Michelle Wilkins is the Colorado woman who, seven months pregnant, survived a 2015 attack in Longmont in which a stranger lured her through a Craigslist ad, beat and stabbed her, and cut her unborn daughter from her womb. She lived. Her baby, whom she named Aurora, did not. Her attacker, Dynel Lane, is serving 100 years in prison. Wilkins, who now goes by Ellie, lives in Boulder County, works in emergency-responder support and substance abuse prevention, and is writing a memoir about her recovery.
What Happened on March 18, 2015
Wilkins was 26 and 34 weeks pregnant when she answered a Craigslist ad offering baby clothes and drove to Lane’s home in Longmont. Once she was inside, Lane attacked her, beating and stabbing her before using a blade to cut into her abdomen and remove the fetus.1CNN. Jury Finds Woman Guilty of Cutting Fetus From Womb An emergency room surgeon later noted the incision appeared “well performed,” suggesting the perpetrator had researched cesarean births.2CNN. Craigslist Pregnant Woman Womb Baby Removed
Wilkins lost more than 40 percent of her blood but locked herself in a basement room and called 911. On the call she identified the weapons — a knife and broken glass — and gave police directions to her location.3People. How She Found Peace4ABC News. Horrific Attack on Pregnant Woman Answering Craigslist Ad Longmont officers found her covered in blood and barely conscious. Officer Billy Sawyer later credited her survival to her own determination in seeking help.1CNN. Jury Finds Woman Guilty of Cutting Fetus From Womb
Who Dynel Lane Was
Lane, 34 at the time, had spent months faking a pregnancy. She told her boyfriend, David Ridley, she was expecting a boy, sent him ultrasound images, and repeatedly changed the due date. Ridley testified that she would schedule what she called prenatal appointments and then grow agitated in waiting rooms and leave without seeing a doctor.5KDVR. Man Describes Girlfriend’s Elaborate Ruse in Dynel Lane’s Trial Lane had worked as a certified nurse aide from July 2010 until her license expired in January 2012, with no record of discipline.1CNN. Jury Finds Woman Guilty of Cutting Fetus From Womb
On the day of the attack, Ridley came home early to take Lane to an appointment. He found her covered in blood and a baby in the upstairs bathtub. He drove Lane and the infant to Longmont United Hospital, where she was described as distraught and crying for doctors to “save my baby.” Hospital staff saw no signs she had recently given birth, and she refused a vaginal examination. She was arrested there at 7:46 p.m.6San Diego Union-Tribune. Boyfriend Testifies in Stolen Baby Case4ABC News. Horrific Attack on Pregnant Woman Answering Craigslist Ad Lane later told Detective Stacey Graham that she had “cut abdomen open to remove” the victim’s baby.2CNN. Craigslist Pregnant Woman Womb Baby Removed
Why Lane Was Not Charged With Aurora’s Murder
Boulder County Coroner Emma Hall determined the cause of death was “fetal demise” associated with an attempted cesarean-section abduction. The autopsy found no signs the 34-week-old fetus had exhibited life outside the womb, and because the infant was not considered to have been born alive, the coroner’s office did not list a manner of death.7CBS News Colorado. Coroner Releases Findings in Case of Baby Cut From Womb
Boulder County District Attorney Stanley Garnett explained that Colorado law required proof a fetus had lived as a child outside the mother’s body before homicide charges could be filed. That threshold was not met.8ABC7 New York. Coroner: Baby Girl Had No Signs of Life Outside Womb Lane was instead charged with unlawful termination of a pregnancy, a felony that on its own carried up to 32 years in prison.9CNN. Colorado Craigslist Fetus Abduction
The Trial and the 100-Year Sentence
Lane was held on $2 million bail and ultimately faced eight felony counts: criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder, unlawful termination of pregnancy, two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault, and two counts of crime of violence.9CNN. Colorado Craigslist Fetus Abduction
The trial was held in Boulder County in February 2016. Wilkins testified. The defense described the attack as “a hasty, impulsive and reckless act” and asked the jury for a conviction on attempted manslaughter rather than attempted murder.10CBS News Colorado. Dynel Lane Convicted in Mother-to-Be Stabbing Trial On February 23, 2016, the jury found Lane guilty on all counts.11The Guardian. Guilty Verdict for Dynel Lane
On April 29, 2016, Judge Maria Berkenkotter sentenced Lane to 100 years: 48 years for attempted murder, 32 years for unlawful termination of a pregnancy, and the remainder for the assault convictions.12ABC7 New York. Woman Gets 100 Years for Cutting Baby From Stranger’s Womb From the bench, the judge told Lane that Wilkins and Aurora’s father “will never get to see her learn to crawl or walk or talk or sing,” adding, “That is because Ms. Lane took that from them.” She also told Lane that “people are hungry to hear from you, Miss Lane. Hungry, desperate to hear you express genuine remorse from the bottom of your heart.” Lane remained silent throughout the hearing.13CBS News Colorado. Judge Sentences Woman Who Cut Baby From Womb to 100 Years
