PLEASANT GROVE, UT – The whole state of Utah is still slack-jawed this week, after the weekend revelations of suburban mother Megan Huntsman’s string of secret pregnancies, and subsequent murders of her infant children. There are many questions, and few answers, available for shocked members of the community today, but one question stands out above the others: just what the hell is up with that mugshot?
The photo is just one of the enigmas of this case, but it may be the most prominent one for the social media savvy, who were inundated over the weekend with the curious, somewhat off-putting surprised expression of Huntsman. The photo, presumably shot as she was booked into the Utah County Jail in Spanish Fork, practically blanketed Facebook on Sunday, serving as a peculiar visual corollary to the macabre crime. The details of the murders are gruesome enough for any dime-store pulp novel, but in its own way, the photo is equally grotesque, suggesting astonishment, regret, and obliviousness in equal measure.
Larry King, host of CNN’s Larry King Live, from 1985 to 2010.
Larry King, friend of the state, came out early against suggestions that the oddly inappropriate expression in the mugshot was a tribute to him.
“I understand where people are coming from on this one, believe me,” King said. “But the comparison just doesn’t hold water. If you look at the two shots, my original from ’71 shows a lack of expression, mixed with a little disgruntlement around the mouth area, with a slight dipping of the lips on the left-hand side. The eyes are as wide, I’ll give you that, but Huntsman pairs this with the extension of the eyebrows upward, clearly indicating some kind of surprise, or incredulity.”
“Whatever she found so surprising about the situation, getting caught or whatever it was, it’s not doing her any favors here,” King said.
King went on to describe Huntsman’s crimes as horrific, and a threat to the existential social contract. “Hug your granddaughters, people,” King advised.
In the days and weeks ahead, we can only hope that more details of the secret pregnancies, systematic infant murders, and this weird mugshot are released to the questioning and horrified public. Pictured below are some other strange mugshots.
