Cold Case "Baby Doe" Update

Recently, I issued a press release announcing that I had filed charges in the 1987 “Baby Doe” cold case from Ferdinand. This serves as an update to that story. 

In June 2024, I received a call from a detective with the Indiana State Police Cold Case Unit. During that conversation, he told me about a deceased infant who was found in the trash at Marian Heights Academy at the Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand in 1987. He explained that through advanced DNA testing, investigators could potentially identify the parents and attempt to determine what had happened to the baby. Before moving forward with the testing, he asked whether I would be willing to consider filing criminal charges related to the incident, if appropriate. I told him I would. 

Through genetic genealogy testing, the Indiana State Police identified a potential mother who had attended Marian Heights Academy in 1987. She is not from Dubois County, nor does she currently reside here. She was a student living in the dormitory at Marian Heights Academy at the time. 

As I have previously stated, given the sensitive nature of this case, I will not discuss further details regarding the circumstances of the pregnancy or the birth. Although the probable cause affidavit has been publicly released by several media outlets, I have chosen to approach this matter with respect for the deeply personal and sensitive circumstances involved. The only additional fact I will provide is that conception did not occur in Dubois County and was unrelated to Marian Heights Academy. 

The mother was 16 at the time of conception and 17 at the time of birth. She was living away from home at a Catholic boarding school. It was 1987, a time when significant stigma surrounded teen pregnancy. Since that time, the mother has led a law-abiding life. I took those factors into consideration when determining how best to handle this case. 
 
It was important to me to honor the life of the child while also acknowledging the humanity and complexity of the young mother’s circumstances nearly four decades ago. Prior to filing this case, I spent a lot of time thinking about it, researching the legal issues, discussing it with the investigators, and discussing it with other prosecutors. 

Because the offense occurred in 1987 and the mother was a juvenile at that time, we were required to proceed under the laws in effect at that time. Under those laws, the mother could only be charged with a crime today if she was charged with the crime of murder. Upon the filing of the charge of murder, she could also be charged with other, lesser-included crimes, such as voluntary manslaughter. The distinction between these two crimes, under 1987 law, is that with murder, the state is required to prove that a person knowingly or intentionally killed another human being; with voluntary manslaughter, the person must knowingly kill another human being while acting under a sudden heat. 

In summary, there were only two options available in this case: either charge the mother with murder or not charge the mother with any crime.
 
After weighing all of these considerations and the facts of this case, I elected to charge the mother with murder and voluntary manslaughter. I also offered a plea agreement which would require the mother to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter. The mother chose to accept responsibility for her actions and pled guilty pursuant to the agreement. Under the agreement, she received a six-year sentence suspended to six years of supervised probation, which will be transferred to her home state. 

This mother has carried this secret for nearly 40 years. She will continue to live with it, along with the public scrutiny that has emerged in the court of public opinion. 

Incarcerating the mother four decades later would not have achieved the justice some have called for. As part of the agreement, she is required to complete mental health treatment during her probationary period. I am hopeful that this outcome provides answers to the public, accountability under the law, and an opportunity for rehabilitation and treatment for the mother. 

At the same time, we must never lose sight of the child whose life was lost. That child deserved dignity, recognition, and remembrance. Nothing about this resolution diminishes the value of that life. Justice, in cases like this, is not measured solely in punishment, but also in truth, acknowledgment, and the careful balancing of accountability with mercy. 

The mother’s guilty plea was accepted today in Dubois Circuit Court before Acting Judge Karen Werner. She has been sentenced according to the plea agreement, and the case is now closed.