Former inmates housed with Rebecca Ruud testify she confessed to killing her daughter

Jordan Meier, Springfield News-Leader
·3 min read
Rebecca Ruud next to one of her attorneys during her trial I n which she is charged with first-degree and second-degree murder, abuse or neglect of a child, tampering with physical evidence, and abandonment of a corpse in the death of her daughter Savannah Leckie in 2017.
Rebecca Ruud next to one of her attorneys during her trial I n which she is charged with first-degree and second-degree murder, abuse or neglect of a child, tampering with physical evidence, and abandonment of a corpse in the death of her daughter Savannah Leckie in 2017.

On day three of the Rebecca Ruud murder trial, women who were incarcerated with Ruud at jails in southwest Missouri testified that Ruud confessed to them that she had killed her 16-year-old daughter, Savannah Leckie.

Ruud is charged with first-degree murder and other crimes in Leckie's death. A bench trial is being held this week in front of Greene County Judge Calvin Holden.

The first former inmate — who is now on parole — was housed with Ruud at the Ozark County Jail soon after Ruud's 2017 arrest in this case. She testified that she and Ruud had lived in the same pod together. The former inmate testified that after talking about what they had been arrested for, Ruud asked her about how long drugs could stay in a person's system.

The former inmate testified that Ruud told her that she had crushed up some hydrocodone pills, put them in Kool-Aid and given them to her daughter, Leckie, who died as a result.

Prosecutors emphasized through their questioning that the former inmate had not received special treatment, no charges had been dropped in exchange for her testimony.

When asked why she voluntarily gave the statement to investigators, the former inmate said, "It was sick. As a mother, I just didn't understand how she could do that."

The former inmate also testified that Ruud had told her, that she and Robert Peat Jr. had gotten married so "he couldn't testify against me."

More: State calls Rebecca Ruud's husband to testify against her at Savannah Leckie murder trial

Peat, who is also charged with murder in the case, testified against Ruud on Tuesday.

Ruud's attorneys attempted to prove the former inmate's story was made up, asking her how much she had read about the case in the media. The former inmate said it was a pretty big deal when Ruud was brought in as they had all been seeing the story on the news.

Ruud's attorneys also asked the former inmate about a letter she had written where she asked a prosecutor for special consideration for coming forward with her story. She admitted that she had written the letter after giving the statement but said the request was not granted.

A second former inmate who was also in Ozark County Jail at the time of Ruud's arrest also testified.

She testified that Ruud recounted to her that Leckie had a drug problem and had run off with a bottle of pills and that Ruud was not convinced bones found on her property truly belonged to Leckie.

More: Cause of death, defense strategy revealed on first day of Savannah Leckie murder trial

A third former inmate also testified. The third inmate had been housed in Taney County Jail in 2018 when Ruud was transferred there.

The former inmate said that Ruud told her that she had drugged Leckie and thought she had killed her. However, when she took Leckie's body to the burn pile and set her on fire, Leckie woke up and Ruud then beat her with a rake until she was quiet.

When asked why she volunteered her statement on the case, the former inmate said, "Someone has to stick up for that child."

Following the former inmates' testimonies prosecutors rested their case.

Jordan Meier covers public safety for the Springfield News-Leader. Contact her at jmeier@news-leader.com, or on Twitter @Jordan_Meier644.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Ex-inmates housed with Rebecca Ruud testify she confessed to murder