Eight people charged with brutal kidnapping, rape, and murder of pregnant woman

Issues·By Cassy Cooke

A pregnant woman was kidnapped, raped, and murdered by a group of eight people, according to Rhode Island authorities.

Key Takeaways:

Erica Bader's body was found dumped in the woods in October.
Eight people have been charged in some capacity relating to her death, five of whom have specifically been charged with murder.
Bader's family said she was pregnant when she died, and that her murderers killed both her and her preborn baby.

The Details:

Bader, who was 24 when she died, was found in a wooded area of Pawtucket, but police quickly realized she had died somewhere else. One of the people charged, 34-year-old Brittney Terpening, was Bader's roommate; according to her family, Bader had been homeless and lived with Terpening because she had nowhere else to go.

“She had to be off the streets because she couldn’t be on the streets," her stepmother, Crystal Smith, said. "She wasn’t a street girl."

Get the biggest pro life stories directly in your inbox. Breaking news, investigations, and stories you won't want to miss.

In total, eight people have been charged in relation to Bader's death. Five individuals have been charged with murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy (Andrew Cornell, 28; Joshua Brunelle, 35; Elizabeth Durand, 41; Stephanie Bletzer, 37; and Brittney Terpening, 34); three (Christopher Kordalewski, 22; Joanne Miller, 26; and Cheryl Blakely, 36) have been charged with conspiracy, kidnapping, and failure to report a death.

Thumbnail for Group Held Random Pregnant Woman Hostage and Killed Her: Cops

Zoom In:

Investigators were able to trace Bader to a specific house located in Central Falls. While police have released few details, family members told the Boston Globe she was kidnapped, raped, and then murdered. Afterwards, her body was allegedly mutilated.

Smith also added that the people who killed Bader were strangers to her, and that she had tried to escape.

"They're just random people. They were like total strangers to her," she said. "She tried to run away one time, she didn't get far. They dragged her in, pulled her in that house and held her hostage, basically."

Her aunt, Stephanie Bender, also said Bader was pregnant. "They killed her while she was pregnant," Bender said, with Smith adding, "They killed her and the baby, and they should be ashamed of themselves for what they've done."

The Bottom Line:

Pregnant women are at high risk to become victims of violent crime. Homicide is one of the leading causes of death among pregnant women in the United States, higher than all leading medical causes. These crimes are often linked to domestic violence, including situations in which women refuse to abort their children at the request of a partner.

Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.

Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.

Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.

Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!