Mass. woman convicted in womb cutting murder

WORCESTER, Mass. — A Massachusetts woman has been convicted of killing her pregnant friend, then cutting the baby from her womb and passing the girl off as her own.

A Worcester Superior Court jury found Julie Corey guilty Wednesday in the 2009 murder of 23-year-old Darlene Haynes.

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Julie Corey is shown in court in Worcester, Mass., on Wednesday before a jury declared her guilty of killing her pregnant friend Darlene Haynes in 2009 and cutting the baby from Haynes’ womb. The Associated Press

Prosecutors said Haynes was eight months pregnant when Corey beat and strangled her.

They told the jury Corey had been pregnant, too, but had a miscarriage three months earlier and told her boyfriend and family that Haynes’ baby was hers.

Corey’s lawyers contended police failed to follow up on other potential suspects, including Haynes’ ex-boyfriend.

They also suggested Haynes’ ex-boyfriend had given Corey and her boyfriend, Alex Dion, the baby.

Dion denied that.

Defense lawyer Michael Wilcox said he was disappointed with the verdict and plans to appeal.

Julie Corey sobbed as a Worcester Superior Court jury found her guilty of the 2009 murder.

Sentencing was scheduled for Tuesday.

Corey, 39, did not testify during the trial.

Haynes’ body was found in a closet in her apartment on July 27, 2009.

She had been beaten in the head and strangled with an electrical cord.

Her abdomen had been cut open, and her baby was gone.

Corey, Dion and Haynes’ baby were found two days later at a homeless shelter in Plymouth, N.H.

Corey’s lawyers acknowledged that she was found with the baby but said she played no role in Haynes’ slaying.

Dion testified that Corey, whom he believed was pregnant at the time, called him on July 23, 2009, and told him she was giving Haynes a ride to a store.

Later that night, Corey called him to say her water had broken and a friend was taking her to the hospital to give birth, Dion said.

A couple of hours later, Corey called him again and said, “We had a baby,” Dion testified.

Dion said Corey arrived home the next morning with a baby girl he believed was his daughter.

He said he and Corey introduced the baby to family and friends over the next couple of days.

The girl, now 4, lives with her biological father.

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