Pa. man denies taped confession in toddler death

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Pittsburgh-area man told jurors he confessed to leaving his 23-month-old daughter outside to freeze to death because he didn’t want his fiance or mother blamed.

The trial for 26-year-old William Page, of Braddock, was to continue today in the death of his daughter, Nyia, whose body was found February 2007.

Earlier this week, Allegheny County prosecutors played Page’s recorded confession for the jury. In it, Page told police he kicked the girl because she kept removing her diaper and left her outside in the snow in Braddock, about 10 miles east of Pittsburgh.

But on Wednesday, Page says he confessed only after police grilled him over several days and that she somehow wandered outside.

He faces the possible death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder.