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David Nicholas: Charges have been filed in the gruesome murder of a Wexford County woman and her unborn child. I had a chance to talk with Andrea Sahori this week. She's a criminal justice reporter with the Detroit Free Press.
DN: The context of this when we look at the nature of the crime committed and by what your headline implies, the premeditated nature of that crime.
Andrea Sahori: Yes, unfortunately, and you know the prosecutor at the time also said, regarding the case, that it is evil personified, and I think that speaks to the gruesome nature of what had happened. You know, those two family members ended up being identified as Rebecca Park's biological mother and that woman's husband; and their name's Courtney and Bradley Bartholomew. Wexford County prosecutor also said that they had done research about cutting a woman's stomach to perform a c-section to get a baby out of the womb. And later, after December 2nd, basically in that document, the Bartholomews, they both tried to first point to other suspects when they first talked to authorities. The more police started coming back, questioning them, the more they started blaming themselves. One story that hadn't changed is ultimately them admitting they cut the baby out of the womb, the unborn child out of the womb, and then after the baby did not survive, they placed the baby, according to this court document, in a cooler, a lunch cooler, and then threw that cooler into a random trash bin. And that's where we're still at.
DN: They have not located the body of the then unborn child?
AS: If they have, they have not announced that.
DN: There were others that were involved in this case as well in your reporting. The victim's sister and a man who was reportedly her fiancé. And do we know the status of charges that have been filed against either of them or charges that either of them could still face in this case?
AS: Rebecca Park's sister was charged with lying to police. She had initially told authorities that Courtney and Bradley did participate in killing Rebecca Park, but what she had told authorities was Courtney hit her on the head and caused a seizure. And again, this is all allegations via police court records, but that was where she had been charged with. And then the fiancé, he was only charged with drug crimes. It does not appear to be related to her case, just based on the court documents that I've reviewed. But, you know, so I don't necessarily anticipate more charges. I think that the police have their main players and that is the Bartholomew's.
DN: What then is the status of the court proceedings in terms of arraignment on formal charges and any preliminary hearings leading to trial? What is the timeline we're looking at right now?
AS: Yeah, so the couple have been arraigned. They were charged with eight crimes in total, including premeditated murder, torture, unlawful imprisonment, and assaulting, you know, a pregnant woman with the intent of causing stillborn or a miscarriage. And so what was next is they need to have their preliminary examination. They attempted to have a probable cause. Authorities have said that they needed more time. And so, you know, those hearings were adjourned last week, and we'll expect to have, within the next 30 days or so, a probable cause in which they put on the calendar a, they schedule a preliminary examination, which is essentially kind of like a mini trial where the prosecution must convince a judge that there's enough evidence to proceed to trial. And that's where we're going to get even more information.
DN: When those details become available, we hope to have the chance to follow up with you as your reporting continues. Andrea Sahori is criminal justice reporter with the Detroit Free Press. And thank you for your reporting to date and giving us the time today; we appreciate it.
AS: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for having me.
DN: I had the chance to speak with Andrea this past Monday morning. You're listening to All Things Considered here on WCMU.
