French Family Couple Kill Eight Newborn Babies and Hide Their Bodies

A French woman has been charged with murdering eight newborn babies and her husband with hiding the bodies after skeletal remains were found in a village.

Dominique and Pierre-Marie Cottrez, both about 45 and thought to be the children's parents, were arrested over what could be France's biggest infanticide case.

Police had used sniffer dogs to search an address in Villers-au-Tertre after the new owners of a home found the bones of two infants while digging in their garden, according to Sky News.

The detained couple were respected in the community, the councillor said. The husband worked in the building trade while his wife worked as a nursing assistant.

The incident is the latest in a string of similar incidents in France. The most notorious case involved a 41-year-old called Véronique Courjault, who admitted she killed three babies and froze their bodies in her home, RFI reports.