The Staudte Family Murders

In June of 2013, 24-year-old Sarah Staudte was taken to the local hospital by her mother and younger sister. She’d been getting increasingly sick and by the time she arrived at the hospital, doctors found her to be in organ failure, nearing death. No one could figure out what was causing her sudden illness. It wasn’t long before an anonymous tip urged the Springfield Police Department to take a closer look at Diane Staudte, the mother of the family. Not only was Sarah in the ICU, Mark, her father, and Shaun, her older brother, had all died suddenly in a short period. What detectives found was beyond anything they ever could’ve imagined.

Who Were The Staudtes?

Mark Alan Staudte was born on April 7th, 1951 in St. Louis, Missouri to parents Henry and Dorothy Staudte. He was attending St. John’s College in Winfield, Kansas, when he met a young woman named Diane at a bluegrass music festival. The two bonded over their love and appreciation for music. On December 28th, 1985, 23-year-old Diane and 34-year-old Mark got married, with their first child already on the way. 

Shaun Staudte was born on July 2nd, 1986, six months after his parents were married. Two years later, the Staudtes had their first daughter, Sarah, then Rachel came two years after. More than a decade later, the Staudtes gave birth to their final child, a girl named Briana. 

The Staudtes seemed to be like any other family in their town of Springfield, Missouri. They were very involved in the Redeemer Lutheran Church, and Diane even played the organ for the church. Diane was a nurse and was the primary supporter for the family, working as a health insurance agent.

Mark, who had a passion for music, was the lead singer, as well as the guitar and harmonica player for a band called Messing with Destiny. Those who knew Mark well said that he’d developed his ear for music at a young age and was a talented songwriter. The band founder later said of Mark that he was “very devoted to his family, and committed to that, and then music was always his passion.” Another bandmate later said that Mark was easygoing and always a positive influence on him.

Diane appeared to others to be a proud and loving mother. She said that she was proud of her four children, describing them as talented in their own individual ways. She said that they were “little professors, they all had their little special interests, but boy they knew everything about their special interests. Shaun, the Staudtes’ oldest child, was often found with his nose in a book, and loved reading about Sweden, architecture, and mechanics.

Sarah earned a degree in French and History from Missouri State University, and had plans of becoming a translator. Rachel, similarly to both of her parents, loved music and was a talented musician. She could play several different instruments, as well as sing, and joined her mother in being part of their church’s band. Briana, the youngest child, loved dinosaurs and cats, and was gifted at working with computers. 

The family of six shared a 900 sq foot house in Springfield and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The Staudtes valued their faith and appeared to be happy. No one was prepared for the tragedies that were about to strike the town of Springfield.

Death #1

On Monday, April 9th, 2012, Diane made a post on her Facebook that read: “For all my friends on FB, this past Sunday evening, Mark, my husband of 27 years reached his eternal home”, followed by a bible verse. Everyone who read the post was in complete shock. On Easter Sunday, the day before, Diane called 911 after finding 61-year-old Mark in bed and not breathing. Mark was pronounced dead shortly after.

Diane later described what had happened that weekend, saying that Mark had come home from band practice the night before, and that he was stumbling. She helped him to bed, where he promptly fell asleep. Diane, who also told investigators and interviewers that Mark was a heavy drinker, said that she wasn’t really concerned because she’d seen Mark like this often. 

When Diane woke up the following morning, Mark was still asleep when Diane left for church. She arrived home afterwards and noticed that Mark was still in bed, but he wasn’t breathing. That’s when she called 911.

Mark’s bandmates were in utter disbelief. They said that he performed on stage like he was still in his early 20’s. They had no idea that their friend would be dead less than 24 hours after their last recording session. 

Diane was questioned by Springfield police, who asked if her husband had been sick recently. She told him that he’d been complaining of feeling weak recently and that he was eating less and sleeping more than normal. Diane also said that Mark, who had no history of seizures, had three that Sunday, with one being just 45 minutes before she found him not breathing. (Remember. This bitch is a nurse. But she didn’t think to call 911 when her husband WHO DIDN’T HAVE SEIZURES had three??!!) When the officers asked why Diane didn’t call 911 earlier, she said that Mark told her he didn’t want her to, so she didn’t.

