Megan Huntsman

Case record: Megan Huntsman

Background

Megan Huntsman was 40 at sentencing. She was a mother of three children who were still living. Her youngest sister, Jamie Huntsman, read letters and gave a statement in court. Joyce Huntsman testified about Megan Huntsman’s character and described her as “the Megan Huntsman of yesterday.” Family members said Megan Huntsman was shy and secretive and rarely shared personal details of her life with anyone. Joyce Huntsman said Megan Huntsman grew more secretive after she got pregnant in high school and moved out at age 18 to marry Darren West.

Megan Huntsman’s defence attorney Anthony Howell said her client had chronic depression and a rocky marriage and that she was scared to reach out for help. Howell said the “quiet” and “shy” qualities did not explain away the crime but likely contributed to it. Megan Huntsman declined to speak in court, but she acknowledged the power that addictions held over her in a statement read by her attorney.

The prosecution described Huntsman as having a history of addiction and having become a mother of newborns she killed and then hid. Police said Huntsman was addicted to drugs at the times of the other births and could not afford to keep the babies while still having her methamphetamine. After she kicked her meth habit, she told the judge in the statement, “I moved on to alcohol.”

The offence

Megan Huntsman pleaded guilty in February to six counts of murder, a first-degree felony. She was sentenced to six terms of five years to life in prison for murdering six babies between 1996 and 2006, then packaging their bodies and hiding them in her garage for years.

Prosecutors said the six newborn babies each lived less than 2 minutes before Huntsman pressed her thumbs to their throats and choked them. At sentencing, Pleasant Grove police detective Dan Beckstrom testified that Huntsman explained she used a hair tie “to be sure it was dead.” The prosecutor asked “Why?” and Beckstrom testified that Huntsman explained, “To be sure it was dead.”

Fourth District Judge Darold McDade ordered three of the terms to be served consecutively and three to be served concurrently. Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman said after the sentencing, “My guess is that she'll serve the rest of her life.”

The bodies were hidden in the garage of her former Pleasant Grove home. Investigators eventually determined that the bodies of five baby girls and two baby boys had been hidden for years. Police said Huntsman killed the babies over a 10-year period from 1996 to 2006. Prosecutors and police said she strangled or suffocated the babies immediately after birth and then wrapped their bodies in towels or shirts, put them in plastic bags, placed them in boxes, and hid them in the garage.

A seventh baby was found and was believed to be stillborn. Police said investigators did not consider the husband a suspect. Huntsman told police she was afraid to go to police or a hospital after one stillborn baby.

Investigation

Investigators reconstructed a decade from Megan Huntsman’s life while examining how she concealed seven pregnancies. Utah investigators examined DNA from the babies to determine who the parents were, studied bones to find out how long ago the babies died, and interrogated family members and talked to neighbors in pursuit of clues. Investigators were also trying to determine why she did it and whether anyone else knew about it or was involved.

Forensic evidence and medical examination were described. Greg Hess, Pima County chief medical examiner in southern Arizona, said forensic anthropologists should eventually be able to determine the sex of the babies based on the DNA results and determine if babies were full term by examining the bones. Hess said they probably would not be able to determine whether babies were born alive unless significantly bigger than a typical newborn or there were obvious signs of trauma. He said the inability to scientifically determine if babies were born alive could be important if defence attorneys argued the babies were stillborn. Hess said estimated time of death can span a 10- to 15-year window depending on decomposition.

Police said the FBI had been brought in because no labs in Utah could analyze the type of DNA taken from the corpses.

Police captain Mike Roberts said investigators were done with initial interviews of family, friends and neighbors and were digging into evidence. Roberts said they had not ruled out doing more interviews or making more arrests and described the process as “a slow, meticulous process.”

The physical arrangement in the garage was described. Police found bodies wrapped in layers of plastic or blankets, sometimes taped shut with electrical tape, and found in boxes inside of boxes. In all, investigators found six other dead babies after searching the garage for the first discovery.

