Baby Was Said to Have Died From SIDS. 38 Years Later, an Arrest

Baby boy's father has been charged with murder
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 7, 2017 5:55 PM CDT
Baby Was Said to Have Died From SIDS. 38 Years Later, an Arrest
This booking photo released by the Franklin County Jail shows Burton "Ben" Hagar Friday, April 7, 2017 in Farmington, Maine.   (Franklin County Jail via AP)

Police have arrested a father nearly 38 years after his infant son's death, which was originally characterized as sudden infant death syndrome, the AP reports. Maine state police charged 62-year-old Burton "Ben" Hagar with murder Friday. The Farmington man is accused of killing his 4-month-old son, Nathan, who was found unresponsive in the family's Brunswick apartment and later died at a hospital in May 1979. State police quietly reopened the case in 1991. This is the first arrest as a result of the work of a cold case unit created last year by the Maine Legislature. Authorities aren't saying how the infant died. The body was not exhumed. (More child death stories.)

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