The trial against Rebecca Ruud for the murder of her daughter Savannah Leckie began this Monday in Missouri.
The woman, accused of first and second degree murder, abuse or neglect of a minor , tampering with evidence and dumping body, was arrested in July of 2017.
Victim disappeared in Ozark County. When she was initially reported missing, the suspect told authorities that the minor had run away. This led authorities and volunteers in the Theodosia area to spend several weeks searching for Leckie.
After searching for weeks, investigators discovered burned human remains (bones and teeth) on Ruud’s property.
Forensic studies showed that the remains corresponded to the minor.
Leckie was adopted by a family in Minnesota, but she maintained frequent contact with Ruud, her biological mother.
According to the KY3 report, Ruud found out that his daughter was not getting along with her adoptive mother’s new boyfriend, so the minor returned to live with her.
Ruud’s lawyers argued in court that their client burned the body of the 16-year-old girl, but did not kill her.
For her part, the prosecutors presented a recording of a conversation between Ruud and her lawyer in which the woman admits that she burned the body of her daughter. In the exchange, the defendant indicates that the teenager committed suicide. Ruud later admitted to finding the body and burning it.
Prosecutor Anthony Brown was explicit in his opening arguments in court by citing the statements of three women who spent time in jail with Ruud. One of them allegedly said that Ruud admitted to drugging her daughter with hydrocodone.
Next, Ruud, believing that his daughter had died, moved the body to a pile to burn it.
According to Brown, the victim got up screaming, and was hence the mother, allegedly, beat her to death with a kind of rake.
Prosecutors hope to bring Robert Peat Jr. as a witness
Ruud married Peat Jr. the same day the young woman’s remains were found. The man faces the same charges as Ruud.