Michigan mother accused of killing pregnant daughter
SingTao · 1 SOURCES1 day ago2 MIN
Summary
A court in Michigan is hearing a case in which 41-year-old Cortney Bartholomew and her 48-year-old husband, Bradly Bartholomew, are accused of luring Cortney’s 22-year-old daughter Rebecca Park to their home and killing her when she was about 39 weeks pregnant. Prosecutors allege Rebecca was then cut open and her unborn son was removed, with both mother and baby later dying. Rebecca’s body was found on November 25 last year in the Huron-Manistee National Forest, several miles from the defendants’ home, while the infant’s body has still not been recovered. At a recent preliminary hearing, Rebecca’s fiancé Richard Falor testified that he had a five-month intimate relationship with Cortney in 2023 before later dating Rebecca
Key Points
- Prosecutors said Rebecca showed signs of her water breaking the night before the killing and was taken to hospital by a friend, before Cortney intercepted them and insisted on accompanying her
- After Rebecca was discharged without giving birth, prosecutors said Cortney used a promised US$18,000 inheritance cheque to lure her daughter back home the following evening
- The prosecution alleges Rebecca was tortured and killed indoors, then forcibly cut open so her unborn baby boy could be removed; both were later dead
- Falor told the court he had an intimate relationship with Cortney from April to September 2023, and said she had expressed a strong desire to have a child despite being unable to conceive
- More than 93 messages sent by Cortney to Falor after Rebecca disappeared claimed she had given Rebecca US$2,000 in inheritance money, but Falor said he never saw any payment
Why It Matters
The case combines allegations of domestic violence, homicide and the killing of a near-term pregnant woman, making it an unusually disturbing criminal proceeding for readers following major overseas crime cases. For Hong Kong audiences, it also underlines how preliminary hearings can expose competing accounts of motive and relationship history before a full trial begins