Former inmates claim Ozark County woman described manner of daughter’s death on last day of murder trial testimony

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Testimony wrapped up Wednesday in the murder trial of an Ozark County woman with one of her former fellow jail inmates claiming to be told the manner the woman’s daughter had died. Rebecca Ruud is on a 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 in connection with the 2017 death of 16-year-old Savannah Leckie.

Three former inmates, whose identities were concealed under a court order, were called to testify by the state, represented by Missouri Assistant Attorney General Anthony Brown and former Ozark County Prosecuting Attorney John Garrabrant. The first inmate said while they were behind bars, Ruud asked her if there was a way to trace pain medication in a person’s system and the length of time it would be traceable. When Brown asked the inmate if Ruud talked about using pills, she claimed the defendant said she crushed some pills and put it in her daughter’s Kool-Aid. The inmate also said she never observed Ruud express any remorse for what happened to Leckie.

Brown asked the third inmate to take the stand if she heard Ruud give specifics about drugging her daughter. The inmate’s response was, “I don’t know in great detail. I just know I remember her telling me that she had drugged her. I don’t know what with. Her child wasn’t dead. Her child came back to life in the middle of burning her, and she beat her in the face with a rake. I’m pretty sure it was a rake until she was gone.”

The second inmate to testify said Ruud never gave her any background information about Leckie. She told the prosecution, “The discussion was when they had made a positive identity on it she was 100% certain that it was not her daughter. That it was not 100%. A 99.9% match is not, in her words, to make an identity 100%.”

Each inmate said they felt compelled to testify, and the prosecution said witnesses did not receive benefits for coming forward. Ruud’s public defenders claimed some of the inmates did ask for consideration, and some of the testimony was different from a previous written statement.

Both sides rested on Wednesday, and Ruud elected not to testify. The closing arguments are scheduled for 12:30 Thursday afternoon. The trial is being livestreamed on the Law & Crime Network channel on YouTube.

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