Utah Mother Pleads Guilty of Killing Six Babies

They say that the perhaps the most heinous crimes a person can commit is murdering a child or infant. They are right! Taking it one step further, Megan Huntsman, 39, plead guilty today six counts of murder for killing six of her newborn babies and storing their bodies in her garage. 

The case sent shock waves through the quiet, mostly Mormon community where the Utah mother stored the tiny bodies for more than a decade. Her now-estranged husband, Darren West, made the grisly discovery in April 2014 while he cleaned out a garage in the home they had shared in Pleasant Grove, Utah, a city of about 35,000 people, south of Salt Lake City. Authorities say a seventh baby found in her garage was stillborn. Huntsman told police she either strangled or suffocated the babies immediately after they were born. She wrapped their bodies in a towel or a shirt, put them in plastic bags and then packed them inside boxes in the garage. Police say Huntsman killed the babies over a 10-year period from 1996 to 2006, during a period of her life when she told investigators she was addicted to methamphetamine and didn't want to care for the babies.

DNA results have revealed that all seven newborns were full term and that West (above) was the biological father of the infants. West lived with her during the decade the babies were killed, but he is not considered a suspect in their deaths. West discovered the bodies shortly after he was released from federal prison where he spent more than eight years after pleading guilty to meth charges. In her few brief court appearances, Huntsman has said very little.

Prosecutors had called it “a unique case” both in its “heinousness” and in the “number of victims.” Huntsman faces up to life in prison on the charges. She will be sentenced April 20.

Bizarre Alleged Murder/Suicide Baffles Neighborhood

Friends and relatives are shocked about the recent alleged murder/suicide of Michael Tabacchi and Denise Iran Pars Tabacchi. After autopsies, Bergen County Prosecutor, John L. Molinelli, said yesterday on Twitter that Tabacchi, 27, had strangled and stabbed his wife, Denise Iran Pars Tabacchi, 41, then stabbed himself in the chest. Authorities said that the tragedy occurred on Friday night around 11 p.m. Their 15-month-old son, August, was found safe in their home at in their home at 595 High Street in Closter, New Jersey.  

Authorities had no knowledge of marital or financial issues facing the couple. Molinelli said that question is part of the investigation, and that there were no signs of forced entry at the house. Autopsies were conducted Saturday. Authorities said that a kitchen knife was found near Michael’s body, but there was no note to suggest a reason for the deaths.

Michael’s parents, James and Silvana Tabacchi, found the bodies after receiving a text from Michael around 11 p.m. Friday night. A neighbor, Kurt Vreeland, said that Michael’s father ran to his house seeking help. Vreeland, who is Closter’s assistant fire chief, said his wife, former Closter Volunteer Ambulance Capt. Lisa Vreeland, rushed over to try and resuscitate the victims, but it was too late. Both were taken to Englewood Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead.

Michael and Denise were married in a civil ceremony at Ridgefield Park Town Hall in May 2013, followed by a church wedding at St. Joseph’s in Demarest last May. I personally knew Denise, so this is especially shocking to me! I worked with Denise several years ago and ran into her from time to time at a local bar where she was a bartender. She was a very sweet, nice person who always made people feel special.

The details of this tragedy are mysterious, indeed. One can formulate and speculate that suicide by stabbing yourself in the chest is rare. Furthermore, it is hard to fathom that a parent would leave a 15-month-old baby in the house like that. All of this seems implausible unless heavy drugs were used, which will not come to light unless the toxicology report is published. And even if that is the case, it could take weeks to get the results.

It is psychologically difficult to stab yourself with the strength needed to do so and follow-through necessary to drive the blade through the hard chest plate, let alone that a person’s instinct is to flinch or hold back to spare him or her from the pain associated with the act. After all, the objective of suicide is to “stop” the pain, emotional or physical, that the person is currently feeling, not to prolong it or make it dramatically worse, as would be the case with stabbing one’s self. That is not to say that it is impossible, though. In 2013, Georgy Kochnev fatally stabbed himself in the heart five times in front of dozens of witnesses, who said that he could still walk and talk for a few minutes after the fifth injury.