INDIANOLA, Iowa (Court TV) — An Iowa woman and her father were both sentenced to decades in prison for murdering a newborn, tossing it in a trash bag and discarding it in a ditch.
Rodney Staude appears in court on Sept. 22, 2025. (Court TV)
Megan Staude, 28, and her father, Rodney Staude, 67, each pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in the death of Megan’s newborn son in February 2023. Megan entered her plea in July 2024, and Rodney entered his guilty plea minutes before his daughter’s sentencing on Monday.
Rodney told the Court during the sentencing hearing that his daughter gave birth at their Iowa home and he returned from work to find the child healthy and alive in their home. “I had a job to do; I worked night and I couldn’t take care of it during the day,” Rodney said in court. He said that Megan told him, “It’s gonna cost me too much money to take care of it, I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” and so he suggested they put the child in a bag and dump the bag in a ditch. Rodney confirmed to the judge that the child was alive when they placed it into the bag. After tossing it into the ditch, he said they “drove off.”
Douglas Eichholz served as prosecutor for both Rodney and Megan’s cases, and told the Court that in his 29 years of practicing law, “I can’t think of any case that’s been more senseless than this one.”
Megan Staude walks into court ahead of her sentencing hearing on Sept. 22, 2025. (Court TV)
The child’s father was unable to appear in court due to illness, and Eichholz read a letter from him into the record. “I hope you get what you deserve,” it said. “I am totally and emotionally broken. … Who does that to an innocent child?”
Speaking during her sentencing hearing, Megan placed the blame on her father when she addressed the court. “If I could change the past, I would have done more to try to stop my father from doing this to my own son,” she said. “I know that I should have stood up to my father that morning. I wasn’t thinking clearly; I was so scared. I’m so sorry for not being strong enough to save our son.”
Under the terms of each of the plea agreements, both Megan and Rodney were sentenced to the statutory maximum of 50 years in prison, with parole eligibility after serving 70%. That means they will be eligible for release after serving 35 years.
