Woman accused of cutting baby out of womb convicted on all counts
UPDATE (Associated Press):
The Colorado woman whose fetus was cut from her womb says she doesn’t hate the woman who attacked her but is angry about all the pain she caused.
Michelle Wilkins spoke Tuesday after a jury convicted Dynel Lane in the attack last March. She faces anywhere from 16 to 120 years in prison when she is sentenced in April.
Wilkins, speaking slowly and with composure, quoted Martin Luther King Jr. on the power of forgiveness. She thanked her supporters and said it’s confusing that life can be both cruel and beautiful.
Prosecutors say Lane lured Wilkins to her home with a Craigslist ad for maternity clothes. She then hit and choked Wilkins before using two kitchen knives to cut out the unborn girl, who died.
Denver Post:
BOULDER — Jurors on Tuesday convicted Dynel Lane of attempted first-degree murder in a frenzied attack in which she lured a pregnant Longmont woman to her basement and cut out her 7-month-old fetus.
Jurors deliberated for roughly six hours Monday and one hour Tuesday before informing Chief District Court Judge Maria Berkenkotter that they had reached a verdict.
Jurors convicted Lane of all six felony counts, including attempted first-degree murder, assault and unlawful termination of a pregnancy. The judge ordered Lane be held without bond and set sentencing for April 29.
Lane pleaded not guilty to six felony counts in the March 18, 2015 attack. The 35-year-old was accused of attacking Michelle Wilkins, 27, and leaving her alone and bleeding while she cleaned up around her.
During closing arguments, prosecutors and defense attorneys recounted how Wilkins arrived at Lane’s Longmont home in response to a Craigslist advertisement for maternity clothes.
They described a desperate struggle in which Lane hit Wilkins over the head with a glass bottle, stabbed her in the neck with a shard of broken glass and put her hand over her mouth until she lost consciousness.
“I kept saying, ‘Why are you doing this?'” Wilkins told jurors from the witness stand last week. She then told Lane, “I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I love you.”
She said Lane responded, “If you love me, you’ll let me do this,” before stabbing Wilkins in the neck.
Dynel Lane, accused of cutting a stranger’s unborn baby from her womb, appears in a Boulder District courtroom for her trial Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, in Boulder, Colo. Prosecutors charged Lane with attempted first-degree murder, assault and unlawful termination of a pregnancy in the March 2015 attack of Michelle Wilkins. (Matthew Jonas/The Daily Times Call via AP) NO SALES; MANDATORY CREDIT
Michelle Wilkins reacts as she testifies in a Boulder District courtroom in Boulder, Colo., Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016. Wilkins, who had her baby cut from her womb by someone she just met, testified Wednesday she told herself she had to survive for the sake of her unborn daughter and tried to fight back. (Matthew Jonas/The Daily Times Call via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
District Attorney Stan Garnett shows pictures of the defendant, Dynel Lane, accused of cutting a stranger’s unborn baby from her womb, pretending to be pregnant on a screen in a Boulder District courtroom during opening statements in Lane’s trial Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, in Boulder, Colo. Prosecutors charged Lane with attempted first-degree murder, assault and unlawful termination of a pregnancy in the March 2015 attack. (Matthew Jonas/The Daily Times Call via AP) NO SALES; MANDATORY CREDIT