Slain Pregnant Woman Lived in Same Building With Accused Fetus-Stealer

Julie Corey, 35, arrested in connection with the murder of Massachusetts mom.

ByABC News
July 29, 2009, 11:06 PM

July 30, 2009 -- The woman accused of murdering a mentally disabled woman to steal her fetus may have met her victim while they lived in the same apartment building.

Julie Corey 35, was arrested in Plymouth, N.H., Wednesday night after friends tipped off police when she showed up with a baby and no one knew she had been pregnant.

She was taken into custody alongside a man named Alex Dion, 27. Dion was later released.

Public records for both Corey and Dion indicate they had lived at 94 Southgate St., the same building where the mutilated body of Darlene Haynes, 23, was found wrapped in bedding and stuffed in a closet.

Corey had apparently taken the baby to New Hampshire where she was staying at a homeless shelter, according to a police statement.

Haynes' infant daughter was found alive with Corey and Dion and is now at a New Hampshire hospital where she appears healthy, according to police.

Massachusetts prosecutors told the Associated Press that Corey had told her family and friends that she was pregnant.

A spokeswoman at Speare Memorial Hospital in Plymouth, N.H., told ABCNews.com today that the little girl they call "Baby Jane Doe" is expected to be released from the hospital today into Massachusetts state custody.

Several members of Haynes' family told ABCNews.com that they had never heard of Julie Corey before her arrest, but were relieved that the baby, who Haynes wanted to name Sheila Marie, was safe.

Haynes' uncle Karl Whitney said today that he was grateful that at least Corey "cared for the child the way that she did."

"She kept the baby alive," he said. "If she hadn't we'd probably all be looking at far more different circumstances."

Whitney said it was unclear who would get custody of the little girl. Haynes' ex-boyfriend Roberto Rodriguez was believed to be the father of the child, he said, and between him and extended family on both sides there are numerous options for officials.

Haynes, who was eight months pregnant when she was killed, was a mother to three other children, Jasmine, 5, Lilli, 3 and Christina, 18 months. Christina was being raised by Haynes and Rodriguez, but the family has said that Haynes had a troubled relationship with Rodriguez and had taken out a restraining order against him more than three weeks ago.

Whitney told ABCNews.com today that Haynes' two eldest children, who have been raised by Haynes grandmother since birth, have been told about their mother's death.

"I explained to Jasmine the best I could that her mom was dead, that somebody did something bad to her," Whitney said.

Other members of Haynes' family told ABCNews.com that they wonder if anyone else may have helped Corey with the crime, saying it would seem to be an unlikely task for just one person.

"Who helped her with that baby?" Sandra Grandmaison, Haynes' great-aunt, said today.