Further information was presented about the location of a teen’s body in Ozark County as her mother continues to stand trial for her murder. Tuesday was the second day for Rebecca Ruud’s bench trial at the Greene County Courthouse in Springfield on charges of first- and second-degree murder, abuse or neglect of a child resulting in death, abandonment of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence in a felony.
One of the witnesses for the state of Missouri was Joseph Marsillo, the man in charge of the cadaver dogs that located the body of 16-year-old Savannah Leckie in August of 2017. Marsillo stated his cadaver dogs didn’t detect any signs of human decomposition inside the trailer where Leckie had reportedly been sleeping, and the only place they were alerted to the remains was a burn pile on Ruud’s property.
The basis of Ruud’s defense is Leckie killed herself in the trailer. Judge Calvin Holden asked if the dogs would be alerted if the teen had been dead inside the trailer or a pickup truck. Marsillo’s response was, “Yes sir. When I went into that camper, I wasn’t expecting to find a body in there because obviously there wouldn’t be a search. I was expecting to find some kind of residual odor.” He added a human body emits a “distinct scent” within 30 minutes of dying.
Robert Peat Jr., Ruud’s husband, was also called to the stand by the state, represented by Missouri Assistant Attorney General Anthony Brown and former Ozark County Prosecuting Attorney John Garrabrant. Peat says the last time he saw Leckie, she seemed “healthy and happy.” Judge Holden asked Peat if he saw Leckie do anything strange around a bonfire at the time and if she tried to run into the fire. Peat’s answer to both questions was no. Peat was also indicted by an Ozark County grand jury on the same charges as Ruud.
Leckie’s adoptive mother, Tamille Leckie-Montague, also testified on Tuesday. When asked by Ruud’s public defender, Lauren Welborn, if Leckie made a suicide attempt in her care, Leckie-Montague stated, “No. Much of the way she was acting, I chalked up to identity issues just a general girl trying to…having some…trying to figure herself out.”
Testimony is expected to conclude Wednesday. The trial is being livestreamed on the Law & Crime Network channel on YouTube.
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