Monique Ellen Burton, 35, appeared at Perth District Court this week for sentencing after she discarded the body of a baby she delivered in a plastic bag
Monique Ellen Burton arrives at court after discarding baby
A woman disguised her pregnancy – claiming she was suffering with a liver condition – before giving birth and then hiding the newborn’s dead body in a plastic bag.
Monique Ellen Burton, 35, pleaded guilty to interfering with a corpse at Geraldton Magistrates Court in Geraldton, Australia, in November last year. This week she returned to Perth District Court for her sentencing. The court heard how Burton gave birth in August 2022, with the woman claiming she delivered the child as a stillborn – with a subsequent investigation unable to determine if the baby had ever been alive.
After delivering the baby boy, she hid his tiny body behind the sofa. It comes after girl, 3, was found dead on beach by a horrified passer-by.
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Her partner Shaun Bradley Balaam found the discarded infant and assumed it was a baby because of the shape made out by the bag. However, rather than checking or contacting authorities, he put it in a chest freezer in the garden of their home in Geraldton.
It wasn’t until she went to hospital, and medical staff found evidence of her having given birth, that police searched the property and found the child, ABC reports.
Defending Burton, Anthony Elliot told the court how his client had emotional anxiety linked to pregnancies, with a psychological report backing up the claim – saying she suffered from adjustment disorder, depressive episodes, grief, relationship difficulties and anxiety.
Jehna Winter, proescuting, said Burton managed to conceal her expectant state from her partner, doctors, and the authorities. When questioned, she said the reason her stomach was growing was due to liver cirrhosis.
In addition to the charges relating to the infant, Burton was charged with 11 counts of fraud for setting a fundraiser for a made-up illness, swindling AU$560 (£272) out of concerned friends, relatives and good samaritans. The day after the delivery, Balaam found his partner of 14 years pale and covered in blood in the bathroom.
She was rushed to hospital where nursing staff noticed she was suffering from symptoms of post-partum depression. However, when asked, Burton denied she had given birth.
While his partner was in hospital, Balaam returned to the property to search for a mobile phone that his mother had lost. This was when he found the baby’s corpse. On finding the bag, Balaam did not check – but suspected it could’ve been a baby because his partner had concealed pregnancies from him in the past.
He put it in another bag and then into a freezer, saying that he was following the procedure that would’ve been done in a morgue. Even after being flown to King Edward Memorial Hospital in Perth, Burton continued to deny giving birth.
“I don’t know what is wrong with me,” she told hospital staff. Cops searched the property and found the baby in the freezer. She was arrested in January 2024, and told police she couldn’t remember what happened – adding that she thought it was a dream.
Her sentencing is due to be carried out later today at Perth District Court.