The Latest: Boyfriend testifies in stolen baby case

The Latest: Boyfriend testifies in stolen baby case


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BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — The Latest on the trial of a woman charged with cutting a stranger's unborn baby from her womb (all times local):

4:48 p.m.

The boyfriend of a woman charged with cutting a baby from another woman's womb says she told him she was pregnant, sending him ultrasound images and photos of her distended belly.

But David Ridley testified Wednesday that Dynel Lane's due date kept shifting and she refused to see a doctor with him.

Ridley says Lane told him in April 2014 she was expecting a boy. But when 10 months passed and she hadn't given birth, he told her he needed answers from a doctor about the baby or he would leave her.

He had planned to meet her for a pre-natal appointment the day of the attack. But when he came to pick her up, she told him she had delivered the baby at home. He says he found the baby in a bathtub.

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1:56 p.m.

An emergency room doctor says a woman charged with cutting another woman's unborn child from her womb refused a medical examination when she and her partner arrived at the hospital with a baby.

Leslie Armstrong testified Wednesday that Dynel Lane was distraught and cried for doctors to "save my baby!" The baby didn't survive.

Lane is on trial on charges of attempted first-degree murder, assault and unlawful termination of a pregnancy. She's charged with attacking Michelle Wilkins in March 2015 and removing her baby.

The doctor testified that Lane said she had given birth in a bathtub.

Armstrong says Wilkins arrived at the hospital at about the same time as Lane with a severe abdominal wound and was barely alive.

Wilkins also testified Wednesday, the opening day of the trial.

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11:46 a.m.

A woman who had her baby cut from her womb by someone she just met says she told herself she had to survive for the sake of her unborn daughter and tried to fight back.

But Michelle Wilkins testified Wednesday that Dynel Lane continued to choke and beat her in the March 2015 attack.

Wilkins' child didn't survive. Lane was charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault and unlawful termination of a pregnancy.

The trial opened Wednesday.

Wilkins says she went to Lane's home in response to a Craigslist ad offering free maternity clothes. She says they chatted for more than an hour before Lane took her to the basement to look at baby clothes.

Wilkins says Lane attacked her when she tried to leave.

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10:21 a.m.

A defense attorney for a woman charged with cutting an unborn baby from a stranger's womb says her client didn't plan the attack and never intended to kill the expectant mother.

Attorney Jennifer Beck said during opening statements Wednesday that evidence shows Dynel Lane didn't know what to do after the attack on Michelle Wilkins.

Wilkins survived but her unborn baby did not.

Beck says Lane and Wilkins chatted about motherhood, their partners, pregnancies and other things for more than an hour.

Beck says the attack was chaotic and frantic.

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9:41 a.m.

Prosecutors say a woman charged with cutting an unborn baby from a stranger's womb was obsessed with pregnancy, taking elaborate measures to convince friends and family she was expecting.

During opening statements Wednesday, District Attorney Stan Garnett said Dynel Lane wasn't pregnant but posted online photos of herself with a distended belly and claimed for more than a year she was having a boy.

Garnett says Lane's friends even threw her a baby shower.

Victim Michelle Wilkins didn't know Lane wasn't pregnant when she responded to Lane's Craigslist ad for maternity clothes. Garnett says Lane hit Wilkins with a lamp, stabbed her with broken glass and used kitchen knives to cut the unborn baby girl from Wilkins' womb.

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This story has been corrected to clarify that the Craigslist ad was for maternity clothes only, not maternity and baby clothes.

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8:51 a.m.

Dynel Lane has entered a Boulder courtroom for her trial on charges of cutting open a pregnant woman's belly and taking her baby.

Lane wore a gray pantsuit and a blue button-down shirt and wasn't handcuffed as she waited for opening statements to get underway Wednesday.

Lane walked calmly to the defense table and took a seat next to her attorneys.

Prosecutors charged her with attempted first-degree murder, assault and unlawful termination of a pregnancy in the March 2015 attack.

Lane pleaded not guilty, but her attorneys have not revealed much about her defense.

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12:30 a.m.

A trial is set to start for a Colorado woman charged with cutting a stranger's unborn baby from her womb, a gruesome case that reignited the debate over the legal rights of fetuses.

Opening statements are expected Wednesday morning in the trial of 35-year-old Dynel Lane. Prosecutors charged her with attempted first-degree murder, assault and unlawful termination of a pregnancy in the March 2015 attack. But District Attorney Stan Garnett said he could not charge Lane with murder because a coroner found no evidence the fetus lived outside the womb. That prompted Colorado Republicans to introduce legislation that would have allowed prosecutors to file murder charges for killing a fetus, but Democrats rejected the measure.

Lane pleaded not guilty, but her attorneys have not revealed much about her defense.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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