Megan Huntsman’s first child born in 1996 only saw the world for a few precious moments before its life was cruelly snatched away. When she became pregnant again, tragically, that baby suffered a similar fate. Over the next ten years, she would go on to end the lives of six of her newborns.
Strangely, Huntsman stored the bodies of her tiny victims in her garage, treating it like a cemetery. The infant bodies, securely plastic-wrapped, were converted into unsettling mementos of a dark series of events that would remain uncovered for years, as per the reports from the Utah County Attorney’s Office.
Huntsman’s modus operandi was shockingly similar in each case. She would end the life of each newborn within moments of them entering the world. It is claimed she used her bare hands to apply fatal pressure to their throats, snuffing out their lives before they had truly begun.
Subsequent to the monstrous acts, she would return the lifeless bodies to her garage. Their tiny forms were concealed in boxes or containers, hidden away in her Pleasant Grove, Utah, sanctuary. This unspeakable secret remained hidden from the world, all the while sitting quietly in the periphery of her everyday life.
Upon inquiry, Megan revealed her motivation for these horrific crimes. She claimed substance misuse as the reason for her actions. According to her, she frequently used methamphetamine, to the point that she believed she was incapable of providing necessary care for her children.
In an even more heart-wrenching discovery, a seventh infant was located amidst the grim hoard in the garage. However, it was noted that this child was not murdered like the others; investigations revealed that it was a stillbirth.
Despite the numerous pregnancies, Huntsman’s acquaintances and neighbors were oblivious to her condition. Miraculously, this petite woman of 105 lbs. succeeded in concealing all seven pregnancies from those around her. Friends simply believed she had put on a bit of weight, evidently none the wiser.
At the time authorities apprehended Huntsman, she was already a mother to three children who were alive. Two of her daughters were born before the start of the ghastly chain of events, and one surprisingly in the middle of it all.
Some of those familiar with the Huntsman family circumstances alleged that she was subjected to domestic violence. However, local law enforcement contradicted those claims, maintaining there was no history of domestic disturbance calls from the house.
Ironically, there were several key instances when authorities could have discovered the shocking crimes. Unfortunately, these signs were overlooked, and Megan continued her series of killings unnoticed for over a decade.
Federal narcotics control officers, upon a raid in 2005 – a year preceding the final murder – found signs of drug use in the garage but failed to unearth the terrible secret it also concealed. Following this investigatory lapse, another individual was convicted on charges of drug possession and sentenced to a nine-year prison term.
Even after the conviction, anonymous alerts about Huntsman’s drug abuse made their way to Utah’s Division of Child and Family Services in 2006, just a fortnight post the arrest. All these alarm bells, however, did not save the unborn from meeting their tragic fate.
It was only in 2014, when family members were rummaging through the garage, that the gruesome secret was finally brought to light. The powerful stench of death led them to the seven tiny, plastic-encased bodies, igniting shockwaves through the close-knit community.
Following her arrest, Huntsman was detained at the Utah County Jail. Due to the severity of her situation and crimes, she was immediately placed under suicide surveillance as a cautionary measure.
In February 2015, Huntsman, then 40 years old, confessed to her heinous crimes and pleaded guilty to six counts of first-degree murder. As a consequence, she was given six life sentences, three of which were to be served consecutively.
In the aftermath of the trial, she was relocated to a Utah State Correctional Facility assigned the identifier Offender Number 221913. She has been scheduled for her first parole hearing in April 2064, at which point she would be 89 years old.