Woman Who Killed Her Six Newborn Babies Must Serve 49 Years Before First Parole Hearing
Megan Huntsman, the Utah mother charged with six counts of first-degree felony murder in the smothering/strangling deaths of six newborn babies, was sentenced to life in prison in April. Now, reports indicate she will have to serve 49 years before she is eligible for parole for the first time.
Charged with six counts of first-degree murder, the 39-year-old Huntsman has been held in Utah County Jail since April 13. Bail for Huntsman was set at $6 million.
According to police, the deaths occurred between January 1, 1996 and December 31, 2006. How Huntsman kept the murders of all these children a secret remains a mystery, but their deaths came to light in April when Darren West, her estranged husband, went to their Pleasant Grove home to retrieve some belongings.
Inside the garage, Miller wrote: West found the remains of a baby wrapped in plastic bags and a green towel and stuffed into a white box, sealed with electrical tape. Alerted to the grisly discovery, police later found six more infant corpses similarly stored inside other boxes.
Huntsman allegedly told investigators that she had killed six of the infants, while a seventh child was stillborn.
Here’s more on the parole eligibility:
Utah Board of Pardons and Parole spokesman Jim Hatch said Friday that 40-year-old Megan Huntsman has been scheduled to appear before the board in April 2064.
The Pleasant Grove woman told police she was too addicted to meth to care for more children during the decade she killed the babies. Huntsman was sentenced to up to life in prison in April. The parole board will decide her release date.
Authorities say Huntsman’s estranged husband was the babies’ father and found their stored bodies last April. A seventh baby found in the garage was stillborn.
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The parole hearing date was first reported by TV station Fox 13.
On April 13, 2014, Huntsman’s ex husband Darrien West found sevent infant bodies tucked away. Each baby was wrapped in shirts and towels, placed in small boxes inside the family garage in Pleasant Grove.
Police soon turned to Huntsman who lived in West Valley at the time of her arrest. She told officers she either strangled or suffocated all six babies immediately after they were born. The seventh child was stillborn.
“With the number of children she killed and the heinousness of this offense. The board of pardons has a life sentence, six life sentences to work with. We will be very shocked if she ever gets out,” said Buhman.
Huntsman told police she killed the babies because she was on drugs and didn’t want to care for them.
“It was very difficult for a lot of the investigators and obviously it is things that as officers we don’t expect to see and hope we never see again,” Det. Dan Beckstorm of the Pleasant Grove Police Department.
