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Episode 38 | Murdered For Her Baby: Darlene Haynes, Worcester, Massachusetts


It was a case of fetal abduction, cruelty, and murder that made international news with gory headlines like "Fetus Snatcher" and "Womb Raider" in the Summer of 2009 involving two former neighbors of a Worcester, Massachusetts apartment building. One woman in her early twenties, the other in her mid-thirties, both pregnant, both struggling. Each seemed to lean on the promise of a new baby to offer a glimmer of hope in their relatively ordinary existence. Darlene Haynes was a 23-year-old mother of three, with a new baby on the way, whose innocence, trusting nature, and desire for friendship killed her. Her murderer was a another mother with a sick need so strong that she would commit a gruesome murder and steal her baby from her. When Darlene was found dead in her apartment, it didn't take very long to figure out that the woman who'd been parading around with a premature infant and an absolutely implausible story was responsible.


(This story includes fetal abduction, fetal death, domestic violenc, child abuse, miscarriage)


Photos of Darlene Haynes, her apartment building in Worcester, the tiny baby with the ribbon tied on her umbilical cord, and a memorial after she was found


Crime of the Truest Kind

New England crime stories

Hosted by Anngelle Wood


Follow the IG feed for updates on unsolved and missing persons cases from around New England. This week I will post some cold Worcester cases.


Thank you, Gary Murray, of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Godspeed.


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Sources To include Boston Globe, Boston 25, CBS News, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, MassLive, Boston Herald, ABC News, Boston Herald, WBUR Boston, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children



Gary Murray, Worcester Telegram & Gazette







Worcester Telegram & Gazette


Site of murder was in foreclosure


Darlene could not sense danger


Search for the baby



Darlene's complaints


Darlene’s problems with two men


Memorial for Darlene Haynes




Mass Live - Home Darlene Haynes was murdered in to become a park









Fetal abduction






Julie Corey indicted for murder in Dec 2009


Trial begins 5 years later


Haynes family has never met the baby


Police called NH shelter to hold Corey


House Darlene died in to be turned into park


Request for a new trial


Boston Globe archives





Fingerprint and DNA evidence


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