Couple Charged With Murder After Children’s Remains Found in Backyard Fire Pit in Wheatfield, Indiana

This week, chilling new information was revealed about a couple charged with murder after bone parts were discovered in the backyard of a Wheatfield, Indiana, home.

Steven Valle, 31, and Samantha Sebella, 25, were appointed as public defenders in Jasper County, Indiana, on Friday.

On Friday, Sept. 20, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office received a tip that someone had slain their two children and burned their bodies in a fire pit in the backyard of a Wheatfield residence.

Citing an affidavit as probable cause, CBS station WTTV in Indianapolis reported last week that officers went to the residence in the 4200 block of Old Orchard Lane in Wheatfield—only to discover that Valle no longer lived there. However, a K9 search found human remains, as well as bone fragments, according to investigators.

Before the search, Valle and Sebella were discovered at a motel in Kentland, Indiana, according to the affidavit obtained by WTTV. Police believe Sebella is the mother of the children who Valle is accused of murdering.

According to the station, Sebella and Valle informed police they only had one child and did not have a birth certificate or any other documents because it was a home birth.

Meanwhile, a search of Sebella’s phone revealed that Valle had slain other children and incinerated their bodies, according to court records, as reported by WTTV.

One text message stated, “You killed my kids because you are a fa****, you never love me,” while another read, “YOU KILLED OUR BABIES, I HAVE THERE [sic] DNA IN MY BODY FOREVER.”

In another interview, Valle told authorities that Sebella had given birth to a son in 2018, but that when he returned home, he found Sebella passed out with the baby resting between her knees, according to court papers obtained by CBS News. When he discovered the infant was not breathing, he wrapped it in a blanket and box and buried it in the backyard after three days, according to court filings.

Valle said that a second child was delivered in a bathtub while he was at work, and when he returned home, the infant was dead and wrapped in a blanket, so he buried it in the backyard as well, according to court records quoted by the station.

Valle also told investigators that the children had been buried in the backyard for three to five years before he dug them up and cremated them in the fire pit, keeping the ashes as a keepsake in a necklace.

Valle and Sebella are now facing charges of murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in death, obstruction of justice, and failing to report a deceased body. All save the final count are felonies.