A Utah woman, who is accused of strangulating seven of her stillborn kids and storing their dead bodies in her home, couldn’t recall the exact number of her dead infants on the day she was arrested, the documents which were made public on Friday said.
39-year-old Megan Huntsman, who is being held on $6 million bail, was arrested on April 12. On the day of her arrest, she had told the police that there were eight or nine dead babies in her home south of Salt Lake City, the search warrant affidavit said.
Pleasant Grove Police Capt. Mike Roberts told the mediapersons that they believe there were only the seven found in the garage, adding Huntsman must be confused.
“She couldn’t remember the exact number of dead babies at her place so she threw a ballpark figure out there,” Roberts said, while adding, “That was her guess.”
Last week, Huntsman was charged with six counts of first-degree murder.
According to the police, she has killed her kids between 1996 and 2006.
Meanwhile, the officials who are investigating the unfortunate incident said that they knew Huntsman’s motive behind the brutal acts, but declined to discuss it publicly.
Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman said that Huntsman could face five years to life on each charge.
Authorities are awaiting DNA test reports to confirm the parents of the dead babies. Also, the test will determine the sex of the children. Their causes of death also remain uncertain.
According to the New York Times, Huntsman’s marriage decayed into substance abuse and violence over time. She became alcoholic and remained depressed due to her ailing father’s suicide. Adding to the woes, she lost her job at a supermarket bakery and spent recent days alone at her boyfriend’s trailer home.
During investigations, Megan Huntsman had revealed that she did not go to a hospital to deliver her babies and they were delivered at her home, Pleasant Grove Police Capt. Mike Roberts said.
However, if anybody helped her while giving births is still unclear.
Huntsman concealed her pregnancies from her two oldest daughters and neighbours. Her husband, Darren West, also told police that he knew nothing about the pregnancies.
When neighbors were contacted, they said that they never knew she was pregnant. However, they admitted that weight fluctuations and toggling between baggy and tight clothes were always there with Huntsman.