Dead infants or fetuses? Age of remains elusive in Winnipeg case, experts say
Giesbrecht, who is accused of concealing remains in Winnipeg storage locker, appears in court Friday
The case of Andrea Giesbrecht, who is accused of concealing the remains of six infants or fetuses in a storage locker, heads back to court tomorrow as lawyers argue over the autopsies, which officials hope may provide important information about the remains.
Giesbrecht, 40, was charged after the remains were found in a locker at a U-Haul storage facility on Oct. 20. She is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
Giesbrecht was also charged with breaching probation conditions from a previous fraud conviction.
Winnipeg police executed a search warrant on Giesbrecht's house and garage on Wednesday, but investigators came out empty-handed.
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In order for homicide charges to be laid in the case, the Crown would have to prove that the remains are of infants that were born alive, says Kirsten Kramar, a criminologist at the University of Winnipeg.
"It's incredibly difficult to meet the standard of proof that you need to meet in these kinds of criminal cases," Kramar told CBC News on Thursday.
Age of remains not known
Homicide charges cannot be laid against Giesbrecht if the autopsy results show the remains are of fetuses less than 20 weeks old, since a fetus cannot live outside the womb at less than 20 weeks gestation.
If the remains are determined to be over 20 weeks, the medical examiner would then have to determine if they were born alive or stillborn, and if they were siblings born to the same mother.
"It's very unusual because we don't know the age of the fetuses, and it's the first time in Canada I think we've ever faced a situation like this," Kramar said.
She added that what will make it difficult to determine the age of the remains is the fact that they were found in varying stages of decomposition.
"They're going to have to determine the age of development of cells or any kinds of organs from what they have in front of them. So it's extremely difficult, I would think, to tell," she said.
At Friday's court hearing, Giesbrecht's lawyer, Greg Brodsky, will ask the court to allow an independent pathologist to observe the autopsies of the remains.
Court heard earlier this week that Manitoba's chief medical examiner, Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra, is not allowing the independent pathologist access to the autopsies without a court order, even though the exams are already 90 per cent complete.
Dr. Chris Milroy, director of the Eastern Ontario Regional Forensic Pathology Unit, says there are things that Balachandra and his team will look for during the autopsies.
"What we're looking for is things such as proof the child has breathed, and that becomes very difficult," Milroy said.
"Other proof of live birth … are proof that the child has been fed or, for example, there is healing of the umbilical stump — those findings can be destroyed by decomposition."
The autopsies are currently on hold until the court decides whether to approve Brodsky's request for an independent observer to attend the remaining autopsy work.