A Colorado mother of 15 has been arrested after her husband’s body was found on her lawn and she was caught hiding behind a man-made wall in her trailer – four years after she was charged with child abuse and cooking live puppies thrown into the eyes of her children.
Martha Crouch, 57, along with husband Timothy, 62, were accused by their then 18-year-old daughter of running a “horror house” in 2019, leading to charges of child abuse, animal cruelty and obstructing an investigation.
Crouch struck a deal on December 8, 2021 in Aztec, New Mexico to not plead a fourth-degree felony for attempted child molestation to avoid jail time.
Two days later, however, Crouch violated her two-year suspended sentence and a warrant was issued for her arrest.
Nearly 20 months later, Huerfano County sheriffs found her after her husband was found dead in Walsenburg, Colorado, about 250 miles east of Aztec.
Martha Crouch, 57, was accused by her 18-year-old daughter of running a “horror house” in 2019, leading to charges of child abuse, animal cruelty and obstruction of an investigation. She was found hiding in a wall on Thursday after almost two years on the run
According to the Farmington Daily Times, Timothy was only charged with obstruction at the time of the allegations.
One of the couple’s 15 children – who are estranged from their parents – believed some of her siblings – including those with special needs – were still living with their father and were being abused.
After authorities identified Crouch and discovered that his wife was still wanted for breaking probation, they returned to the home with a warrant for his arrest.
But before they entered the home, one of the couple’s other children told police they believed Martha had been dead for several years, according to KRDO.
This family member also informed them that their 14-year-old sister has been missing for three years.
Upon arrival, following a tip from a neighbor, they discovered a fake wall in the kitchen of the house where they found Martha and the missing daughter.
Crouch was arrested on the previous warrant for violating probation and faces new charges of child molestation and obstruction of public service.
She is being held in a county jail on $5,000 bail. Her next court date has not yet been set.
It’s not clear if Crouch will be extradited to New Mexico to face the original warrant.
They finally found her after her husband Timothy (pictured), 62, was found dead in the town of Walsenburg, Colorado, about 250 miles east of Aztec
After learning that Martha Crouch was still wanted and receiving a tip from a neighbor, investigators returned to the home with a search warrant. Based on the clue, they discovered a fake wall in the kitchen where they found Crouch
spoke to then 18-year-old Lizzie Crouch, who recounted a childhood of cruelty and abuse at the hands of a mother who told her she wasn’t her real mother and a father who told his children they were too stupid to go to her school.
Both Martha and Timothy – a former reserve sheriff’s deputy – denied the allegations at the time.
But Lizzy Crouch, the fourth youngest of the 15, spoke about how loveless and routinely cruel life in the shabby ranch house was.
“The images never get out of my head — seeing my mom tossing newborn puppies into boiling water and the smell of them cooking on the stove,” she said.
“I used to wake up screaming and in my nightmares I would hear the puppies squealing while they were cooking.
“The only way to stop dreaming is not to sleep.”
The last time Lizzy — a family nickname for her birth name Suzannah — saw her mom cook dogs couldn’t have been more terrifying: it was her birthday.
“It was October 5, 2018, my 17th birthday, and our female dog, Lady, had a litter of puppies a few weeks earlier,” she said.
“I was in my bedroom and my mom came in and said, ‘I have a birthday present for you.'”
“I should have known something was up because she’s not the type to choose me to give me a birthday present.”
Lizzy said she followed her mother down the hall into the kitchen and started smelling something she thought was “disgusting”.
“I saw some of my brothers and sisters lined up in the kitchen and on the stove I saw a large silver pot that resembled a pressure cooker.
“In it I could see puppies in the boiling water. At the time, I wasn’t sure if they were all dead or just dying.” I heard her whimper.
‘It was awful. I was sad but I must say I am sad not shocked as this was not the first time – I had witnessed my mother kill puppies in this way seven times before.
“The sounds of them dying and crying will never be forgotten.” After a few minutes, our mother ordered one of my brothers to take the pot to the backyard and told the rest of us to return to our bedrooms.
‘I went back and cried my eyes out, these puppies were only a week old, their eyes were still closed, they were the size of mice.’ Every single one of them would fit in the palm of my hand.’
Witnessing the puppies’ deaths, Lizzy decided to escape. She ran away to live with her two older sisters, Alexandra and Anastaisea, in Safford, Arizona. Her brother James also supports her.
