Iowa father and daughter sentenced to 50 years for baby boy's 'senseless' murder

An Iowa woman and her father have each been sentenced to 50 years in prison following the March 2023 murder of the woman's baby boy.

Key Takeaways:

• Megan Staude and her father, Rodney Staude, have been sentenced to 50 years in prison following the murder of Megan's infant.

• Prosecutors said the child was murdered despite the fact that Megan was aware of Iowa's safe haven surrender laws.

The Details:

Megan Staude, 28, and her father Rodney Staude, 67, had both pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the March 2023 death of Staude's infant son. Each was sentenced to 50 years in prison and must serve at least 35 years before becoming eligible for parole.

The baby boy's body was found inside a bag that was thrown along a roadside ditch outside Norwalk, Iowa.

Rodney Staude admitted to authorities his role in the crime, noting that he discouraged Megan from giving birth due to financial difficulties.

"We found a bag and put the baby in the bag and drove out to the country and dumped it in the ditch," he said.

Mother, Grandfather Sentenced for Murdering Newborn Found Tossed in Ditch

During his sentencing hearing, Rodney Staude told the court more specifics surrounding the case, explaining that he arrived home from work one day to find a healthy baby in the home.

“I had a job to do; I worked nights and I couldn’t take care of it during the day,” he said.

When his daughter said she "didn't know what to do" because she also needed to work, he suggested they put the baby boy, alive, into a trash bag and throw it along the roadside.

Megan Staude has expressed remorse for her role in the crime.

“If I could change the past, I would have done more to try to stop my father from doing this to my own son,” she said. “I know that I should have stood up to my father that morning. I wasn’t thinking clearly; I was so scared. I’m so sorry for not being strong enough to save our son.”

Judge Charles Sinnard admonished Rodney Staude for his role in the crime.

"There is no higher calling in life than that of a parent. That extends down the line to the rest of your family, to not only your child but your grandchildren," Sinnard told Staude. "… Everyone has issues. But there are certain things in this life, regardless of the issues you’ve had to deal with, where you have to rise above those, and you have to do the right thing."

Reality Check:

Like all states, Iowa has a safe haven law which allows the surrender of infants a parent feels unable to care for. Tragically, Megan Staude apparently knew about the law but refused to take advantage of it.

“I can’t think of any case that’s been more senseless than this one,” Warren County Attorney Doug Eichholz said in court.

Eicholz noted that Staude's coworkers had offered her help after realizing she was pregnant, bringing her to service providers and even offering her a place to stay. It was her coworkers who alerted authorities after there was concern over what had happened to her baby.

"The people in her orbit, the people around her, did everything they could to make a difference in her life. They knew she was pregnant, even though she denied it," he said. "They tried to intervene on her behalf. … The community couldn’t have done any more."

"She knew about the Safe Haven law, but for whatever reasons, she didn’t take advantage of it. That has to be the most frustrating part of this case."