Jury Convicts Woman Accused Of Killing Missing Boy

ALVA, Okla. (AP) _ A Woods County jury on Friday convicted a woman of first-degree murder in the 2002 death of her 6-year-old son, whose body has never been found. <br/><br/>The panel deliberated a little

Friday, August 31st 2007, 6:00 am

By: News On 6

ALVA, Okla. (AP) _ A Woods County jury on Friday convicted a woman of first-degree murder in the 2002 death of her 6-year-old son, whose body has never been found.

The panel deliberated a little more than two hours before finding Katherine Rutan guilty of the death of Logan Tucker, even though the prosecution's case was largely circumstantial. The jury recommended life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Jurors received the case about 3:30 p.m. after prosecutors and defense attorneys delivered closing arguments following eight days of testimony from witnesses that included her son, Justin Daggett, and several former boyfriends of Rutan, also known as Katherine Pollard.

During testimony, one boyfriend alleged that Rutan told him she wished she could kill her children and get away with it.

Justin recalled an incident for jurors in which his mother took him and his older brother to some property in a wooded area. He said she left Justin in the car while she carried Logan toward a house and returned later without the boy.

In closing arguments, prosecutor Chris Ross said Rutan viewed her children as an inconvenience to her lifestyle and a threat to her relationship with her boyfriend at the time, Michael Pettey.

``Logan was the problem in her life,'' Ross told jurors. ``... the two most important people to her were Pettey and (roommate Melody) Lennington. She wanted to be with Pettey and she was living with Lennington. ... Logan was the reason she was having to move out of Melody Lennington's house.''

Lennington testified that on June 19, 2002, she discovered Logan and Justin playing with matches and cigarettes. Pettey also testified he told Rutan she couldn't stay with him because of Logan.

Prosecutors believe on the night of June 23, 2002, Rutan killed Logan and placed his body in the basement of Lennington's home. Lennington has testified that on that night she heard Logan cry out or scream around 3 a.m. and that Rutan claimed he was sick. Three hours later, when Lennington woke up for work, she testified, Rutan was still awake and said Logan was sleeping in the basement.

``From the time Melody Lennington left for work until noon,'' Ross said, ``Rutan was the only adult in that house, and by that time Logan was gone ..., he's never seen again.''

In his closing arguments, public defender Larry Jordan questioned how interviews were conducted with Justin, who was 4 at the time, and noted the circumstantial nature of the state's evidence.

Jordan said the state paraded a lot of ex-boyfriends and ex-husbands through the court.

``Truth of the matter is, most parents at some point in time are selfish,'' Jordan said.

He also said her decision to participate in a biker rally shortly after her son went missing proved Rutan made a poor decision, but not that she killed her son.

``I submit, they've proved she's a liar. They may have proved she made bad decisions. They proved she went to a biker rally and participated in a contest that wasn't in her best judgment.

``We're here to prove that she committed a crime. I just don't think they've got there,'' Jordan said.

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