Pregnancy, murder a ruse, woman says

EUGENE, Ore. – A 24-year-old Oregon woman accused of murdering her newborn has testified she faked the pregnancy and falsely confessed to killing a baby boy because she wasn’t thinking clearly.

Angelica Swartout, of Springfield, gave a videotaped confession in which she tearfully confessed to delivering and smothering a baby in a workplace employee restroom on Oct. 18, 2010. She told police she threw the child in the garbage, sparking a search of a landfill. No body was ever found.

Swartout’s defense lawyer says she faked a pregnancy in order to keep receiving positive attention from her family. She told Circuit Court jurors Tuesday she pushed out her belly to simulate advancing pregnancy.

Referring to the confession, she testified that her mind “wasn’t processing what was going on” then. She added she didn’t realize that she was setting herself up for a murder charge.