Murder charges for Utah mom accused of killing 6 infants

PROVO, Utah - Prosecutors have filed six first-degree murder charges against a Utah woman accused of killing six babies after giving birth to them, and keeping their bodies in boxes in her garage.

Prosecutors say 39-year-old Megan Huntsman admitted to suffocating or strangling six of the seven dead newborns found in the garage of her Pleasant Grove home April 12. She told police the seventh dead infant was stillborn.

The charges were filed Monday morning shortly before Huntsman appeared in court for the second time. She was informed of the charges during the brief hearing.

Investigators believe Huntsman's estranged husband, Darren West, is the babies' father, though they are awaiting DNA results to confirm that. West is not a suspect.

Police believe Huntsman concealed the pregnancies and gave birth to the children between 1996 and 2006 while she was living in the home in Pleasant Grove, about 35 miles south of Salt Lake City.

An investigation into the case is ongoing and although autopsies on the dead infants have been completed, authorities are tight-lipped on what they revealed, reports the Salt Lake Tribune.

Neighbors have said they didn't suspect Huntsman was ever pregnant, and the Deseret News reported that Huntsman also concealed the pregnancies of her three living children - the two eldest now around 18 to 20, and the youngest around 13.

Huntsman is being held on $6 million bail. She is scheduled to be back in court on May 19.