Murderer Pregnant At the Time of Her Crime Gave Birth in Prison (2024)

Murderer Pregnant At the Time of Her Crime Gave Birth in Prison (1)

OxygenThe mugshot of Giselle Esteban, convicted murderer of nursing student Michelle Le

On Friday, July 10, Dateline NBC is rebroadcasting an episode called “Vanished,” which examined the disappearance and murder of Vietnamese-American nursing student Michelle Le in 2011. Ahead of that episode, here’s what you need to know about the crime, the woman who was convicted of the murder, and how she gave birth in prison.

Giselle Diwag Esteban Was Pregnant When She Murdered Michelle Le and Gave Birth in Prison

On May 27, 2011, Michelle Le, a nursing student at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in the San Francisco area, was training with her co-workers when she ran out to the parking structure to get something from her car and never returned. According to United Press International, Le’s locked car was later found three blocks from the hospital with bloodstains inside. Authorities said at the time that security footage from the parking garage and her cellphone records indicated she was killed by someone she knew.

A city-wide search began shortly after Le’s disappearance, but an arrest was made in the case before Le’s body was found.

On September 7, Giselle Diwag Esteban was arrested for Le’s murder. The two were former friends and Le’s DNA was found on one of Esteban’s shoes during a May 29 search of Esteban’s home, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Cellphone records also showed that Le and Esteban’s phones traveled a similar route immediately after Le disappeared, with transmissions coming from the Niles Canyon and Sunol Canyon areas.

Esteban was indicted on a murder charge in December 2011. The San Jose Mercury News reported that grand jury transcripts released after the indictment showed that Esteban left increasingly hostile, profane, and threatening messages in the months before Le was killed. Esteban also sent messages to Scott Marasigan, the father of her unborn child, and with whom she suspected Le was having an affair.

“No matter how many times Marasigan denied an affair, Esteban refused to believe him,” Prosecutor Butch Ford said in the transcript. “And she became fixated.”

He also said that Esteban became “so enraged” about this affair she thought was happening that she “began essentially to hunt down Michelle.”

Marasigan testified that he and Le had dated for a few weeks several years ago, but that they never had a sexual relationship.

Ford said that Esteban “attacked [Le] in the parking lot, threw her body into her own car, drove to a makeshift grave, and buried her body.”

Esteban and Marasigan already had a daughter together but at the time of Le’s disappearance and murder, they were on-again, off-again. According to the Bay City News (via Patch), Marasigan testified during the trial that Esteban became mad at him when he was awarded custody of their daughter in 2010 and moved her to the San Francisco area.

Esteban maintained that Marasigan was the father of her second child, but Marasigan testified that he knew of at least one other person who could have been the father. Esteban gave birth to a healthy baby boy shortly before Thanksgiving while in custody, reported the San Francisco Gate.

In December 2012, Esteban was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison. At the time, Judge Jon Rolefson said he had never seen more condemning circumstantial evidence pointing to a killer than what the police and prosecutors had on Esteban, according to the San Francisco Gate. Rolefson also said he hadn’t “seen or heard any hint of remorse” from Esteban, according to the San Francisco Gate.

Le’s Remains Were Found Four Months After Her Disappearance

After the cellphone transmissions pointed investigators to the Niles Canyon and Sunol Canyon areas, authorities were able to narrow their search for Le. On September 17, Le’s body was found in a shallow grave in the Sunol-Pleasanton canyon area.

An exact cause of death was never determined, however. There was a “dinner-plate-sized pool” of Le’s blood found in the parking garage along with some of Le’s hair. Her blood was also found inside of her car and her DNA was found in a stain on Esteban’s shoe. Esteban’s DNA was also found on the steering wheel and turn signal of Le’s car.

“You can tell from the evidence presented that (cause of death) may never be determined,” Ford told jurors. “But that’s not required to prove that somebody died.”

Dateline airs Fridays and Saturdays on NBC.

READ NEXT: Why A Georgia Beauty Queen’s Alleged Murderer Still Hasn’t Been Tried in Her Death

Andrea Reiher covered entertainment and sports for Heavy.com from 2017 to 2023. She has been reporting on celebrity and entertainment news since 2008 and is a former Senior Editor at entertainment site Zap2It. Andrea's bylines include Entertainment Weekly, Variety and Collider. More about Andrea Reiher

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Murderer Pregnant At the Time of Her Crime Gave Birth in Prison (2024)

FAQs

What happens to the baby when a woman gives birth in prison? ›

Typically the babies go home with a family member, who may have power of attorney or temporary guardianship. But the family member may decide down the line to sue for custody, which is what incarcerated mothers are often afraid of.

