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On Friday, Missouri woman Rebecca Ruud was acquitted on a first-degree and second-degree murder charge connected to the 2017 murder of her daughter, 16-year-old Savannah Leckie.
According to Fox News, Rebecca Ruud reported Savannah Leckie missing on July 20, 2017. After authorities began a search, they discovered the 16-year-old's burnt remains on Ruud's property in Theodosia, a small village near the Arkansas-Missouri border.
As per CBS, Savannah Leckie had previously lived with an adoptive family in Minnesota before moving to Missouri to live with Rebecca Ruud, her biological mother. As per prosecutors, Leckie's disappearance was preceded by severe abuse inflicted by Ruud.
In court, Ruud claimed that she did not murder Savannah Leckie, though she did confess to burning the teenager's remnants. She has been found guilty of illegally abandoning a corpse.
Details of the accusations against Rebecca Ruud
According to Law and Crime, Savannah Leckie, who had been diagnosed with autism, resided with an adoptive family. Reportedly, she returned to her biological mother due to a turbulent relationship with her adoptive mother's fiance.
In court, investigators said that after moving in with Ruud, Leckie was home-schooled and virtually cut off from society. Investigators stated that in an interview with one of Ruud's ex-boyfriends, he claimed to have seen the mother subject the 16-year-old to draconian punishments.
Allegedly, these punishments included bathing in a pond or being made to crawl through a pig pen. Ruud allegedly admitted to investigators that she used these forms of discipline.
In court, prosecutor Anthony Brown condemned the abuse, claiming that the violent treatment Leckie received makes Ruud a viable suspect.
Brown said:
“This is indicative of a total disregard for humanity, for empathy, and compassion. (Rebecca Ruud) is a possessed, evil person with evil intent.”
Ruud's defense, however, claimed that Leckie had died by suicide. It was argued that Ruud burnt the body in a state of panic, rather than as a calculated effort to hide a murder.
The recovery of Savannah Leckie's remains
As per Law & Crime, investigators became suspicious of Ruud while executing a search warrant. They claimed that the mother wet herself, which they believed to be a sign of fear and guilt.
Leckie's body was discovered 2 weeks after the disappearance. During various searches, authorities recovered a knife, a meat grinder and human teeth. They also found 26 bottles of lye, which can potentially be used to dissolve human tissue.
Prosecutors stated that even if Ruud did not murder her daughter, her abuse may have played a role in the 16-year-old's suicide.
Ruud's defense lawyer, Yvette Renee Duvall, countered that the teenager had a long history of depression prior to living with Ruud, having been hospitalised twice in 2016 for self-harm.
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