A Family View of Heidi 

• Mike and Heidi had lived together for about 10 years prior to the their marriage in the summer of 1998

• Mike works for Norwest Mortgage(Wells Fargo) as a computer specialist.  Heidi had worked at Jimmy’s American Café up until her 8th month of pregnancy.

• Prior to the birth of their son, the couple purchased a home in Beaverdale.

• Jacob Michael Anfinson was born on September 5, 1998 at Des Moines General Hospital

Events leading up to the Accident

• On Sept. 11 a 911 call was placed from the Anfinson home, due to the breathing irregularities of infant Jacob.  The child was kept at an area hospital and was released.

Family Tragedy

Date/Time

Event

Details

09.20.1998

3:00 pm

Media Reports

Local news agencies report that 2 week old Jacob Anfinson has been kidnapped from his Beaverdale home around 3:00 pm according to phone calls placed by his father.  Subsequent media reports at the end of the day revealed additional information on the missing child of Mike and Heidi Anfinson.

09.20.1998

6:30 pm

Police Interrogation

Heidi Anfinson was taken in for questioning and at 6:42 p.m. she was read her rights by the police officers.   She was puzzled at the reason she was signing the police document.

Body Recovered

Later that same evening after 6 hours of interrogation by Des Moines police, Heidi Anfinson said that she had fabricated the story in a panic because her son had drowned in bath water at home.  Heidi indicated that she had left the room for about 10 minutes to make a telephone call and smoke a cigarette.  When she returned, she found the baby dead.  She later led authorities that same evening to her son’s body that was submerged in shallow water under rocks at the Saylorville Lake, north of Des Moines.

Michael Anfinson had been out with friends for the day driving his four-wheel-drive truck.                              

Heidi Anfinson was immediately charged with child endangerment and booked into jail.  According to authorities Michael Anfinson was not involved in his son’s death.

09.21.1998

Charges

Heidi Anfinson waited in a Polk County Courtroom to hear the charges against her. Judge Greg Brandt told her she was facing child endangerment charges and would be held on $100,000 bond.

09.22.1998

Heidi Anfinson’s father posts $25,000 bond and she is released. Des Moines defense attorney William Kutmus is hired to represent Heidi Anfinson.

09.22.1998

Late Afternoon

Murder Charges

Police detectives and prosecutors had decided by late afternoon that there was sufficient evidence to increase the charge to murder.  Heidi Anfinson returns to the Polk County Jail and is charged with the first degree murder of her son Jacob Anfinson.  The bond was changed to $125,000.

“Heidi is innocent.  That’s all we know” according to Michael Anfinson as he waited for his wife to be bailed out of jail.

Question of Heidi’s Mental Health

According to Michael O’Hara, chairman of the psychology department at the University of Iowa, the kidnapping story fabricated by Heidi Anfinson is fairly typical in cases where women are accused of killing their children.  A current point of debate in academe is whether these women should be treated as criminals or as mentally ill.  

Relatives defended Heidi as a loving, doting mother.  Some have speculated that she may have suffered from postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness that may cause suicidal or homicidal tendencies. 

According to the Des Moines Register(09.23.98), Kutmus indicated that there were no indications that Anfinson might be suffering from post-partum depression as some people have considered. 

Heidi Anfinson was not given the opportunity for a psychological examination.

At this point the autopsy had not been completed.  The autopsy could determine whether the rocks placed on top of the body played a role in his death.  Tests on water from Jacob Anfinson’s lungs will determine if lake water debris, soap and the type of water found in his lungs.

09.24.1998

1 pm Funeral held for Jacob Michael Anfinson

11.04.1998

Heidi Anfinson arraigned at the Polk County Courthouse.

09.08.1999

Jury Selection

Defense attorney William Kutmus has asked that the prospective jurors see the photos taken in the murder case of 2 week old Jacob Anfinson.  The purpose was to see if prospective jurors could remain objective through all the testimony of the trial in light of the photographs.  The request was denied.  Judge Larry Eisenhauer said it was not customary for jurors to see evidence prior to a trial.

09.10.1999

Trial Opens

The prosecution began by presenting the tapes of the interrogation of Heidi Anfinson, followed by grisly evidence surrounding the death of the infant.  The prosecuting attorney is John Sarcone.

Conflicting Expert Testimony

Prosecution

Defense

Polk County Medical Examiner Francis Garrity, plus a New York Pathologist testified that lake water was found within Jacob’s lungs and heart.  Dr. Garrity said the appearance of bacteria suggested that the baby died in Lake Saylorville.

