Police received a call for a possible stabbing of an 8-year-old and a female who wanted to kill herself at an apartment on Plank Trail Lane, Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin.
When police arrived, they found a deceased 8-year-old who had been strangled.
Jeffery Hitchcock and his wife Natalie Hitchcock had been married for 15 years. They lived in Wisconsin with their 2 sons.
According to court documents, Natalie Hitchcock, who has family living in Russia, had been feeling paranoid, believing the Russian government was going to kidnap her children. She had wanted to buy camping supplies and had started to drink.
The morning of March 30, 2022, Jeffery Hitchcock woke up and had breakfast. It was spring break, so both of his children and Hitchcock were home.
Jeffery remembers Hitchcock’s mother calling to speak with her and hos children playing a computer game.
Jeffery took a nap on the couch and was woken up by his older son shouting, “Oliver is dead.”
According to court documents the older son “looked scared and very frightened.”
Jeffery ran to Oliver’s room and saw him laying at the base of the bed. Jeffery told police he recalled Hitchcock stating, “I killed Oliver.” He carried him to the living room called 911 and started CPR.
Oliver was lifeless, limp, and had a small amount of blood coming from his right ear.
As Jeffery was helping his son, court documents state Hitchcock was holding a knife, walking around the apartment, stating she was going to kill everyone in the house.
Hitchcock held the knife to herself, prompting Jeffery to take the knife from her, sustaining a small cut on his finger in the process.
Hitchcock grabbed another knife, which Jeffery also took from her. Hitchcock had a minor self-inflicted stab wound to her chest.
Hitchcock was brought to the hospital and asked what happened. She told detectives she had been having a hard time concentrating since March 25, 2022.
She explained she had been having thoughts that her children were going to be kidnapped and abused, which she did not want to happen. She decided to kill herself by mixing Tylenol with orange juice.
After drinking the laced orange juice, she decided she had to kill her youngest son, who was vulnerable, and would not be able to defend himself. Hitchcock stated she had to kill him to prevent him from suffering.
Through their investigation, police also discovered that Hitchcock had attempted to drown her older son in the bathtub the day before she killed her youngest son.
It is unclear if the older son reported the incident to his father or another adult.
The surviving son was not physically harmed.
Oliver Hitchcock succumbed to his injuries on April 1, 2022.
On April 1, 2022, detectives went to the prison where Hitchcock was being held to inform her that Oliver had passed away.
According to court documents, when she was informed, she stated “I guess I accomplished what I set out to do.”
Natalia Hitchcock has been charged with First Degree Intentional Homicide for the murder of Oliver Hitchcock.
She has also been charged with Attempted First-Degree Intentional Homicide for trying to kill her older son on March 29, 2022.
