A Michigan mother accused of killing her pregnant daughter and then slicing out the unborn child allegedly had a sexual relationship with her daughter’s fiancé.
Cortney Bartholomew, 41, and her husband Bradley Bartholomew, 48, were present in court last week for a preliminary hearing over their alleged involvement in the murder of 22-year-old Rebecca Park, and their grandchild.
In bombshell testimony, the prosecution called Park’s fiancé Richard Falor, father of the deceased baby boy, to testify that he had a prior ‘sexual relationship’ with Cortney.
The court is currently hearing whether there is enough evidence to take the case to trial on charges of first-degree murder, torture, and assault of a pregnant individual resulting in death.
Falor told the court that he had a relationship with Cortney from April 2023 to September 2023, and that it ended a month before he started dating her daughter in October that year.
He added that during their time together, Cortney expressed a desire for another child despite stating she was physically unable to, according to WWTV.
Park, who was 39 weeks pregnant, was found dead on November 25 in Huron Manistee National Forest near her mother’s home in Boon Township three weeks after she was reported missing. Her baby ‘not present’ at the scene.
Recounting the timeline before Park vanished, Falor explained that Park’s water broke the evening before her disappearance, which led a friend to drive them toward the hospital.
Cortney Bartholomew, 41, and her husband Bradley Bartholomew, 48, were present in court last week for a preliminary hearing for their alleged involvement in the murder of their daughter, 22-year-old Rebecca Park, and their grandchild
Richard Falor, the fiancé of Parks and father of her deceased baby boy, testified about a prior ‘sexual relationship’ with her mother, Cortney
22-year-old Rebecca Park, and their grandchild were both murdered
He said Cortney tried to stop their vehicle to take Park herself, but the group continued to the hospital. Park was discharged without delivering the baby.
Prosecutors allege Park was murdered the following night after Cortney lured her to the home with the promise of an inheritance check, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Prosecutors showed over 93 text messages between Falor and Bartholomew sent shortly after Park went missing.
Within those exchanges, Cortney claimed she had provided Park with $2,000 from an inheritance.
Falor testified that she never returned home from the meeting, and that he never saw any of that inheritance money.
The couple is accused of orchestrating a plan in which they brought their daughter into their home, ‘forced her’ into a vehicle, and drove her to a wooded park several miles behind the residence.
