News footage of Logan Kruckenberg Anderson in court on Nov. 5 (WMTV).
In a chilling case that has gripped Wisconsin, a man who took the life of his newborn daughter has been found guilty by a jury. Logan Kruckenberg Anderson, now 21, faced charges of first-degree intentional homicide and concealing the corpse of a child. This verdict was reached after a relatively brief deliberation period of just over two hours, marking the end of a tragic saga that began four years prior.
The case dates back to January 2021, when Kruckenberg Anderson, then just 16 years old, and his teenage girlfriend welcomed their daughter, Harper, into the world. The baby girl was born in a bathtub, a secret birth resulting from a concealed pregnancy. Overwhelmed and feeling unable to care for the child, the young couple made a devastating decision. A few days after Harper’s birth, the girlfriend’s father, alarmed by the absence of the newborn, contacted authorities to report her missing.
Initially, when questioned, the teenagers told police they had arranged via Snapchat for someone to take Harper to be adopted. However, the grim truth soon emerged. Kruckenberg Anderson confessed to taking Harper to a secluded area in the woods. He left her exposed to the elements, and when the infant began to cry, he returned and shot her twice in the head, later covering her small body with snow.
The discovery of Harper’s body came only after Kruckenberg Anderson led the police to the tragic scene. His girlfriend, who was only 14 at the time of pregnancy, had been unaware of his true intentions. She believed Kruckenberg Anderson was taking their daughter to a better home, unaware that he had instead placed her, naked, into a backpack to carry her to the woods.
The local NBC affiliate, WMTV, reported extensively on the case, shedding light on the heartbreaking details and the profound impact it has had on the community. This conviction closes a dark chapter but leaves lingering questions about the circumstances that led to such a harrowing crime.
WMTV reported that Kruckenberg Anderson’s girlfriend was 14 years old when he got her pregnant. They hid the pregnancy until Harper was born. Kruckenberg Anderson then told his girlfriend that he was taking the baby to a better home. He then stuffed her naked into a backpack and took her to the woods.
Kruckenberg Anderson’s defense attorney, Kevin Smith, attempted to paint the couple as “lying teenagers,” saying that more emphasis should have been placed on the “physical evidence” rather than his client’s multiple confessions.
Prosecutor Adrienne Blais told the court, “It’s about one person fantasizing playing house. It’s about one person bent on erasing a problem, because that was what Harper was to him. A problem to screw up his life, so he got rid of her, so he just tried to make her go away.”
Kruckenberg Anderson is scheduled to be sentenced on March 16, 2026.
