Iowa Couple Murdered Newborn Because They Worried Cops Would Learn She Had Meth In Her System: Police
On Aug. 18, Blaha pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of her newborn baby. She was sentenced to 50 years in prison with a chance of parole after 35 years, KCRG reported.
According to court documents obtained by Our Quad Cities, Blaha gave birth to Kayleen Lee at the coupleâs apartment in Fort Dodge on Nov. 16, 2022, and the parents allegedly drowned the baby in a bathtub a short time later.
The court documents allege Blaha and Thoma had planned to give the child to a relative to adopt, but killed the baby because they feared the girlâs crying would draw neighborsâ attention and they would phone police. The couple, the legal papers state, didnât want authorities to take their 2-year-old son from their custody if they found out the newborn had methamphetamine in her system.
An arrest affidavit states Thoma allegedly gave Blaha the drug to deal with the pain of the home delivery, WLS-TV reported.
âThoma and Blaha have both confirmed … that once Kayleen was born, Thoma cut the umbilical cord with a pair of scissors that was present within their apartment and shortly thereafter cut additional sections of the cord to be kept to remember the baby,â the affidavit states.
Thoma allegedly wrapped the baby in trash bags and put it in a black backpack. On Nov. 17, 2022, he reportedly left the apartment with the backpack and “returned later with an empty backpack,” officials said.
Thoma told police he buried Kayleen near a bridge, but she was not found after multiple searches.
Then, he said he dumped her body near a landfill. Investigators conducted a “full excavation” of the area, but once again, did not find her body.
