Jail for 1957 Murder: Mother, 76, Murdered Infant and Possibly Son, Sentenced to 45 Days
A 76-year-old mother accused of killing her infant child in 1957 will serve a 45-day prison sentence a judge approved Monday.
Ruby Klokow has been sentenced to 45 days in prison in addition to a 10-year parole, reports said Monday, following charges of second-degree murder. The agreement was made as part of a plea bargain.
James Klokow, now 57, first accused his mother of severe child abuse in 2008. Following the accusations, an investigation was launched into the death of the 76-year-old's infant daughter, who died in 1957- she was only 6 months old.
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Her death was ruled as an accident after Ruby Klokow told police that she was busy with her son James when her daughter, Jeaneen, fell off the couch.
"An autopsy found that Jeaneen had suffered two brain hemorrhages, a partially collapsed lung and three scalp bruises," the Associated Press stated. The injuries were not consistent with Klokow's story.
Klokow also had a second child, Scott, who was found dead in his crib seven years after Jeaneen, AP confirmed. In the criminal complaint, Klokow allegedly pled guilty to killing her daughter, but no accusations were made that she abused her son.
James Klokow blamed the abuse on his mother's drinking addiction and said that all of his siblings, including himself, had suffered from his mother's temper. In the complaint Ruby admitted that she was frustrated that both her children had begun to cry at the same time.
"She told detectives she grabbed Jeaneen from her stroller and threw her toward the couch," the Daily Mail said in a report. The baby then let out a "different kind of cry" before her eyes "turned strange." Other accounts of abuse according to the report included making her 5-year-old son stand in a corner with a bag over his head while she hit his toes with a hammer.
In the complaint, Ruby Klokow admitted that she regretted having children and could not keep up with four young ones at the same time, the DM stated. Klokow initially was charged with second degree murder and faced up to 25 years in prison.
"It's not over until it's over," Klokow told reporters after the plea hearing.
