commentary by Patrick H. Moore
The Julie Corey Massachusetts murder and kidnapping case has a little of everything – envy, treachery, extreme violence resulting in murder, gonzo surgery in which the alleged “surgeon” cut an 8-month-old-fetus out of the victim’s abdomen, abduction of the fetus, a snow job for the perpetrator’s on-again, off-again, boyfriend, and finally a stubborn refusal on the part of the accused since her arrest in July of 2009 to admit to any wrongdoing.
This appears to be a case in which the prosecution may very well have it right. Let’s first look at the purported facts from the prosecutorial perspective.
In a nutshell, it goes something like this:
Julie Corey, 39, a Worcester, Mass. woman, is accused of beating and strangling her pregnant friend, Darlene Haynes, on or about July 23, 2009. According to the prosecutors, once Haynes had stopped breathing, Corey made a 9-inch incision on her abdomen and cut the fetus from her womb. She will finally face a jury next week nearly five years after the gruesome crime. Opening statements are scheduled for Monday.
Although the murder and fetus abduction is certainly plenty strange, what transpired next is not exactly Leave It to Beaver. Julie apparently tied off the baby’s umbilical cord with a ribbon and assumed the motherly role. The infant survived and two days later, Julie dropped her bombshell. She arrived at a family function on July 25, 2009, and told her part-time boyfriend, Alex Dion, and his family,that the baby was theirs.
Julie and Alex had broken up the previous October and at that time Julie reportedly told Alex that she was pregnant with their child.
Julie and Alex were apparently without means of support and following the family function, they appear to have moved into a homeless shelter in Plymouth, New Hampshire.
Several days later, the authorities apprehended Corey, Dion and the baby at the homeless shelter.
It is reported that prior to the arrest, personnel at the shelter had become suspicious that something was not right. In any event, a shelter worker told the Union Leader that Corey grew uncomfortable and suspicious when a nurse began photographing the baby with her cell phone.”
“She had a lot of post-traumatic stress and was obviously not a well woman,” the employee said. “She said a child had been taken from her before, and it’s not going to happen again.”
At some point, the shelter staff apparently alerted the police that something didn’t “smell right” and Corey was arrested on a Wednesday afternoon as she tried to leave the shelter with the infant.
Her boyfriend, Alex Dion, 27, appears to have sincerely believed that the child was his and was stunned when police moved in on the couple. The police believed his story and he was released after questioning.
“I am so confused. I don’t know what to think. I thought I had a brand-new daughter,” he said in an interview with the Boston Herald.
Mr. Dion informed the authorities that he and Corey had dated off and on for approximately two years, and that she had told him she was pregnant shortly after a breakup in October.
Dion said that on the night of the alleged murder, July 23rd, Corey told him that she was taking the deceased women Darlene Haynes, who was a friend, to the store. Corey told the Herald that Corey had phoned him several times later that night, saying she her water had broken and she had gone into labour. Dion further stated that early the next morning, Corey called to say she had given birth to a baby girl at a Framingham hospital. Mr. Dion told the paper he then called both their families to tell them the good news.
* * * * *
DNA testing has verified that Haynes, 23, was the mother of the baby.
The girl, who is now 4, is living with her biological father, Roberto Rodriguez, said Paul Jarvey, a spokesman for Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr.
Corey and her lawyers are having none of this. She has pleaded not guilty to both the kidnapping and murder charges.
Attorney Louis Aloise, who represents Corey, outlined her defense in a simple but perhaps not convincing manner. She said Corey was not involved in Haynes’ killing.
“The defense is she didn’t do it. Others did it. She had nothing to do with the homicide at all,” Aloise told the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester.
Aloise said Corey came into possession of Haynes’ baby “by lawful means.”
The prosecutors are claiming that Corey was the last person seen with Haynes.
Fran Oswell, a neighbor of Haynes, told the Herald that she heard Haynes crying out on July 23 during what may have been the deadly attack.
“I heard that girl screaming. Mostly it was, ‘Leave me alone. Stop it.’ She was screaming in pain.” She said she also heard a man screaming. (What the heck is that all about and who is the screaming man?)
When this case first broke, it was widely covered by the New York press, CNN, ABC, CBS and other news outlets. Despite its high profile, however, the case languished.
Part of the delay was due to the defense attorneys requesting that charges be dropped against Corey due to lack of evidence. This was resolved at the end of 2011, about 30 months after Haynes’ death, when, according to the Huffington Post:
“The Worcester Superior Court ruled last week there was “substantial” evidence to link Julie Corey to the July 2009 slaying of Darlene Haynes and the abduction of her unborn child.”
Yet it was not until April 26, 2013, that a trial date finally was scheduled for January 2014.
* * * * *
One wonders whether the case will be largely circumstantial based on the fact that Haynes and Corey were friends; the accused was reportedly the last person seen with the victim; and Corey ended up with the baby, or if there is evidence linking the defendant to the crime scene. If there is, conviction would appear to be more or less a slam dunk. If the evidence is largely circumstantial – on the other hand – the jury may still convict Corey, who does not appear to have a whole lot of ability to win friends and influence people, with the exception of her buffaloed, one-time boyfriend, Alex Dion.
Assuming she is guilty, I would be very curious to know exactly what was going on in Julie Corey’s mind as she lured her close friend to a painful death prior to cutting her fetus out of her abdomen. Did she think she was going to get away with it? Or perhaps she didn’t plan ahead. In any event, we can be certain that she wanted a baby very badly.