In a stark reversal, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has reinstated a first-degree murder conviction against Julie Corey, 39, who in 2009 brutally murdered her pregnant friend Darlene Haynes and then cut the woman's baby from her womb. Corey's conviction, which had been contested on claims of ineffective legal counsel, was upheld Monday as the court found sufficient evidence supporting her involvement in the grisly crime, as reported by WCVB.
Corey was initially found guilty in 2014, but moved for a new trial, arguing her counsel had failed to call key witnesses that could potentially clear her. This action prompted a review by the trial judge, which led to the voiding of her murder conviction—though this decision was met with contention from the prosecution. The state's highest court, scrutinizing the evidence, declared, "We disagree with the defendant that she received ineffective assistance of counsel," and recognized, "sufficient evidence to find the defendant guilty of felony-murder with a predicate felony of aggravated kidnapping," according to the court's decision.
Haynes was eight months pregnant when she met her brutal end in her Worcester apartment in July 2009. Corey, who had miscarried three months earlier, was said to have passed off Haynes' baby as her own after the murder. The tragic scene was discovered by the landlord who noticed a "very foul" smell and found Haynes' body, which was badly beaten and hidden in a bedroom closet, as Boston 25 News recounted.
An autopsy revealed that Haynes endured "blunt force trauma to her head, an electrical cord wrapped twice around her neck causing strangulation, a nine-inch incision of her abdomen, and missing reproductive organs." The baby girl, miraculously, survived the horrific ordeal. Corey, her boyfriend, and the newborn were located two days later at a homeless shelter in New Hampshire. Corey defended herself saying she had no part in Haynes’ death, and contested, evidence linking her to the crime was circumstantial at best. Nonetheless, the state's high court concluded, "The evidence was sufficient for a factfinder to conclude that the defendant committed aggravated robbery beyond a reasonable doubt," effectively sealing Corey’s fate back to a life behind bars.
This controversial case has seen multiple legal turns, with Corey's defense team previously contending that leads which could have implicated other suspects, including Haynes' ex-boyfriend, were not adequately followed by law enforcement. Despite these claims and their efforts to overturn her conviction, the Supreme Judicial Court's latest ruling reaffirms the jury's verdict, leaving Cory to serve her original sentence for first-degree murder based on felony murder theory. The case is set to see no further changes, as "we decline to disturb the jury’s verdict in this case," a conclusion drawn from the exhaustive review by the esteemed judges. This marks yet another chapter closed in a saga that has haunted the city of Worcester for over a decade.