Wilkins placed a large photograph of Aurora on an easel next to the witness stand and asked the judge for the harshest possible sentence. She addressed Lane directly: “You knowingly left me to die, multiple times. The only tears that you shed during the trial were those of self-pity, to the sound of your own voice, as your lies were slowly revealed; and yet, even now, you cannot come clean about what actually occurred.” She said she hoped Lane would “use the rest of time on this Earth with meditation and prayer to help you come to terms with what you have done.”14Denver7. Dynel Lane to Be Sentenced for Attack on Michelle Wilkins After the hearing, Wilkins told reporters she viewed the day as “a day in court for her daughter” and felt justice had been served.12ABC7 New York. Woman Gets 100 Years for Cutting Baby From Stranger’s Womb
Where the Case Stands Now
Lane appealed. In July 2020, the Colorado Court of Appeals unanimously upheld her convictions and 100-year sentence. The court found one second-degree assault count should have been merged with a first-degree assault conviction, but because that five-year term ran concurrently, the merger did not change the overall sentence. Lane remains incarcerated at the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility.15Times-Call. Colorado Court of Appeals Upholds Verdict, 100-Year Sentence in Dynel Lane Fetal Abduction Case
The Colorado Fetal Homicide Debate
The fact that Lane could not be charged with murder for Aurora’s death pushed Colorado’s lack of a fetal homicide law into the national spotlight. At the time of the attack, 38 states and the federal government had laws treating the killing of a fetus as murder. Colorado did not.16BBC News. Dynel Lane Sentenced to 100 Years A Republican-sponsored bill had failed in the legislature in 2013, and voters had rejected a fetal homicide ballot measure 65 to 35 percent in the fall of 2014.17CBS News. Attack on Pregnant Woman Complicated by Abortion Politics
Weeks after the attack, Senate President Bill Cadman introduced Senate Bill 268, which would have defined a “person” as “an unborn human being at every stage of gestation from conception until live birth” for nine specific murder and assault statutes, with explicit carve-outs for the pregnant woman’s own medical decisions including abortion.18KUNC. Citing a Gap in Law, Cadman Introduces Fetal Homicide Bill The bill drew opposition from reproductive-rights groups, which called it a “backdoor abortion ban,” and from some anti-abortion groups, including Colorado Right to Life, which argued the abortion carve-out was “actually affirming abortion.”19Denver Post. Colorado Fetal Homicide Bill Mired in Familiar, Complicated Debate It did not pass. The statute Lane was ultimately prosecuted under, the 2013 Unlawful Termination of a Pregnancy Law, specifies that a fetus is not a “person” under Colorado law.20CPR News. Fetal Homicide Bill Introduced at Statehouse
Michelle Wilkins Today
Wilkins initially moved to North Carolina after the attack, then returned to Boulder County, saying the community’s support and the place itself were essential to her healing. Her recovery has included therapy, acupuncture, dancing, and cycling, which she has described as a tool for regulating PTSD symptoms. She enrolled in a clinical mental health program at Prescott College with an emphasis in body-based counseling.21Times-Call. Michelle Wilkins Finds Healing in Boulder County
About three years after the attack, she stopped using the name Michelle and adopted Ellie, drawn from her middle name, Elaine. A teacher at a spiritual group had told her, “You have such an elegant spirit. You can call yourself ‘Ellie’ if you want to be reminded of that.” She has said the name represents a “more innate identity.”3People. How She Found Peace
Since 2023, Wilkins has worked with the Colorado First Response Coalition, which supports emergency responders. She also works at a substance abuse prevention nonprofit and has volunteered with Natural Highs, where she helped start a cycling program for teens and young adults as an alternative to substance use.3People. How She Found Peace21Times-Call. Michelle Wilkins Finds Healing in Boulder County She has regularly brought cookies to the Longmont officers who responded to her attack, including Officer Sawyer. When the appeals court upheld Lane’s sentence in 2020, she said she was not surprised and did not view her own recovery as dependent on the outcome of the legal proceedings. She has been working on a memoir about PTSD, forgiveness, and recovery, with the stated goal of helping others understand that “being a victim is not this perpetual suffering.”