EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A Springfield woman accused of killing her newborn son has taken the stand to testify that her pregnancy was a charade.
Angelica Swartout testified Tuesday she wore baggy fleece all summer long in 2010, and she demonstrated from the witness stand how she pushed out her belly to fake a pregnancy that was bringing her attention from her family.
The 24-year-old hotel clerk is accused of smothering the child in an employee bathroom and putting the remains in a garbage can. No body has been found.
The Eugene Register-Guard reports (http://bit.ly/xh9HIO ) she testified that she went along with police during questioning in which she tearfully confessed to delivering and smothering the baby. Otherwise, she said, she’d have to tell her family she had lied about the pregnancy.