Red Wing Woman Pleads Not Guilty in Newborn’s Death in 1999

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Red Wing, MN (KROC-AM  News) - The Red Wing woman who was identified earlier this year as the mother of two of the three newborn children who were found dead in the Mississippi River in southeastern Minnesota between 1999 and 2007, today entered not guilty pleas to murder charges.

52-year-old Jennifer Matter, who faces two counts of second-degree murder, appeared today in Goodhue County Court and entered the not guilty pleas following an evidentiary hearing. She is scheduled to return to court for a settlement conference in late December.

Matter was charged earlier this year after investigators used DNA evidence to identify her as the mother of a newborn girl who was found dead in the Mississippi River in Redwing on November 11, 1999. The DNA testing also identified her as the mother of a newborn boy whose remains were found in Lake Pepin at Frontenac in December 2003.

At this point, Matter has not been charged in connection with her infant son's death, which remains under investigation.

The body of a third newborn was recovered from the Mississippi River near the Treasure Island Casino in 2007. The DNA testing conducted in the case was not able to link Matter to the infant girl. Her case remains unsolved.