Ruby Klokow (left) leaves the courtroom with her attorney, Kirk Obear, after she pleaded no contest Monday and was convicted of second-degree murder in the 1957 death of her 6-month-old daughter, Jeaneen. Under a plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend she serve 10 years of probation, with 45 days in jail. Credit: Sheboygan Press

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Sheboygan - A 76-year-old Sheboygan woman pleaded no contest Monday to killing her infant daughter more than 50 years ago, a crime long classified as an accidental death until the woman's adult son went to police with a lifetime of suspicions in 2008.

Ruby Klokow was charged in 2011 with second-degree murder in the death of Jeaneen Marie Klokow. In 1957, the mother told police her daughter had fallen from a sofa and hit her head.

On Monday, she quietly entered the plea and was found guilty. Under a plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend she serve 10 years of probation, with 45 days in jail as a condition of that probation.

Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco said he agreed to the plea deal in part because it would have been difficult for a jury to view Klokow as the overwhelmed, angry and abusive young mother she was in 1957 and not as the frail woman she is today.

He also said a jury might have found her guilty of a lesser manslaughter charge, and because the statute of limitations had run out on that crime, she then couldn't be convicted.

Lastly, DeCecco said, it was extremely unlikely Klokow would have gone to prison even if she had been convicted of the main charge at trial, given her age, health and lack of much prior criminal record.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 15. Circuit Judge Angela Sutkiewicz asked Klokow if she understood that the judge did not have to abide by the terms of the plea agreement and could sentence her to between five and 15 years in prison. Klokow said she understood.

"I believe this is a good resolution of this case based on the statements" of the lawyers, Sutkiewicz said.

Klokow's attorney, Kirk Obear, and DeCecco said Klokow might not even serve the 45 days in jail if sheriff's officials determine that, based on her low risk, it would better to keep her on house arrest than to take on the responsibility and cost of meeting her health care needs later his year.

Extraordinary inquiry

The charges - believed to be among the oldest ever filed in Wisconsin - followed an extraordinary investigation prompted by one of Klokow's surviving children who told police in 2008 that his mother had abused others as well as Jeaneen, and that he had always suspected she had killed his sister.

It was only after watching TV shows about modern criminal forensic techniques, James Klokow said, that he realized the truth might finally be exposed.

He also had been made to feel responsible for his sister's death, he told investigators, since his mother said she had to leave Jeaneen alone a moment to tend to James, who was fussing on the toilet.

Detectives interviewed Klokow's relatives, reviewed a dusty 1957 autopsy report, and eventually disinterred Jeaneen's remains.

Two medical examiners concluded that the injuries to the child could not have resulted from a simple fall from a 16-inch high sofa.

When finally confronted, Klokow made admissions about what she had done, according to the criminal complaint, saying she wished she'd never had children and that she never told police about causing her daughter's death because she feared going to prison.

Prosecutors had to resort to charges no longer on the books: second-degree murder, which means causing death by imminently dangerous conduct "evincing a depraved mind."

She pleaded not guilty and her case plodded along. Last year, Klokow's attorney requested a mental evaluation. Klokow was found legally competent to stand trial.

A judge had ruled earlier that prosecutors could use evidence of Klokow's treatment of her other children, but not introduce testimony regarding her treatment of her own siblings.

James Klokow, 57, the oldest of four siblings, detailed other abuse that he and his siblings suffered at their mother's hand.

He suspected his brother, Scott, who died in 1964, was a victim of their mother's neglect, if not outright abuse.

His aunt told the detectives her own recollections about Ruby Klokow's mistreatment of both her own children and her siblings.

Detectives exhumed the body of Scott Klokow but saw no signs of abuse.

The case had been set for trial Monday when DeCecco announced late last week that it had been resolved.

Klokow, who has been free on $10,000 bail since shortly after she was charged, appeared with a few friends and family Monday.

She answered the judge's questions, explaining medications she takes and how she never finished high school because her mother kept her from attending.

She declined to speak with reporters afterward.

DeCecco said James Klokow, who did not attend Monday's hearing but plans to come to his mother's sentencing, feels vindicated by the conviction.

Obear said the son never wanted his mother to go to prison, just to be held accountable.

"He just wanted closure, like Ruby wanted," Obear said.