LONDON – A British aristocrat who went on the run with her boyfriend and their newborn daughter in 2023 were convicted Monday of killing the infant.
Constance Marten, 38, and Mark Gordon, 51, were found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter at their second trial held in London’s Central Criminal Court. Previously, during their first trial, they were convicted of charges including perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child, and child cruelty.
Marten had secretly given birth to a daughter named Victoria after the couple’s previous four children were removed by the courts due to concerns over their safety.
Despite having wealthy parents with ties to the royal family and possessing her own trust fund, Marten chose to forgo her privileged lifestyle. At times, she lived rent-free and, while evading authorities, scavenged for food from garbage bins and camped in freezing weather conditions.
Police launched a massive nationwide search that lasted seven weeks after a placenta was found Jan. 5, 2023, in the couple’s burned-out and abandoned car in northwestern England.
The couple spent hundreds of pounds on cabs to shuttle around the country as they avoided using credit cards or anything that might identify them.
After their arrest in Brighton on Feb. 27, the couple refused to say where the baby was. Gordon, who served more than 20 years in a U.S. prison for rape, said “What’s the big deal?” when asked about the baby’s welfare.
Two days later, police found the baby’s decomposed body in a shopping bag under rubbish in a garden shed. The infant either died from hypothermia or was suffocated, prosecutors said.
The couple said it was tragic accident that occurred when Marten was sleeping.
Both defendants testified during the second trial, but cut their testimony short during cross-examination. Marten called the prosecution “heartless” and “diabolical.”
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