Nothing appeared obviously suspicious about Mark’s death. He didn’t have any obvious injuries, just a small amount of dried blood around his mouth. The Greene County Medical Examiner determined that his death was a result of his prior medical issues and ruled it as natural.

A memorial service was held for Mark on April 20th at the family’s church. Robert Mansuco, the founder of the band that Mark was in, recalled that the service was odd, that Diane didn’t seem to be upset at all. “During the memorial, she was acting more concerned about being the perfect host and making sure that the guests were looked after, but no sign of grief, no tears.”

Not long after Mark’s death, Diane received a payout from her husband’s life insurance of $20,000. She used the money to buy a new house for the family. It was a bit bigger and in a different neighborhood. It appeared as though the family was taking steps to move past Mark’s death and look towards their future.

Death #2

The Staudtes’ new neighbors recalled that the family wasn’t particularly social. Despite trying to be friendly and reach out to them, neighbors rarely saw them out of the home, and it was typically just Shaun outside mowing the lawn. However, after just a few months of living in the new home, tragedy struck again.

On September 2nd, 2012, the neighbors looked outside and saw a coroner’s van parked in front of the Staudte home. One of the neighbors walked over to ask Diane what had happened and to see if there was anything she could do. Diane told her that her son had died. The neighbor remembered being thrown off by how unemotional the statement was. 26-year-old Shaun Staudte was dead.

Diane told police that her son hadn’t been feeling well since the day before. She said that she’d checked on him during the night, then went to church the next morning. When she returned home around 12:30PM, she found Shaun laying on the floor of his bedroom, with a blanket over his midsection. She checked for a pulse and couldn’t find one, so she called 911.

Shaun had reportedly been having flu-like symptoms for three weeks leading up to his death. He’d been complaining of nausea, diarrhea, body aches, and headaches. Shaun had a history of seizures, and Diane said he’d had one just a few days before. Despite his symptoms, Shaun hadn’t gone to the hospital or a doctor because he was staying hydrated, according to Diane. 

Officers on scene didn’t see any obvious signs of injuries on Shaun, but noticed a small amount of dried blood around his mouth. The Greene County Medical Examiner reported that Shaun’s death was due to natural causes as a “result of prior medical issues”. Like she did with Mark, Diane posted about Shaun’s death on her Facebook page, about three weeks following his death. There was no obituary or service for Shaun. He died just 147 days after his father.

Almost-Death #3

In June of 2013, Diane and her daughter, Rachel, brought the oldest Staudte daughter, 24-year-old Sarah, to a nearby hospital. She’d been extremely ill lately, with flu-like symptoms that were increasing in severity. Doctors who evaluated Sarah said that she was one of the sickest 23 year olds that they’d ever treated. She was in multi-system organ failure, everything was shutting down, and strangely, they couldn’t seem to figure out why.

On June 9th, 2013, Diane posted on her facebook page, “asking for prayers as my daughter Sarah is in critical condition in the ICU tonight.”

Doctors didn’t expect Sarah would recover. She was on life support, and though doctors were continuing to rule things out, they didn’t seem to be any closer to figuring out what was causing Sarah’s deadly illness.

On June 11th, Springfield Police received an anonymous phone call tip. The caller said that he believed Diane Staudte could be responsible for “two or three homicides”, and that her family had experienced two suspicious deaths in a short time, and that a third family member was in ICU.

Initially, officers were skeptical. Things like this didn’t happen in Springfield, and it certainly didn’t seem like a mother would be responsible for killing her husband, son, and attempting to kill her daughter. 

The Investigation

Detectives began looking into the tipster’s claim by pulling the death reports of both Mark and Shaun Staudte. They reached out to officers who’d been on the scene when Mark died. One officer recalled something strange…he said that he’d noticed that Diane had stepped directly OVER her husband’s dead body while they were talking to her. It stuck with him because of how odd it was.