Ann St. Amand, a Michigan aquatic ecologist testified that she had found an abundance of single-celled organisms called diatoms, as well as sand in the lake water.  However, samples from the baby’s lungs and other organs showed only one grain of sand and two partial diatoms.

Dr. Michael Baden, chief pathologist for the New York Police stated that, “In 40 years, I’ve never seen a baby drown in that type of device.” referring to the infant tub that Heidi Anfinson told police her son had drowned in.Dr. Baden also supported Francis Garrity’s findings that regarding the bacteria found in the Jacob’s lungs and hearts suggested that Jacob died in Saylorville

Dr. Peter Stephens of Cedar Rapids, a former state medical examiner testified that a 2 week old could accidentally drown in an infant tub. Dr. Stephens also indicated that the bacteria present was of no significance, because the bacteria swim into dead bodies

Francis Garrity stated Jacob suffered wounds to his head caused by a sharp instrument.  

James L. Pease, a professor at Iowa State University testified that the wounds are consistent with wounds caused by an eagle’s talons. Defense attorney Kutmus noted that police found no blood in Anfinson’s car nor on the towel the baby had been wrapped in. No weapon was ever found either.

Family Doctor Testimony

Dr. Nancy Aquandro, a family practitioner from Des Moines who had treated both Anfinson and the baby testified that she ahd seen the baby at birth and at nine days and had found no signs of abuse

09.17.1999

Jurors Deliberate

Jurors were directed to begin their deliberation on the case.

09.20.1999

Jurors continue deliberations. 

09.21.1999

Polk County jurors are deadlocked on the case.  They continue deliberations at the urging of Judge Larry Eisenhauer.  They have deliberated for 16 hours since Friday.

09.22.1999

Juror Vote at a Gridlock

After 20 hours of deliberations, the jurors are gridlocked in their vote.  11 jurors had voted for second degree murder and one would go no higher than to find Heidi Anfinson guilty of involuntary manslaughter.                     

09.23.1999

Mistrial Requested

Judge Eisenhauer called the jury back to the courtroom and after hearing of the deadlock.  The jury was asked if they could come back with a unanimous verdict and the answer given was “no.”  Defense Attorney Kutmus requested a mistrial and Prosecutor Sarcone did not resist.  

09.25.1999

Defense Attorney Kutmus stated sharp criticism of the jurors to the media, “In the end, emotions took over, they didn’t understand that the state failed to prove malice.”

09.25.1999

Post First Trial

Heidi Anfinson’s lawyer, William Kutmus has asked for her retrial to be moved into the next year, since the comments from the jury foreman will make it impossible to find an impartial jury in the next few months. Judge Eisenhauer has set the new date for Feb. 7, 2000.

Kutmus has further has requested that the trial be moved to either Iowa City or Cedar Rapids.  Judge Eisenhauer responded with the request by moving the trial to Davenport after he had surveyed prospective jurors in Polk County and found that many had heard of the case and had already made up their mind

02.07.2000

Second Trial

The Scott County Courthouse is the site of the second trial in the murder case of Heidi Anfinson.

Michael Baden, chief pathologist for the New York State Police testified that he had learned more about eagles since the testimony at the first trial.  Baden now testified that the wounds seem more likely to have been made by a knife instead of a bird.  A weapon has never been found.      

As in the first trial, the jurors in Scott County must decide which of the four medical experts to believe. The testimony by these experts provide the most clues as to the location of the baby’s death

02.15.2000

Verdict

Guilty of
Second Degree Murder

Jury convicts Heidi Anfinson of the second degree murder of her son Jacob Michael Anfinson.  One of the jurors reflected that there were so many conflicts in the stories of the events that day presented by Heidi Anfinson.           

Anfinson had been free on bond since shortly after the baby’s death.  She was lead away from the courtroom after the verdict in handcuffs. 

Sentencing

A Polk County judge sentenced Heidi Anfinson to 50 years in prison for the drowning death of her 2 week old son.  Second degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of 50 years  with the possibility of parole after 42 ½ years. Judge Eisenhauer had no discretion in the 50 year sentence.

After the Trial – Legal Details

• Heidi Anfinson’s family has fired William Kutmus as her attorney.  Another prominent Des Moines attorney, Maggi Moss has been hired to take over her case and appeal her second degree murder conviction.
• First appeal was denied in June 2002.  Work still continues.

After the Trial – the Family

• Mike and Heidi are still married.
• Mike visits Heidi weekly at the Mitchellville prison.
• Still not a single family member or close friend thinks Heidi intentionally harmed Jacob.

Media Exposure regarding the case from the following:

• MSNBC Investigates
• Oprah
• Dateline
• Des Moines Register
• Pointblank
• City View
• Television channels 5, 8 and 13