Grisly discovery of seven infant corpses in Utah mother's garage

A Utah court set bail at 6 million dollars on Monday for a woman charged with giving birth to six infants and then killing them, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Monday.

Police discovered over the weekend the corpses of seven infants packed in cardboard boxes in the garage of Megan Huntsman, 39, who appeared in court in Provo, Utah, not far from Salt Lake City.

Police were alerted by her ex husband, who alarmed police after finding the body of a newborn infant, who appeared to be full term, in the garage.

Police then obtained a search warrant and found the other six corpses. Investigators believe one of the seven babies was stillborn.

A local police spokeswoman told dpa that police believe that the other babies were killed right after birth and put into the boxes.

Huntsman's three daughters, aged 13 to 20, live in the house, which is owned by the ex-husband's parents, the Tribune reported, citing neighbours.

Their mother moved out of the house in 2011. Huntsman's ex-husband planned to move back into the house and was cleaning out the garage when he opened a box and found an infant corpse.

Police believe the babies were born over a 10-year period, starting in 1996. Neighbours and police were shocked by the discovery. "I've never seen anything like this in my career," Pleasant Grove detective Dan Beckstrom was quoted as saying.

Neighbours told the Tribune that they had noticed that Huntsman repeatedly gained weight and then lost it, but they did not suspect she had been pregnant.