Nancy McGill

    At approximately 10 p.m. on April 12, 2007, Lucas Peterson led law enforcement officers to the site of his one-year-old daughter's shallow grave on an abandoned farmstead in Butler County.
     It was there that officers, especially those from Seward County, finally knew Trista Peterson could perhaps be laid to rest with a "Christian burial." That was how Seward County Attorney Wendy Elston put it in the days leading up to Peterson's admission regarding Trista's location.
     After being charged with felony child abuse and unlawful burial, Peterson may now face only a misdemeanor charge of concealing the death of a human.
     Law enforcement had worked tirelessly from the time of Peterson's arrest March 28, 2007, to locate Trista, who was listed on the Nebraska State Patrol's missing persons website as a 15-pound toddler. The photograph on the site showed a smiling, blue-eyed little girl with a hint of blonde hair. She was wearing a bright pink top.
     After her body was found, officers worked all night to unearth Trista. One officer left a makeshift wooden cross at the site. Someone set a Peace Beanie Baby and a bouquet of pink tulips next to the cross.
     Trista died of severe, multiple blunt force trauma to her head, neck and trunk. Peterson was subsequently charged with felony child abuse and unlawful burial.
     The child had been in the custody of her father since late December because her mother, Jennifer Williams, was incarcerated at the York Women's Prison for check fraud.
     He was due for trial in late October. However, the trial was postponed as Seward County District Judge Alan Gless reviewed motions made by Peterson's attorney, Jeffrey Pickens of the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy. Peterson was expected to go on trial next month.
     Now, he may never go to trial for Trista's death. In a ruling issued Feb. 20, Gless suppressed many of Peterson's statements made to county law enforcement while in custody. The ruling also threw out Peterson's actions as he led officers to Trista's grave.
     According to the ruling, county law enforcement offered Peterson a deal April 12, 2007.
     The deal, which was recorded and identified as a cooperation agreement, was that if Peterson led them to Trista, he would not face any felonies, they would simply "disappear," as one deputy said to Peterson.
     Gless called Peterson's actions that day "involuntary" because Peterson thought he was giving up Trista's location under a cooperation agreement.
     In the ruling, Gless wrote that Peterson was not going to come forth voluntarily with Trista's location.
     "Lucas did not disclose Trista's location until he was offered a deal good enough for him," Gless wrote.
     He only acted because he was promised by deputies that he would not be charged with the felonies, the ruling said.
     Gless concluded his ruling with an order for the state to charge Peterson with concealing the death of a human, a Class I misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to one year in prison.
     The Seward County Attorney's Office has requested the Nebraska Attorney General's Office act as co-counsel on the case.
     Attorney General Spokesperson Leah Bucco-White, said the office was exploring their options. One of the options is to appeal the judge's decision to the Nebraska Court of Appeals.
     She said the office has only 10 days from the date of the ruling to make a decision if they're going to appeal.