In her final year of living at home, the cruelty grew too great: her mother routinely beat Lizzy with a soup ladle.
“My mom picked a sibling and tormented it, it just kind of happened, for the past year or so I’ve been at the top of my mom’s list,” she said.
“When I didn’t agree with her, she hit me several times with the ladle on my legs and lower extremities.”
“She made sure there are areas where the tracks can be covered with clothing in case anyone from the outside ever sees us.”
“House of Terror”: The Crouch home in Aztec, New Mexico, where Martha Crouch, mother of 15, allegedly terrorized her children by hitting them and letting them watch as she killed animals
Lizzy Crouch said her mother watched her mother cook alive newborn puppies for her 17th birthday in this kitchen
The living room of the Crouch family home where Tim and Martha Crouch were arrested
One of the bedrooms in the House of Horrors where Martha and Tim Crouch are said to have abused their children
After Lizzy left her parents’ home in June 2019, police were able to photograph evidence of bruising on Lizzy’s body, according to Martha Crouch’s affidavit.
With tears in her eyes, Lizzy said, “They should never have had a child, let alone 15. I don’t think they ever loved any of my siblings.” I never felt like they loved me as a child.’
Lizzy remembers when she was just four years old she asked her mother if she loved her.
“My mom looked me in the eye and said she didn’t love me and said she wasn’t my mom even though my birth certificate lists her as my mom,” she said.
Her sisters, who she now lives with, have previously shared their own hardships growing up and moving the family between Missouri, Alaska, Kansas and Montana and eventually New Mexico.
Alexandria told how when Martha became pregnant when she was 14, she hit her so badly that she suffered a miscarriage, while her sister Anastaisea was tied to her bed for three years from the age of eight to force her to lose weight to move.
Anastaisea also said she saw her mother kill six newborn kittens by hitting them to death with a hammer.
The 11 adult Crouch children disagreed on their version of their childhood.
Brother Timothy Joseph “TJ” Crouch, 32, and Samuel Crouch, 22, previously told their parents were kind and loving.
TJ Crouch was later charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon when he threatened to shoot three of his brothers over an argument.
Her father, now deceased, vehemently denied claims that his children were ever chained as prisoners at the time.
Timothy said, “I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous in my life.” A “fat chain”? We have not chained any of our children.
“The daughter who made this false claim was a bit chubby and we didn’t allow her to eat dessert.” It was for her own good, but we never chained her to anything.’
Anastaisea previously told a version of her childhood that matched Lizzy’s.
“I was a stocky kid and if I weighed more than my older siblings, she would get mad at me and hit me.” I could control what I ate,” she said.
“It was about three meters long. One end was attached to a bedpost and the other end was wrapped around my ankle and secured with a key coded padlock.
Family: Lizzy Crouch, her sister Anastaisea and brother James are now supporting each other in Arizona. Lizzy tells DailyMailTV she will testify against her father
United: Martha Crouch’s daughters Alexandria Tanner, 28 (left) and Anastaisea Crouch, 27 (right)
Timothy Joseph “TJ” Crouch, 32, (left) and Samuel Crouch, 22, (right) support their parents Timothy and Martha. TJ was charged on May 31 with triple aggravated assault with a deadly weapon at the Crouch family home. It was this arrest that sparked the child welfare investigation against the Crouch family and led to her 17-year-old sister making allegations against her parents
“We love animals!” At his home in Aztec, New Mexico, Timothy Crouch, along with English rat terrier Valentine, denies that his wife committed child abuse or animal cruelty
“It went on like this for about three years.” Occasionally my mother would let me go to weigh me, or when someone was coming to my house or our family had somewhere to go.
“Once when she weighed me, I weighed a pound more than my older sibling and she hit me.” “I had to go to the bathroom in a bucket and could only shower about once a month.”
The cruelty wasn’t just physical. Education wasn’t a top priority for Lizzy’s parents, saying she and her siblings were “too dumb to go to school.”
The last grade Lizzy could remember was 8th grade when she was 13 years old.
“I went to school for about a month before my parents moved me and we all moved.
“I went to different grade levels for a few days or weeks at a time.” I’ve never graduated from a grade in my life.’
Lizzy said she is learning to read and has made tremendous progress since running away from her parents, with hopes of one day becoming a child psychologist.