park in northern Maine.

The defendants, who are members of an insular family-based sect which rejects many conventions of mainstream society, are being held in separate jails, unable to post bail since their indictments last November.

No trial date has been set yet.