Utah Mother Faces Charges For Deaths Of 6 Newborns

The woman’s estranged husband found one of the bodies in a cardboard box as he was cleaning out the garage of a home that couple once shared. He notified police of the discovery. Police officers then found six more tiny bodies in the garage. Each body was wrapped in a shirt or towel and placed in a plastic bag. The plastic bag was then put into a cardboard box.

While seven bodies were found, the woman is only facing six counts of murder because one of the babies was a stillborn baby. It is alleged that she either suffocated or choked the six babies that were born alive. From 1996 to 2006, police say the woman hid her pregnancies, gave birth at home and then killed the newborns.

The woman does have three living children, one of whom was born during the 10-year period in which these babies were allegedly killed. While police have yet to release the motive for the killings, they claim she has told them her motive.

This woman is being held on $6 million bond with her next court appearance to occur later this month. Prosecutors are still looking into what happened with each baby but say that unless testing reveals that more of the babies died of natural causes or were stillborn, amended charges aren’t likely.

In this tragic case, family members say the woman has led a troubled life. Her battle isn’t over yet. She now has to answer to these charges that could end with a life sentence behind bars for each count.

Source: New York Times, “Prosecutors Charge Utah Woman in Newborn Deaths” Jennifer Dobner, Apr. 28, 2014