Arrest and custody

Megan Huntsman was arrested Sunday on six counts of murder and was ordered held on $6 million bail, $1 million for each baby. At an arraignment, she was ordered held in lieu of $6 million bail, cash-only. Fox13 News reported that on Monday morning a judge set bail at $1 million for each count of murder for a total of $6 million.

She faced six counts of murder in Utah. She pleaded guilty in February 2015.

Trial

Megan Huntsman pleaded guilty in February 2015 to six counts of murder. During sentencing on April 20, 2015, Judge Darold McDade imposed six terms of five years to life in prison, with three terms consecutive and three concurrent.

Sentencing

At sentencing, Pleasant Grove police detective Dan Beckstrom testified about Huntsman’s explanation for using a hair tie “to be sure it was dead.” Beckstrom also gave details about how the bodies were discovered in boxes and in layers of plastic or blankets, sometimes taped with electrical tape.

Huntsman’s statement acknowledged addictions and her lack of an answer as to why she committed the crimes. In her statement, she said:

“In some small way, I wanted to help them avoid the terrible life I would have given them.”
“I deprived my little babies of the opportunity of life.”

In a statement read by her attorney, Huntsman also said:

“Depression and alcohol took hold of me the same way drugs did,” she said.
“I cannot give a reasonable answer why I was capable of such a sick and heinous crime. I held my secret for 18 years.”

After the sentencing, Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman said:

“I don't think she'll ever be released.”
“My guess is that she'll serve the rest of her life.”

Judge Darold McDade explained his reaction to the case and stated:

“I really thought I had seen it all until this case,” McDade said. “It shocked me then and it shocks me now.”

Appeals

No appeal information was included.

Outcome

Megan Huntsman pleaded guilty in February 2015. She was sentenced on April 20, 2015. She was ordered held on $6 million bail on April 14, 2014. She would serve 49 years in prison before her first parole hearing in 2064 when she would be 89 years old.

Aftermath

Joyce Huntsman urged other parents to watch for signs of addictions in their children. Jamie Huntsman said:

“Megan is not a monster.”
“She's not evil. From what I understand, she was scared.”

Megan Huntsman was described by family members as having provided loving care to her living daughters. Two of Huntsman’s daughters submitted letters on her behalf that said:

“Nobody could guess my mom would do anything like this,”
“No matter what anyone thinks you are, you are a good person.”

Prosecutors said the killings were cold and calculated. Jeff Buhman said:

“These were very cold and calculated killings,”
“She smothered or strangled six of her own flesh and blood.”

Police and prosecutors described that DNA testing and medical examination were used to clarify issues including parental status and whether the babies were full term. Authorities also reported evidence found in the garage included bloody leather gloves and women’s underwear, and infant booties and clothes in the master bedroom. Police took stained sections of a mattress in the master bedroom as evidence.

Documents released described that one baby was covered in a chemical, possible iodine, and that Huntsman told police in a phone conversation that the baby was stillborn and she had been afraid to go to police or a hospital.

Other details

Megan Huntsman declined to speak at sentencing but her attorney read her statement.

Megan Huntsman’s estranged husband was Darren West. West was described as the father of all six children and a seventh that was stillborn. Family members said they did not know about methamphetamine that ruled the couple’s lives. Police said West was not considered a suspect. West made the discovery in April 2014 while cleaning out the garage at his Pleasant Grove home. Neighbors provided descriptions of Huntsman as quiet and trusted to take care of children, and some said they noticed weight fluctuations but did not notice men coming and going or unusual activity in a trailer.

Fox13 News reported that Huntsman had not lived in the home since 2011 and that the home had two separate residences, with bodies found in the upper residence with its attached garage. That residence had not been lived in since 2011.

Fox13 News also referenced a Utah law passed in 2001 allowing people who have a child but aren’t prepared to care for it to drop the child off with no questions asked and no liability.

DailyMail.co.uk described that Darren West was thrown out of the home owned by Stephen and Diane West after his wife began an affair, but no names of new charges were included.

A quote from Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman at sentencing and several quoted statements by Huntsman, Joyce Huntsman, Jamie Huntsman, and Beckstrom were included above.