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NWI Times
April 27, 2007 12:00 am
This story ran on nwitimes.com on Wednesday, August 3, 2005 1:09 AM CDT
BY RUTHANN ROBINSON, rrobinson@nwitimes.com 219.662.5331
ATTEMPTED ELECTROCUTION: Sarah Pullum to live in Wheatfield with her father; daughter in grandmother’s custody
CROWN POINT | The Crown Point woman accused of trying to electrocute herself and her developmentally delayed daughter is out of jail and living in Wheatfield.
Lake Criminal Court Judge Salvador Vasquez reduced the bond Tuesday for Sarah Pullum, 35, from $70,000 to $40,000. Within hours, her father posted the bond and Pullum was headed to Wheatfield to live with him at his home there.
Pullum has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and neglect of a dependent. She faces 70 years in prison if convicted on both counts.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Pullum asked Vasquez if she could have supervised visits with her daughter, 6, who suffers from autism and cerebral palsy. Pullum’s mother has custody of the girl.
Vasquez denied the request and ordered Pullum to have no contact with her daughter unless a juvenile court judge grants visitation. Even then, Vasquez said Pullum had to wait for him to change his original ruling.
On May 30, Pullum’s mother awoke to find Pullum soaking in a hot tub holding her daughter in her lap and a plugged-in curling iron just above the water, according to the probable cause affidavit filed in the case.
Pullum told her sister she downed several pills of her anti-depressant Zoloft, with rum, and had given her daughter Zoloft as well, according to the affidavit.
Vasquez is giving two psychiatrists until Aug. 23 to determine if Pullum is competent to stand trial.