Court denies Rebecca Ruud’s request that bond be set in her 2017 murder case

The court has ruled that Ozark County resident Rebecca Ruud will remain in custody, and a bond will not be set in her case. The determination was made Oct. 16 by 31st Judicial Circuit Judge Calvin Holden in response to a motion filed by Ruud’s attorney, Lauren Kate Welborn, asking the court to set a bond in the case, potentially allowing the Theodosia resident to post the specified amount and be released from custody prior to her Jan. 28, 2019, jury trial. 

Ruud appeared Oct. 16 before Judge Holden in Greene County court with her defense attorney, Lauren Kate Welborn, for a pre-trial conference. The state was represented by Assistant Attorney General Steven Kretzer and Ozark County Prosecuting Attorney John Garrabrant. A motion to produce certain records was also argued and passed to Ruud’s next pre-trial conference, scheduled for 11 a.m. Nov. 29, in Greene County court. 

Ruud was remanded back to the custody of the Greene County Jail following the hearing, according to online records. Her jury trial is set for 8:30 a.m. Jan. 28, 2019, in Taney County. 

Ruud’s husband and co-defendant in the case, Robert Peat Jr., also appeared in Greene County Court with his defense attorney, James Hayes, for a pre-trial conference in Greene County. A second pre-trial conference is set for him at 11 a.m. Nov. 29. Peat was released on his own recognizance bond on July 5. 

Ruud and Peat were charged with murdering Ruud’s 16-year-old biological daughter Savannah Leckie after Ruud reported the girl missing from Ruud’s Theodosia-area farm July 20, 2017. Investigators found Leckie’s charred bone fragments in a burn pile on the farm on Aug. 4, 2017.

Ruud’s case was moved to Taney County, and Peat’s case was moved to Greene County on change-of-venue motions. Pre-trial hearings in both cases are being held in Greene County for the convenience of the judge.