Utah woman kills 7 of her babies
UTAH (AP) — A woman accused of killing seven babies she gave birth to over 10 years was arrested after police discovered the tiny bodies stuffed in separate cardboard boxes in the garage of her former home.
Megan Huntsman, 39, who lived in the Pleasant Grove home until three years ago, had the infants between 1996 and 2006, US investigators said.
Neighbors in the middleclass neighborhood of mostly older homes about 55 kilometers south of Salt Lake City said they were shocked by the accusations and perplexed that the woman’s older children still living in the home didn’t know their mother was pregnant or notice anything suspicious.
Officers responded to a call on Saturday from Huntsman’s estranged husband about a dead infant at the home, police Captain Michael Roberts said. Officers then discovered the six other bodies.
Captain Roberts declined to comment on a motive or what Huntsman said during an interview with investigators. He said it wasn’t clear if she had an attorney.
He said the estranged husband lived with Huntsman when the babies were born but was not a person of interest at this time. The man’s name was not immediately released.
“We don’t believe he had any knowledge of the situation,” he said.
Asked how the man could not have known if he lived in the house, Captain Roberts replied: “That’s the milliondollar question. Amazing.”
The babies’ bodies were sent to the Utah medical examiner’s office for tests, including one to determine the cause of death. DNA samples taken from the suspect and her husband will determine definitively whether the two were the parents as investigators believe.
Police said the husband was cleaning out the garage when he made the grisly discovery at the house owned by his parents.
Neighbors said they were shocked and horrified by the accusations of what went on inside. None of them even knew Huntsman was pregnant in recent years.
The family members seemed like nice people and good neighbors, said Aaron and Kathie Hawker, who live next door.
Huntsman moved out several years ago, leaving her three daughters, one teenager and two young adults, to live alone, the Hawkers said.
“It makes us so sad, we want to cry,” Kathie Hawker said. “We enjoyed having them as a neighbor. This has just blown us away.”
Aaron Hawker said he talked with the estranged husband on Saturday morning. He told Hawker he was cleaning out the mess in the garage.