Shaun’s report was similar; a death from natural causes. Detectives noticed that his report, like Mark’s, noted a small amount of dried blood around his mouth. It seemed like the symptoms that both Mark and Shaun had been complaining of leading up to their death were the same ones that Sarah had been experiencing prior to going into organ failure.

Meanwhile, doctors were continuing to search for what was causing Sarah’s condition. They’d ruled out drug use or an infection, but still were unable to rule anything in. One of the detectives conferred with Sarah’s treating doctor and told him about the tip they’d received. He asked the doctor if he believed that something suspicious was behind Sarah’s illness. The doctor said he absolutely believed there was something strange going on, that he was now considering that Sarah could’ve been being poisoned. The doctor thought it could possibly have been heavy metal poisoning, or even arsenic. Sarah’s blood was sent off for testing, but the results could take several days.

Despite her daughter’s deteriorating condition, Diane was overheard by several nurses making jokes and laughing. They even said that she was talking about a vacation and how Sarah’s condition wasn’t going to prevent her from going.

Unbelievably, Sarah’s condition began to stabilize. She was still critical, but it was possible that she might survive. A week after Sarah’s blood was sent out, the results came back. Negative again. They still had no idea what Sarah had been poisoned with. 

Detectives decided that it was time to bring Diane in for questioning. The questioning detective later said that it was one of the most stressful interviews he’d ever done, because at that point, they had no physical evidence tying Diane to the deaths of her husband, son, or to Sarah’s illness.

The detective told Diane that they were now re-examining Shaun’s autopsy, that thankfully, the medical examiner still had some tissue samples left from his autopsy. He asked Diane, if something abnormal was to come back from Shaun’s lab results, something that was anything like Sarah’s lab results, how would she be able to explain that. Diane said she wouldn’t be able to. 

Diane told the detective that Mark had a lot of strange people that he hung out with that were heavy into drugs, that she wouldn’t be surprised if that contributed to his death. The medical examiner had found no evidence that Mark was using hard drugs. She also mentioned that Sarah might have wanted to hurt herself, but said she really had no idea what had happened. 

The detective brought up Diane’s love and dedication to the church, and how strong her faith was. He said that he was similar in his faith. He told Diane that she was a good woman with good intentions, but that he understood that people reached breaking points. He continued by saying that it’s important to seek forgiveness and to be honest.

Diane admitted that she was having difficulties with Sarah because her school loan bills were starting to come in, and Sarah didn’t have a job or seem to want to get one. She said that Mark was “running around”, along with using drugs and alcohol. The detective said to Diane, you have to let me help you. She responds by saying, “To put it really short and sweet, I knew they were drinking antifreeze.” BOOM.

The detective continued talking to Diane, explaining that at this point, she just needed to be truthful, that she needed to confess. He told her that, yes, she knew they were drinking antifreeze, but THEY didn’t know they were. She knew they were drinking it because she was giving it to them. Diane admitted that she just didn’t know what else to do, that there were so many arguments. She explained that she was putting a little bit in Sarah and Shaun’s Coca-Cola and Mark’s Gatorade. Antifreeze is odorless and doesn’t have much of a taste, so they likely didn’t realize anything was wrong with their drinks. 

When pressed as to why she did this, she had different reasons for each of her family members. Regarding her husband, she told the detective, “When Mark died, it was actually a relief. I just don’t tell people that. I don’t know what else to say…By then, I hated his guts. He would throw things at me. He would throw things at the kids. I guess I’d just had enough.”

Shaun, who’d been diagnosed with Autism at five years old, was Diane’s next target. “Shaun would be interfering with what I would do. He was more than a bother…more than a pest.” 

Diane began to poison her oldest daughter simply because she didn’t want to pay her college debt.

The Real Shit Show Begins

With Diane having admitted to poisoning her husband, son, and daughter, investigators brought the middle Staudte daughter, 22-year-old Rachel, in for questioning and to explain what they’d discovered. Rachel was understandably upset. Now, the caretaker for her youngest sister, Rachel had lost almost her entire family.

