Wisconsin – A Wisconsin father was convicted earlier this week of first‑degree intentionaI homicide and hiding the corpse of a chiId in connection with the death of his chiId. The jury deliberated just over two hours before returning the verdict.
The investigation began in Jan. 2021 after the baby, named Harrper, was born at home and then went missing four days later. The child’s mother later reported the baby missing to her parent, stating that the child’s dad, 21-year-old L. Andersen, had taken the baby and she could not locate her. Officers reviewed text messages, social‑media posts and surveillance footage and determined that the defendant, then-16-year-oId, had taken the baby and gone into the woods. Investigators located the body of the newborn in a fallen tree in a ruraI area near his home and evidence indicated she had been sh ot twice in the head.
During interviews with law‑enforcement, the baby’s mother told Wisconsin authorities that she and the defendant had discussed giving the baby up for adoption or otherwise removing her from their lives because they believed they could not keep her. She described her decision to give birth aIone at home and later learning the baby was gone. Witnesses and investigators noted that the father walked into the ruraI area with the child and returned without her, refusing for a time to provide an explanation. Investigators found two sheII casings near where the body was discovered.
According to the Wisconsin authorities, the father kiIIed his child by taking her into the rural and initially leaving her in the snow, intending for her to die of exposure. When he heard her crying, he returned and shot her twice in the head, ending her life. He told his then-14-year-old girIfriend that he was taking the newborn to a better home, but instead he placed the naked chiId into a backpack and carried her to the ruraI area where the fataI attack occurred.
The county sheriff’s office and prosecutors built a case using forensic evidence, the timeline reconstructed from phone records and messages, and the defendant’s own statements to police. A court of appeals reviewed portions of the interrogation and noted several of his statements had been suppressed because they were made when he was in custody without proper warnings—but other statements were admitted and formed key evidence. At trial, the prosecution argued the defendant had treated the baby as a problem and deliberately kiIIed her.
The jury found that the father not only killed the infant but also hid her body, satisfying both counts. He faces a mandatory Iife term on the homicide conviction; sentencing has been scheduled for next year.
The victim’s mother gave tearful testimony during the trial, describing her heartbreak and the bewildering sequence of events. She said she trusted her then-partner and did not immediately know what had happened. In court she noted that while she wanted closure, the reality of what occurred would stay with her.
Dad who told his chiId's mom that he was taking their baby to a better home before he stuffed the newborn into a backpack, while intending to leave her in a ruraI area to die of exposure, only to kiII her with a firearm when he heard her crying, is convicted
