Thomas Gounley

TGOUNLEY@NEWS-LEADER.COM

Moments after a Springfield woman pleaded guilty Thursday morning to poisoning several family members, the only one that didn't die as a result stood up and quietly read a statement that she had prepared.

"I prefer to be a survivor than a victim," Sarah Staudte said. "I forgive my mom for what she did to me. But she not only took away my dad and brother, but she took away my lifestyle, livelihood and my independence."

Sarah Staudte suffered physical injury and serious brain injury as a result of being poisoned, Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson told the judge.

"Sarah, a college graduate, now has a guardian and lives in an assisted living facility," Patterson said.

Appearing before Judge Thomas Mountjoy mid-morning, Sarah's mother Diane Staudte pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder in the death of her son Shaun, one court of second-degree murder in the death of her husband Mark and one count of first-degree assault for what prompted Sarah to spend more than a month in the hospital.

As part of a deal with prosecutors, a fourth charge, of armed criminal action, was dismissed, and Diane Staudte will avoid the death sentence. But she will spend her life in prison. She agreed to serve three life sentences concurrently, one of which carries the stipulation that she is ineligible for parole.

"One of our goals in this case was always that Diane Staudte would never leave prison," Patterson told reporters following the court appearance.

Prosecutors said Diane Staudte, along with her daughter Rachel, laced drinks served to the three at different times with antifreeze. Mark died first, in April 2012. Shaun died that September. Springfield police officers responded to the Staudte residence in both instances and spoke with Diane. Both both Mark and Shaun's death were originally classified by the Greene County Medical Examiner's Office as due to natural causes.

Then, in June 2013, Sarah was hospitalized. An individual who wanted to remain anonymous called police and said Diane was responsible for her hospitalization, as well as the deaths of Mark and Shaun. Staff at Cox South hospital indicated Diane Staudte acted unusually when she visited her daughter, appearing to lack concern. A doctor said he believed Sarah had possibly been poisoned because multiple tests for conditions with similar symptoms had came back negative.

Charges were brought against Diane and Rachel Staudte that month. A third daughter in the family, age 11 at the time charges were announced, was not harmed and placed into foster care.

Rachel Staudte made a deal with prosecutors in May 2015. She pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, one count of armed criminal action and one count of first-degree assault, and agreed to testify against her mother if Diane Staudte's case went to trial. Rachel Staudte, 24 at the time of the deal, agreed to serve two life sentences.

"This was Diane Staudte's plan, and she brought her daughter into it," Patterson said Thursday.

Patterson noted that in addition to ensuring Diane Staudte is in prison for the rest of her life, the plea agreement also "eliminates a long period of appeals that could have followed a jury trial." The armed criminal action charge, a fairly broad charge, was originally brought against Staudte because it gave the prosecution more alternatives in terms of sentencing, as the charge does not carry a maximum sentence.

Probable cause statements used to charge Staudte in 2013 indicated that she told police she poisoned her son Shaun because “he was worse than a pest” and her husband because “she hated him.” Patterson said Friday that the prosecution's knowledge of motive had not progressed substantially beyond that stage.

"In essence, it was just disagreement with having these people in her life for whatever reason," he said.

Interviewed outside the courthouse following her mother's guilty pleas, Sarah Staudte said she felt relieved. She said she had been able to forgive Diane Staudte immediately upon learning what her mother had done.

"I am a Christian, and I believe forgiveness is the only way to go," she said.

Speaking in short sentences, Sarah Staudte said she studied French in college, and hoped to work as a translator. But her mother's actions, she said, changed her life "drastically." Now, she said, she hopes to raise awareness of antifreeze poisoning.

The symptoms of antifreeze poisoning are subtle.

Within the first 12 hours of the ingestion, a person who has been poisoned — accidentally or not — might act drunk. The central nervous system gets slowed down, according to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

The harmful compound in antifreeze is ethylene glycol, a sweet-tasting and odorless substance that is used in a variety of mechanical processes because of its low freezing point and high boiling point.

Springfield pharmacist Terry Barks told the News-Leader in 2013 that antifreeze poisoning mimics the symptoms of numerous other, more common health issues. Autopsies generally don't test for antifreeze poisoning because it is so rare.

Complicated portrait of Staudte family emerges

Timeline of poisoning

The probable cause statement originally used to charge Diane Staudte laid out the following timeline.

April 2012

Mark Staudte was found dead. An officer spoke with Diane Staudte, who said her husband had not been feeling well for a couple of days. She said he’d had three seizures that day but did not have a history of seizures, according to the probable cause statement. The medical examiner ruled the death was due to natural causes.

September 2012

Shaun Staudte stopped breathing and police were called. Diane Staudte told an officer her son had not been feeling well, and when she checked on him a last time, he did not have a pulse, according to the probable cause statement. The medical examiner said death resulted from prior medical issues.

June 11, 2013

Police say they received an anonymous call that Diane Staudte was possibly responsible for “two or three homicides.” The caller referenced the deaths of Staudte’s husband, Mark, and son, Shaun, and the hospitalization of her daughter, Sarah.

June 13, 2013

An investigator went to Cox South and spoke with the nurse in charge of Sarah Staudte, who was in serious and potentially fatal condition at the time. The nurse said Diane Staudte had been to visit her daughter a couple of times, according to the probable cause statement. Diane Staudte did not seem concerned for her daughter and even planned a vacation for a week later, regardless of her daughter’s health at that point in time, authorities say.

June 20, 2013

Police asked Diane Staudte to come to the station for questioning. Police say she eventually admitted to putting antifreeze in her husband’s Gatorade, putting antifreeze in her son’s Coke and poisoning her daughter.

June 21, 2013

Diane Staudte was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault. All three charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison. Staudte was also charged with armed criminal action. On this same day, Rachel Staudte denied involvement in the plot to poison and kill her father, brother and sister.

June 22, 2013

Rachel Staudte admitted to the crime after being confronted with evidence of her involvement, according to the probable cause statement. She is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Mark Staudte and first-degree murder in the death of Shaun Staudte. She is also charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action in connection with serious injuries suffered by Sarah Staudte.

Police investigating possible sex offense at Springfield middle school

Nixon gives final State of the State address