Woman lured mother-to-be to her home to kill her and rip child out of her womb
WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT Korena Roberts, 27, was in court charged with murder after police allegedly found the body of missing pregnant 21-year-old Heather Snively in a cupboard in her flat following a suspected fetal abduction
A twisted woman faked a pregnancy, then befriended and cut open a pregnant friend, abducting her unborn child, killing both in a deranged bloodbath.
Korena Roberts, 27, was convicted of murder after officers discovered the body of a missing 21-year-old hidden in her home.
A grim postmortem examination revealed that pregnant Heather Snively had been cut open at the stomach so her unborn child could be removed, as per CNN.
Heather had also suffered between 15 and 30 severe blows to the head with multiple weapons and had bite marks on her arm, according to Oregon Live. Roberts killed Heather in the bathroom, covered her in carpet and hid the body in a crawl space beneath the house.
She then called her boyfriend, Yan Shubin, telling him she was in labour and needed help. Roberts had faked a pregnancy for almost a full term. Yan came home to find Roberts in the bathtub with the water running, crying uncontrollably and holding a baby boy.
It first came to light that something was wrong when Roberts contacted the Oregon emergency services on claiming the baby was unwell in 2009, according to ABC.
Tragically, paramedics were unable to save the child and alerted police upon realising Roberts was not the infant's mother.
Doctors ordered a psychological evaluation, and a psychologist found no psychosis or other mental disorders in Roberts. Investigators revealed that Roberts, who has two children under 10, had spent months claiming to be pregnant herself.
She allegedly told both friends and her live-in boyfriend she was expecting twins. She had befriended Heather, who was new to the area, after the pair connected through an internet site and had arranged to exchange baby clothing.
Roberts' boyfriend was not charged with any offences and assisted officers with their investigation into his girlfriend.
People in Roberts' neighbourhood told KPTV she had told them she was expecting a child. "She didn't appear to be pregnant to us," neighbour Doug King told the station.
Police think Roberts may have had contact with several pregnant women in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area. Prosecutors reviewed evidence to determine whether Roberts could also be charged with the baby boy on June 5, 2009.
But Oregon law requires showing a baby drew at least one breath to survive outside the womb before any separate charge can be made and Washington County District Attorney Bob Hermann said an autopsy and interviews with emergency workers found no evidence the baby had survived.
Hermann said the aggravated murder charges show Roberts tried to kidnap the baby of 21-year-old Heather and rob her, and tried to conceal the crimes.
In 2010, Roberts pleaded guilty to killing Heather, telling Judge Don Letourneau "I am taking responsibility because I am guilty."
Heather's grieving fiance, Chris Popp, told Roberts he wanted to see her on death row. He said:"You've taken away my fiancee, my son -- I don't know what to say to you.”
Heather's mother and stepfather, described their daughter as a happy, generous woman who always had "a smile that would light up a room."
"There is no punishment severe enough for what you did," the statement read. "We hope you're haunted every day for the rest of your life by what you did." Roberts was handed a life sentence without the possibility of parole.