WINNIPEG – Andrea Giesbrecht, the woman who owned a storage locker where the remains of six infants were found, is scheduled for a bail hearing Nov. 12.
Giesbrecht’s lawyer, Greg Brodsky, requested at court on Thursday morning that an independent pathologist observe the autopsies and that they be recorded.
Giesbrecht attended the court date via video conference and is expected to do the same Nov. 12.
READ MORE: Woman charged after six infant bodies found in storage locker
“I’m very concerned about the autopsies that are done and going to be done,” Brodsky said. “I not only would like an independent pathologist present during the various autopsies that will be conducted, but I would like it filmed.”
It’s a complex case and determining the ages of the infants, their identities and how they died will be difficult, he said.
Giesbrecht, 40, faces four charges of concealing the body of a child in connection with the remains, which were found Monday by U-Haul employees taking inventory of a storage locker for which rent hadn’t been paid.
The bodies were decomposed to the extent that police initially said they found three or four infants.
READ MORE: Infants’ remains found in Winnipeg storage locker
Police have said they expect the investigation to take months.
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They don’t know whether Giesbrecht is related to the babies or how long they were in the storage locker. Winnipeg police Const. Eric Hofley characterized them as “newborns.”
Court records indicate that Giesbrecht, who has also used the name Andrea Naworynski, is a gambling addict with a low-paying job at a fast-food restaurant.
She was given a suspended sentence and two years probation at a court hearing three weeks ago after pleading guilty to fraud for borrowing money from a 73-year-old neighbour and repaying her with bounced cheques.
Her lawyer at that hearing, Alan Libman, told the court Giesbrecht’s parents were long-time gamblers who had “gambled away all their savings” before they died, leaving taxes unpaid on the house that Giesbrecht now lives in.
Dozens of Winnipeggers gathered in pouring rain Wednesday evening to hold a vigil for the babies near the storage facility where they were found.
READ MORE: Winnipeg vigil held for babies found dead in storage locker
— With files from The Canadian Press
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