From 1996 to 2006, Meghan Huntsman, an American woman, murdered six of her newborn children shortly after giving birth to them in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. The serial

infanticide Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose being the prevention of re ...

was discovered in April 2014 when Huntsman's ex-husband Darren West began cleaning out the garage of the Pleasant Grove house he once shared with her. While moving several boxes, West discovered a small white box, wrapped in plastic, containing the small, decomposing body of a baby. Appalled by his discovery, he contacted authorities. His ex-wife Meghan was brought in after admitting to him that she had given birth and put the infant's stillborn body in the garage. During this interview she admitted first to four, before finally stating she did not know how many there might be, at one point saying "eight or nine". Meghan stated she had "choked" all the infants, with the exception of one stillborn. In the end police discovered six more bodies, one of which was later confirmed in an autopsy to not have been murdered but was stillborn. After the full investigation it was determined that the babies were Darren West's children, but that Meghan Huntsman, unbeknownst to him, had murdered them minutes after they were delivered.

Perpetrator

Megan Huntsman (born February 26, 1975) grew up in Pleasant Grove as the oldest child of an industrial painter and a mother who worked at a grocery store, among other jobs. She was raised in

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

, but had not been active by the time of her arrest according to her uncle Larry Huntsman . Megan Huntsman attended Pleasant Grove High School during which she met her future husband Darren West whom she married in April 1993 shortly after turning 18. Their marriage eventually decayed into substance abuse and violence and West eventually was convicted of methamphetamine-related charges and was imprisoned between 2006 and 2014.

Murders

Huntsman committed all of her murders either by strangulation or suffocation then hid the bodies in boxes in her garage. Police said Huntsman had been a heavy

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug use, recreational or Performance-enhancing substance, performance-enhancing drug and less commonly as a secon ...

user and "didn't want the babies". She also said she committed one of the murders when her husband and her brother and sister were in the house watching television. Megan Huntsman's first three children were not murdered and were alive at the time her crimes were discovered.

Legal proceedings

On February 12, 2015, Huntsman pled guilty to six counts of first-degree felony murder. On April 20, Huntsman was sentenced to six counts of 5 years-to-life in prison with three counts to be served consecutively and three counts to be served concurrently.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huntsman, Megan 1990s murders in the United States 2000s murders in the United States Child murder in Utah Filicides in the United States Infanticide Murder in Utah Serial murders in the United States