A WOMAN accused of killing her pregnant friend three months after her own miscarriage has been convicted of beating and strangling her, then cutting the baby from her womb and passing the child off as her daughter.

Julie Corey sobbed as a jury found her guilty of the 2009 murder of 23-year-old Darlene Haynes. Sentencing was scheduled for next week at Worcester Superior Court in Massachusetts.

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Prosecutors said Haynes was eight months pregnant when Corey attacked her and cut the baby out of her body. They told the jury that Corey had been pregnant, too, but had a miscarriage three months earlier and told her boyfriend and family that Haynes’ baby was her own.

Corey’s lawyers contended that police failed to follow up on leads that could have implicated other potential suspects in the killing, including Haynes’ ex-boyfriend. They also suggested that Haynes’ ex-boyfriend had given Corey and her boyfriend, Alex Dion, the baby. Dion denied that on the witness stand.

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, Mr Dion and Haynes’ baby were found two days later at a homeless shelter in neighbouring New Hampshire. Her 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 hospital to give birth, Mr Dion said.

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

Originally published as Woman killed friend, cut baby from womb