'Evil Personified' As MI Mom Kept Pregnant Daughter Alive As She And Husband Cut Out Unborn Baby: Prosecutors

WEXFORD COUNTY, MI — Prosecutors said Rebecca Park's biological mother kept her alive while she and her husband cut out her daughter's unborn child, according to a report.

"This is, frankly, evil personified," Wexford County Prosecutor Johanna Carey told a judge while asking that the mother and husband be held without bail.

On Nov. 3, prosecutors say Cortney and Bradly Bartholomew lured Rebecca, who was 38 weeks pregnant, to their Wexford County home. The couple then forced Rebecca into another vehicle, which took her into the woods where they stabbed her and forced her to lie on the ground while they cut her baby out, prosecutors said.

The couple then left Rebecca in the woods, prosecutors said.

A citizen search party found her body in the Manistee National Forest nearly three weeks later. Prosecutors later confirmed the baby also died in the attack.

Carey called Park's killing a "case of premeditated torture and murder," saying the couple "created a plan" and "conducted research," for the attack.

In a joint news release with Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, Carey said the case "involves a truly horrific homicide in which a young woman and her unborn child endured unimaginable suffering."

Cortney Bartholomew and Bradly Bartholomew were each charged with multiple felonies in the killing, including first-degree murder, felony murder, torture and conspiracy to commit torture. Each of those charges carries up to life in prison. Other charges include assault on a pregnant person causing miscarriage or stillbirth, unlawful imprisonment and removal of a dead body.

They were both placed in jail without bond.

On the same day Rebecca's body was found, officials quickly arrested Park's fiancé, 43-year-old Richard Lee Falor, and her sister, 21-year-old Kimberly Park.

Kimberly Park was charged with tampering with evidence, lying to a police officer and filing a false report, and Falor was charged with delivering methamphetamine. It was unclear if any of the charges were in connection to Rebecca Park's case.

Both were placed in jail. Falor was given a $1 million bond and Kimberly Park was given a $750,000 bond.

A judge on Wednesday lowered bond for Falor and Kimberly Park to $5,000, with 10 percent required for release. They posted the bond and were released from jail.

Although Cortney Bartholomew was Rebecca's biological mother, Rebecca was raised by Stephanie Park, who adopted her as an infant, along with her younger sister Kimberly and an older brother, according to 9 & 10 News report.

Stephanie Park told the outlet that Rebecca Park's 3- and 2-year-old sons are in her care.

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