Julie Corey listens as Judge Janet Kenton-Walker instructs the jury during her murder trial in Worcester Superior Court in Worcester, Mass., Tuesday Feb. 11, 2014. Corey is charged with killing her pregnant friend and cutting the baby from her womb.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.
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.