Mass. Woman On Trial In Pal's Killing, Fetus Theft

Opening statements in the trial of a Massachusetts woman charged with beating and strangling her pregnant friend, then cutting the fetus from her womb, are getting underway.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys are scheduled to present their cases in the murder and kidnapping trial of 39-year-old Julie Corey on Monday in Worcester Superior Court.

Prosecutors say Corey killed Darlene Haynes, who was eight months pregnant, made an incision in Haynes' abdomen and took her fetus in July 2009. The baby girl survived, and Corey told her boyfriend that the child was theirs.

Corey has pleaded not guilty. Her lawyers have said she did not kill Haynes and came into possession of the baby "by lawful means," although they did not elaborate.

The now 4-year-old child currently lives with her biological father.