Police were setting the record straight as to how many times they've responded over the years to the Blackstone, Massachusetts, house of squalor, where three dead infants were discovered among piles of trash, dead animals, feces and vermin last week, as clean-up at the condemned house finally finished up Tuesday.
Four children who lived in the house - a 5-month-old baby, a 3-year-old toddler, a 10-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl - have all since been removed by Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.
Their mother, 31-year-old Erika Murray, is behind bars. She's pleaded not guilty to charges of child endangerment and fetal death concealment.
Her boyfriend, and alleged father of the children, Raymond Rivera, claims he stayed in the basement. He's only been charged with marijuana offenses at this point.
According to Blackstone Police, the first time they spoke to Murray was in 2007, when she spoke to them about the transport of another person. They say they had no contact with Murray as a direct party to a call for service until August 2011, when an animal control officer was called about the well being of an a dog.
Police say at the time, the outside of the home seemed "satisfactory" and that they had no legal right to investigate further.
Animal control also responded three more times in 2012: One time for an unlicensed dog; a second time to review where the dog was being kept; and a third time for a dog left outside on a cold porch.
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Police say their only other dealings with Murray, or Rivera, were about locked keys in a vehicle or an animal run over in front of their house.
As for complaints about the house, the town's inspectional services/board of health said two complaints - one in 2010 and the other in 2012 - were filed against the house at 23 St. Paul St. Both were filed by a neighbor complaining about junk piled outside.
Some of the items removed include hundreds of soiled diapers and thousands of empty bottles and food packaging. The tab for the bio-hazard removal and "hoarding work" totals more than a combined $17,500; the figure doesn't include police details overtime, fencing and other costs.
"Seeing what I just saw, after it's been cleaned up, and you could still not live in there," Bill Walsh from the Blackstone Board of Health said.
Town officials are defending how they've responded and are calling this situation "unprecedented."
"I'm sick to my stomach, I'm telling you, you don't want to go in there, the smell is terrible, and I don't know how they lived there. I just feel so bad for those children that are still with us," town administrator Daniel Keyes said.
There's been no decision yet as to whether or not the house will be knocked down.
