Andrea Giesbrecht’s son testifies in dead babies case; husband yells at lawyers

WINNIPEG — It was a day of drama at the Winnipeg law courts as the trial for 42-year-old Andrea Giesbrecht resumed after a nearly two month hiatus.

The son of Giesbrecht, the woman accused of concealing the remains of six infants in a U-Haul storage locker, testified in court Monday afternoon.

His name cannot be released due to a publication ban.

He said he doesn’t recall ever seeing his mom pregnant or any dramatic changes in her weight over the years. However, he spoke of his parents rocky relationship and said they often argued and sometimes split up.

It was the first time one of her family members has taken the stand since the trial first began back in April.

However, it was only after a heated argument with Crown attorney’s that court heard his testimony.

READ MORE: Andrea Giesbrecht, woman accused of hiding infant remains, expected back in court

During a break before the afternoon proceedings got underway, Giesbrecht’s husband, Jeremy, began yelling at prosecutors who asked to speak with the son before he took the stand.

“We have a right not to answer your questions,” he yelled.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We have a right not to answer your questions," he yelled.

The fighting continued for nearly 10 minutes before he eventually agreed to let his son speak in private with both prosecutors and Greg Brodksy, Giesbrecht’s defence attorney.

Giesbrecht’s son spoke in short answers while being questioned on the stand.

He was asked about visitors to the family’s home before he had moved away in 2014.

Brodsky also questioned the son about who would have used the bathroom in the master bedroom en suite.

When trial first got underway in April, the court heard from a forensic biologist. They testified the remains found inside the U-Haul storage locker matched DNA found on a sanitary napkin from inside Giesbrecht’s home. Jeremy Giesbrecht was also found to be the father of each.

Court previously heard from two medical experts who said it was likely that some, if not all of the babies, were born alive.

Earlier Monday, the first witness to testify was the operations manager from Sentinel Self Storage, a facility Giesbrecht rented a unit at. The court heard she first rented a space in 1999 for “eight to ten years, (she) vacated, then came back and re-rented a storage unit in 2010,” said Karen Bodoano.

Bodoano explained several ledgers and logs from the company that indicated missed payments on the unit rented by Giesbrecht.

During cross-examination, Brodsky asked her whether she had ever seen the contents of Giesbrecht’s storage locker. She said she had.

“It was an anomaly that there was few items in the storage unit, so it stood out,” said Bodoana. “I saw two totes with lids and a pail to the right-hand side of them.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It was an anomaly that there was few items in the storage unit, so it stood out," said Bodoana. "I saw two totes with lids and a pail to the right-hand side of them."

Brodsky asked why Giesbrecht would need such a large space for so few items. Bodoana said she also had asked Giesbrecht about it before and was told “she had things that she couldn’t keep at home, like her jewelry.”

Giesbrecht moved her stuff out of the unit at Sentinel in March 2014. The contents look similar to what was found inside the U-Haul location in October.

It was then that U-Haul employees made the gruesome discovery of the dead infant’s inside rubbermaid containers and plastic bags that were sealed in pails.