WINNIPEG — The lawyer for a woman accused of concealing the remains of six infants has raised the idea that she may have had trouble carrying a baby to term.
Andrea Giesbrecht's lawyer brought up the issue Wednesday while cross-examining a government official in charge of Manitoba's medicare payments for doctors.
Greg Brodsky noted that Giesbrecht had seen doctors for several abortions as well as for a recurring menstrual disorder.
Brodsky asked whether the disorder might have affected her ability to give birth, but the government official said the medicare payment records do not contain that information.
Giesbrecht was arrested in 2014 after the infant remains were found in a Winnipeg U-haul storage locker. Medical experts have testified the infants were at or near full term, and some were very decomposed.
The trial also heard from Liezl Collins, who described herself as Giesbrecht's best friend.
Collins said she never knew Giesbrecht had abortions and was shocked when she found out after Giesbrecht's arrest.
"That completely floored me. I had no clue," she said.
Collins also testified that she and another friend offered to help Giesbrecht move boxes from one storage company to another when she fell behind on her payments, but "she just did it herself."
Like another witness earlier this week, Collins said Giesbrecht was having an extra-marital affair with a worker at a casino, although she couldn't remember how long it lasted.
