Megan Huntsman of Utah has been charged with murder for the killings of six of her newborn babies over a 10-year period.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the bodies were discovered on April 12 in her Pleasant Grove garage by her estranged husband and then police. Huntsman, 39, then confessed to suffocating six babies shortly after they were born between 1996 and 2006, the arrest affidavit said. She did give birth to a seventh child who is believed to have been stillborn.
Each baby was found stored in plastic bags in a cardboard box in the garage.
According to Reuters, police believe that Huntsman gave birth to all seven babies secretly at the Pleasant Grove home. She somehow managed to keep each pregnancy secret. Police did say that she told them why she murdered the babies, but they did not make that information public.
Huntsman was officially charged on Monday during a court appearance at 4th District Court in Provo. She remained silent and her public defender, Doug Thompson, waived a formal reading. Thompson said that he had not had a chance to look over all the evidence and asked for another court date in three weeks.
Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman explained to the media that she will not face capital punishment since she will be charged with the crimes based on the statute at the time the murders were committed.
Huntsman will be back in court on May 19 and is being held on $6 million bail. She does have three other daughters, aged 14, 18 and 20, who all lived at the house.