Storage employees recount discovery of infants’ bodies, court hears

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This article was published 18/04/2016 (3491 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Andrea Giesbrecht was given every opportunity to keep a deadly secret concealed. But the Winnipeg woman’s inability to meet repeated payment demands ultimately led to a shocking discovery.

Giesbrecht, 42, began her high-profile trial Monday by pleading not guilty to hiding the remains of six babies hidden inside a U-Haul locker on McPhillips Street. Police had originally told Giesbrecht they might charge her with murder, but that never occurred. With the case now underway, the public is expected to finally hear who justice officials believe were the babies’ parents and the circumstances behind their deaths.

The trial began with two U-Haul employees taking the witness stand, testifying how Giesbrecht had fallen behind on her monthly payment plan for locker 1103, which she had rented in March 2014 following years of previous storage rentals with another company.

Giesbrecht was given more than a dozen warnings over the subsequent months to pay off her overdue account or risk having her locker forfeited and all items inside sent to auction. The employees told court Monday that Giesbrecht would often promise to come in days after receiving a warning, but would not show up. She claimed some personal items from her deceased father were inside the locker and pleaded with officials not to get rid of them.

On one occasion in July 2014, Giesbrecht blamed her lack of monthly payments on the fact she’d been out of town caring for a sick relative. She promised to rectify the situation immediately. Weeks later, she told another U-Haul worker she hadn’t come by to pay because she “works all night and sleeps all day.”

Surveillance video shown in court Monday includes a glimpse of Giesbrecht attending to the front counter of the facility on Oct. 3, 2014. On that day, she apparently paid $100 on her account, but still owed several hundred dollars more.

U-Haul finally lost patience with Giesbrecht on Oct. 20, 2014 and carried out on the threat they’d been making since April to evict her. Three employees entered her locker, which housed five large plastic storage containers. 

“Something was weird there. I kind of thought something was not right,” Ryan Pearson told court Monday. He said they opened all five containers, where they noticed a mixture of discoloured liquid inside plastic bags that were squishy. There was also a terrible smell coming from them.

“It wasn’t just rotting food to us,” said Kristina Lekei, who was the manager of the facility.

The employees decided not to investigate further. They stepped back and promptly called police.

“At that point your mind is going 100 places,” said Pearson. He told court the discovery of the remains has led to “many, many nights of not sleeping.”

The first police officer on scene was patrol Sgt. Cory Ford, who said he was dispatched to attend a call for “possible body parts” inside a locker. Ford told court he’s been to more than 50 death calls during his 13-year career and quickly detected a smell of “decay” upon opening the locker.

“I didn’t know if it was fruits or vegetables, if it was animals, if it was humans,” said Ford. He said the plastic bags inside the containers were dripping fluid as he carefully examined them.

“I was able to see the limb of what looked like a baby and a small head with hair,” he said.

Ford immediately called his supervisor, triggering a massive investigation which would include members of the forensics and child abuse units. The trial is expected to hear later from several medical officials about the age and gender of the fetuses and subsequent DNA testing that occurred.

Giesbrecht sat in the front row of the court gallery on Monday but displayed no obvious emotion as the evidence played out. She has been free on bail since shortly after her arrest. A court-ordered publication ban prohibits evidence and details of the bail hearing from being published.

Defence lawyer Greg Brodsky previously told the Free Press the remains are likely more than a decade old based on information he’d received.

“The evidence provided so far demonstrates to me they’re ancient. Some were mummified,” Brodsky said. He said insect larvae found with the remains were sent to an entomologist in British Columbia for further study.

At that time, Brodsky said no evidence had surfaced to suggest any criminal conduct took place with respect to their births. As a result, Brodsky is challenge whether the state of the infants meets the legal requirement to prove the unique charges against his client.

“They were stillborn. They have no evidence of life after delivery,” he said. “They don’t say if a doctor had been present at the time of deliveries, it would have made any difference.”

Giesbrecht is also facing multiple fraud charges stemming from unrelated investigations. She is also charged with breaching a probation order by participating in gambling. A judge had barred her from any such conduct after she previously pleaded guilty to defrauding an elderly neighbour out of nearly $8,000 to feed her gambling addiction.

An earlier pre-sentence report painted Giesbrecht as a suburban soccer mom of two sons, married for 17 years, and a Siloam Mission volunteer. She had also been a homecare worker for DASCH, which supports people who have disabilities, and previously worked at the St. Amant Centre.

www.mikeoncrime.com