Andrea Giesbrecht 'saved' babies, says defence lawyer in dead infants trial
Warning: Story contains graphic content
The lawyer representing Andrea Giesbrecht said his client was saving the bodies of six babies from being disposed of at a garbage dump, not trying to conceal them.
Giesbrecht, 42, is charged with six counts of disposing of the dead body of a child with intent to conceal the fact its mother delivered it. On Oct. 20, 2014, staff at a U-Haul centre discovered the decomposing remains of the infants in a storage locker Giesbrecht rented.
"To make sure they are kept in a storage locker is to make sure they don't end up in a garbage dump. It's saving. Not disposing of them," said her defence lawyer, Greg Brodsky, in his closing arguments on Wednesday.
Conceal means to hide, it does not mean to keep. Dispose means to get rid of, not to save, said Brodsky.
"There's no evidence the [babies] breathed. There's no evidence [they] cried," he added.
Crown prosecutor Debbie Buors argued the dead infants found in a Winnipeg storage locker were "carelessly packaged" and "cast aside", hidden away and unloved by the woman who did everything to conceal all of her pregnancies.
Giesbrecht has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being tried before a provincial court judge. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of two years.
Brodsky said it's not clear who initially stored the babies in the locker and his client did not hide pregnancies from her husband and friends.
"She was having abortions and taking her friends along," Brodsky said. "She wore ordinary clothes and whether it was boring or not is irrelevant. It wasn't for the purpose of concealing a pregnancy."
Buors told Judge Murray Thompson the Crown has proven its case and there should be convictions entered in all six counts of concealing bodies.
The Crown doesn't need to prove the babies were born alive, only that they were born at a state of development that would suggest they were likely alive, Buors said, adding the Crown must also prove the remains were being concealed.
If the Crown could prove the babies were definitely born alive "we'd be here on a whole different set of charges," Buors said.
Most babies were found w/umbilical cords attached. Most were found w/placenta still attached. Buors says that suggests they were newborns.
—@cbarghout"Andrea Giesbrecht is the person who had sole possession of that storage locker from the time she rented it," Buors said.
"Ms. Giesbrecht was trying to conceal these remains. She was hiding them. She was not saving them as my learned friend [defence lawyer Greg Brodsky] suggested."
Buors said Giesbrecht is on security footage paying for the storage locker and there are known phone calls made
to her about the storage locker. She also received mail to her home about it, Buors said.
The Crown said the babies may have been born between the birth of Giesbrecht's first son in 2002 and the therapeutic abortions she had in 2009 and 2011.
"When you look at all the evidence that's before the court, especially the medical evidence, it's clear Mrs. Giesbrecht is aware of how to get pregnant, how to give birth," said Buors.
Remains from all six infants were linked to Giesbrecht and her husband after a DNA sample was taken from a napkin found in the couple's bedroom and compared to DNA found in the storage locker. A forensic biologist testified the biological father of the infants was Jeremy Giesbrecht.
On Aug. 31, a forensic pathologist who helped review autopsies of the remains testified that there wasn't enough evidence to confirm or deny whether the infants were born alive.
Accused tried to hide smell: Crown
During the trial, witnesses testified that most of the remains were found in garbage bags that were stored inside other bags or containers.
Experts testified they could not determine a cause of death because the remains were so decomposed.
The trial began April 18 and was drawn out over the past five months, in part, due to numerous delays, including a member of the prosecution falling ill.
Other delays related to legal concerns over how much detail from conversations between Giesbrecht and her husband, Jeremy Giesbrecht, could be disclosed in testimony.
In the end, Jeremy Giesbrecht was not asked about those conversations during his last day of cross-examination on Aug. 31.
He did, however, testify that his wife wore "boring" clothes, adding he was unaware his wife had been pregnant several times over the years, apart from the two children they have together.
Buors, however, told Thompson that Jeremy Giesbrecht's evidence is suspect and should be taken with a grain of salt.
"It's hard to believe he did not know she was pregnant with these six babies," Buors said.
The trial has heard that Giesbrecht had 10 therapeutic abortions between 1994 and 2011, a number confirmed by her lawyer.
In the opening days of the trial, Const. Danielle Aessie testified she saw a small hand, and "felt what could possibly be a head," wrapped in kitchen-style garbage bags stored in large household containers in the storage locker. Aessie was in charge of collecting exhibits from the scene in October of 2014.
Patrol Sgt. Cory Ford testified that, as the first officer on the scene, he recalled a strong "smell of decay" coming from the locker.
Judge Murray Thompson is expected to make a decision on Giesbrecht's case in February 2017.
With files from The Canadian Press