What is shackling of pregnant prisoners? ›

Shackling a woman by the ankles, wrists, and/or waist during pregnancy and delivery is not only unnecessary for security reasons, it is also medically hazardous and emotionally traumatizing. While shackled, pregnant women are at increased risk of falling and sustaining injury to themselves and their fetuses [17].

What is the First Step Act for pregnancy? ›

Bans Shackling of Pregnant Females.

Prior to the First Step Act, pregnant female inmates were required to be shackled before, during, and after giving birth. Now, with a few exceptions, pregnant female inmates will not be restrained from the date their pregnancy is confirmed until postpartum recovery has concluded.

How many children in the United States have their mother in prison? ›

Researchers estimate that more than 5 million children experienced parental incarceration in 2018 (National Survey of Children's Health, 2018). More than 10 million children live with a parent who has come under some form of criminal supervision at some point in the child's life (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2008).

How long can a baby stay with mom in prison? ›

Most facilities allow the infant to reside with her mother until he/she is 18 months old, although Washington State will keep children in prison until they are three. Many prisons offer parenting classes, substance abuse counseling, general education, and "safe havens" for mothers and infants to be in.

What is it like to give birth in prison? ›

Life After Giving Birth

Incarcerated individuals are often separated from their child less than 24 hours after birth, and the child is given to relatives or placed in foster care. [12] While the physical pain of giving birth in prison is unimaginable, the mental health of the childbearer may also deteriorate.

What question is most often asked of a pregnant woman? ›

Top 12 Most Common Pregnancy Questions Answered
  • What are the early signs of pregnancy? ...
  • When is my baby due? ...
  • What foods should I avoid during pregnancy? ...
  • Can I exercise during pregnancy? ...
  • How much bleeding is normal during pregnancy? ...
  • What prenatal vitamins should I take? ...
  • Which healthcare providers do I need to see?
Jul 18, 2022

What are signs you should stop working while pregnant? ›

Signs You Should Stop Working When Pregnant
  • You have high blood pressure, a cervical insufficiency or intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR)
  • Your baby isn't growing properly.
  • You're at risk for preeclampsia.
  • You have a history of stillbirth, preterm birth or late miscarriage.
May 5, 2024

What is the pregnancy D Act? ›

Title VII, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, provides that discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions is a type of unlawful sex discrimination.

Who was the youngest child to serve life in prison? ›

The sentence was controversial because Tate was 12 years old at the time of the murder, and his victim was 6. He was the youngest person in modern US history to be sentenced to life imprisonment, bringing broad criticism on the treatment of juvenile offenders in the justice system of the state of Florida.

How many inmates get pregnant in prison? ›

The study included 57 percent of the US prison population (New York, California and Florida were not included). It found that 3.8 percent of newly admitted women were pregnant and that in a single year, incarcerated women had 753 live births, 46 miscarriages, four stillbirths and 11 abortions.

Which country has the most children in prison? ›

The United States incarcerates more of its youth than any other country in the world, through the juvenile courts and the adult criminal justice system, which reflects the larger trends in incarceration practices in the United States.

Did a woman have a baby in jail cell? ›

A woman who gave birth alone in her cell while detained at the Rappahannock Regional Jail in Virginia is alleging in federal court that correctional staff members ignored her cries for help as she went into labor in August 2021 and that her infant son died of a treatable infection.

What happens when you have a baby in a Mississippi prison? ›

Inmate postpartum recovery.

(2) Following the delivery of a newborn, by an inmate, the Department of Corrections shall permit the newborn to remain with the mother for seventy-two (72) hours unless the medical provider has a reasonable belief that remaining with the mother poses a health or safety risk to the newborn.

What happens if you have a baby in jail in Texas? ›

Most prisons require incarcerated women to choose a caregiver for their child, especially if the mother doesn't want to place their child in foster care or to go through the adoption process. The caregiver can be the pregnant inmate's spouse, grandparents and any other close relatives.

What are most female inmates incarcerated for? ›

Women are proportionally more likely to be serving a sentence of incarceration for a property or drug offense and less likely to be incarcerated for a violent offense when compared to men.

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