MONROE — The man on trial in Green County Circuit Court for the 2021 killing of his infant daughter when a teen won a partial victory in the state’s appellate courts July 25 when it ruled to exclude some of his series of confessions to police on the weekend the newborn was killed.

However, the court also agreed to include portions of a previously excluded, initial confession by defendant Logan Kruckenberg-Anderson at the Brodhead Police Department. 

At issue was whether Kruckenberg-Anderson was in custody at the time of his interrogations and if so, whether he was read his Miranda rights, including the right to not speak to police.

In its review of the ruling, the appellate court said a key point in the series of interrogations — which they deemed essentially one long interrogation — came when Kruckenberg-Anderson, a teen, was told he needed to confess so the child could be “properly buried.” 

The appellate judges ruled that all confessions after that comment and during the disputed time frame were inadmissible by the trial court and affirmed by the appellate court. 

It also cited several instances where Wisconsin Department of Criminal Justice Investigator James Pertzborn used heavy-handed coercive tactics while interviewing a scared teen, including saying he was trying to help the defendant and leveraging the presence of an unrelated adult parent — who had given him a place to stay — to get him to confess. Kruckenberg-Anderson, originally from Lodi, was not living with either of his parents at the time of the murder.

“Honey, I can’t help you if you can’t tell the truth,” said the parent, to Kruckenberg-Anderson, according to the ruling. “I will do anything in my power to help you if you tell the truth, honey…”

And while the appellate court threw out most of the Albany confessions, it did reverse Green County Circuit Judge Thomas Vale’s ruling that all the initial Brodhead interview — prior to the arrival of a state detective — would be excluded.

“We agree with the circuit court in part. We conclude that, under the totality of the circumstances, the  State  has  not  met  its  burden  of proving that Kruckenberg’s January 10 statements, after a certain point at the Brodhead Police Department and including  all  of  his statements  at  the  Albany woods  and  at  the Albany Police Department, were voluntary under constitutional standards,” the appellate decision states. “Therefore,  the  court properly suppressed those statements. However, we also conclude that the State met its burden of proving that, up until that same point at the Brodhead Police Department, Kruckenberg’s statements were voluntary and he was not in custody. Therefore, we reverse the circuit court on that issue.”

Kruckenberg-Anderson, now 20, but 16 at the time of the crime, faces felony charges of first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse in connection with the crime not long after baby Harper’s death. 

The defendant has been in jail on $1 million bond for more than three years since the original murder charges were filed. He has mostly been a resident of Green County Jail ever since, and his attorney wanted to give him some hope for release pre-trial.

The appellate court ruling cleared the way for his trial to begin, although prosecutors have said they anticipate several pre-trial hearings dealing with the evidentiary issues brought up on appeal — essentially what of the various confessions can be mentioned before the jury, in keeping with the appellate court’s split decision on admissibility. 

Still, prosecutors say they may take their legal fight to another level.

“The State of Wisconsin is considering all options in light of the decision of the Court of Appeals, including petitioning for review with the Supreme Court of Wisconsin,” said District Attorney Craig Nolen.

The infant, secretly born in a bathtub on Jan. 5, 2021, was reported as missing just four days later. According to the criminal complaint, Kruckenberg-Anderson initially informed investigators that he and the teenage mother had mutually decided to place the child up for adoption. 

Kruckenberg-Anderson first claimed to have paid someone $60 to take the baby to an adoption agency in Madison. However, after intense questioning by investigators, he revealed that he had placed the infant in a backpack and taken her to a wooded area in the village of Albany. He stated that he subsequently laid the unclothed child inside a fallen tree and covered her with snow. 

The baby died of two .22 LR gunshot wounds to the head.

The crime and trial has drawn some national interest, with People Magazine and CourtTV covering it at times.

A status hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 5 before Circuit Judge Jane Bucher.