CLEARFIELD – A DuBois woman accused of kidnapping her daughter is back in jail.
Laura Diane Kilmer, 40, 5 Juniata St., DuBois, an inmate of the jail, is charged with three counts of kidnapping and interference with custody of children. According to the affidavit of probable cause, Kilmer took her 4-year-old daughter from her residence without the authorization of the father who had been awarded legal custody. She was later apprehended with the child in Utah.
Kilmer’s case was scheduled for jury selection last week in Clearfield County Court. When Kilmer failed to appear at the scheduled time, a bench warrant was issued for her arrest. According to a representative of the court administrator’s office, Kilmer did show up eventually, her bail was revoked and she was taken into custody.
This is the second time her bail has been revoked. In July she was accused of violating her supervised bail by not complying with her electronic monitoring.
Kilmer’s case is now scheduled for jury selection in April.
A trial was actually scheduled for this case in December, but a mistrial was declared after a juror mixed up the trial dates and didn’t arrive on time. At that point, Kilmer was incarcerated.
In January a motion to lower her $50,000 bail was denied. In early February, she posted bail and was released.
On Feb. 28, Kilmer was in motions court to discuss a motion to modify her bail conditions to allow her contact with her daughter. Her attorney stated that she has not seen her daughter for 11 months. She is asking to have supervised visits with the girl. Clearfield County Judge Paul E. Cherry made no decision on the issue taking it under advisement.
According to previous articles, problems began with Kilmer when she failed to show for that custody hearing on Dec.17, 2010. The father was awarded partial custody on that date. When Kilmer did not appear to turn over the child, the father was ordered full custody on Jan. 4, 2011 in Clarion County. Because Kilmer’s last address was in Clearfield County, the case was transferred there.
The father told police that Kilmer threatened to kill the girl rather than allow him any visitation. She said repeatedly if the father pursued court action, she would escape. Kilmer also repeatedly told the father that she would shoot and kill the daughter with a 9-millimeter pistol if she was about to be caught by authorities.
U.S. Marshals were alerted on Feb. 27, 2011 that Kilmer was in Utah. Her vehicle was stopped at a convenience store in that area. When she went inside the store without the child, she was arrested. The child was recovered safely at the time of the arrest and a loaded handgun was found in the vehicle.