Defence asks for no more jail time for woman who hid infant remains in locker

Lawyers make submissions in infant remains case The case of the woman who concealed the remains of six infants inside a storage locker is coming to a close. Michelle Gerwing reports.

WINNIPEG -- A lawyer for Andrea Giesbrecht says she owes the court no explanation -- and deserves no more jail time -- for hiding the remains of six infants in a rented Winnipeg storage locker.

"She didn't murder these children," Greg Brodsky told provincial court Judge Murray Thompson during Friday's sentencing hearing.

"You can only sentence her on the (concealment) charges before the court."

Giesbrecht was arrested in October 2014 after she defaulted on paying rent for a U-haul storage locker. Staff, who were to auction off the locker's contents, opened a plastic bin, noticed a strange smell and called police.

Inside were the decomposed remains of six infants, stuffed in bags and plastic containers. Medical experts testified the infants were Giesbrecht's, were at or near full-term, and were likely to have been born alive.

But because the remains were badly decomposed, it was impossible to determine how the infants died. Giesbrecht was tried on six counts of concealing newborn remains -- an offence that carries a maximum penalty of two years for each count.

Giesbrecht's motive remains a mystery. She did not testify at her trial, and the defence did not call any witnesses.

"She doesn't have to testify. She doesn't have to provide an explanation," Brodsky told court.

Brodsky asked Thompson to spare Giesbrecht any more time in custody beyond the 168 days she spent after her initial arrest and when she was granted bail.

Crown attorney Debbie Buors asked for an 11-year sentence minus time-served -- one year for the earliest infant remains and two years for each of the other five, to be served consecutively.

"There was no dignity given to those individuals, those fetuses," Buors told the hearing. "There has been no remorse shown by Andrea Giesbrecht."

Buors said Giesbrecht was deliberate and calculated in her plan to hide each pregnancy from everyone around her -- including her husband -- and then transport the remains to the storage locker.

She said there is nothing in Giesbrecht's past to explain her actions.

"She had a very normal upbringing. There was no history of abuse."

Giesbrecht also has no addiction issues other than a gambling problem related to an earlier fraud conviction, Buors added. She violated a probation order from that conviction by going to a casino in 2014.

Brodsky said the Crown should not portray the infants as victims, given that Giesbrecht was only tried and convicted on concealment charges.

"There is no victim fetus in this case. The victim is the husband and the public."

The judge said he would render his sentencing decision July 14 and agreed to a media request to broadcast the decision live.

That could be delayed however. Brodsky informed the court Friday afternoon he may file a motion to have the case dismissed because it took more than two years to get to trial.

A Supreme Court ruling last year said legal proceedings could be presumed to be unreasonably delayed if they took more than 18 months in provincial court or 30 months in Superior Court.