With Diane’s confessions, detectives conducted a search of the Staudte property. Inside the garage on a workbench, they found a bottle of anti-freeze, with a six pack of Coca-Cola nearby. The inside of the house was in disarray. Many things were collected, including a small purple journal that was haphazardly thrown on a bookshelf. When one of the detectives began reading through the journal, he quickly found that Diane hadn’t acted alone.

The journal belonged to Rachel, and one of the entries read: “It’s sad when I realized how my father will pass on in the next two months…Shaun, my brother will move on shortly after. It will be tough getting used to the changes but everything will work out.” The journal entry was dated June 13th, 2011, which was just under a year before Mark Staudte died. There was also an entry in which Rachel wrote about being thankful that she had time to prepare for each of their deaths and that she would also be getting her father’s car. 

Rachel was brought back to the police station for questioning. When asked if she was suspicious of her mother, Rachel said she never was. She added that she and her mother were very close, almost like best friends. She said that her mother was really the only one who understood her. The detective finally slid a copy of the journal entry across the table for Rachel to look at. He later said that he could see Rachel’s wheels turning, that she was trying to figure out how to explain what she was looking at.

Rachel told the detective that she’d been having a lot of really bad dreams about her family members dying, and that that’s what the entry was about. She said that she told her mother about the dreams, and that’s when Diane said she was thinking about hurting them. It wasn’t long before Rachel confessed to her involvement in the murders and attempted murder. She explained to the detective that she and her mother had researched different methods of murder, including suffocation and pills, but that they’d decided on antifreeze. Rachel told her mother that it would be easiest. Diane bought the antifreeze online reportedly, because the antifreeze that was sold in stores contains a bittering agent to avoid unintentional household ingestions.

Rachel agreed that her father was a drain on the family, explaining that he had no concept of money and was always out partying. She said that she wasn’t entirely on board with murdering her brother though: “Shaun, we argued on a lot because I still think we could have put him in an assisted living, but she wanted him out. Sarah was equally unneeded. We could have found some place else for her. She was adamant on that Sarah was just a burden, that Sarah needed to be taken care of.”

Despite saying that she didn’t agree with the plan to kill Sarah, Rachel said that her sister was annoying, and that she basically just lived in the back bedroom and had no gumption to get a job. Frighteningly, Rachel also admitted that after Sarah’s death, she and her mother planned to murder the youngest Staudte child next. Thankfully, this never happened.

Everything seemed to be coming together and starting to make sense. The symptoms, the deaths, the timeline. One thing still stood out though; if they wanted Sarah dead, why did they take her to the hospital? Rachel had a simple answer for this. “I didn’t want another one to die in the house…because houses are nast after somebody’s died in it…I get a lot of nightmares. After Shaun died, I moved into his room and it was awful, awful, awful in there. I kept feeling things in there. I just didn’t want that again.”

More things came to light about things leading up to the deaths, especially Mark’s. One of his bandmates said that he last saw him on the Friday before he died. The band was supposed to have a recording session, but they never actually recorded anything because Mark was so out of it. It didn’t even click with him that they were supposed to be recording. His bandmate said that it was clear something was wrong, that Mark’s skin was even yellow.

Detectives found posts on Shaun’s Facebook page leading up to his father’s death.

On April 1st, just a week before Mark’s death, Shaun posted: “My father is suffering from an incurable mental illness and is likely to die.”

On April 2nd, Shaun posted, “My father is slowly starting to have problems with driving and accomplishing anything. When he drove a car, the car swerved a little bit. I had to help him keep the car direction straight and properly turning.”

On April 5th, “My father is so insane that I don’t want to be friends with him anymore.”

Shaun’s post described a man who was slowly becoming strange and out of control, very likely due to the repeated doses of antifreeze he was being given.

On April 6th, “My father has changed from panic, aggressive, and selfish to depressed and suicidal. He took his car, wallet, and cell phone. He said he would commit suicide rather than torment us. I don’t know if I will see him alive. He no longer cares about himself. He never truly listened to other people. If he is dead, I want to see him to make sure he is dead.”

On April 7th, “My father is slowly getting sicker. His voice is slurred. His walking is wobbly. His body is more tired than normal. He had to rest when he realized his car driving was swerving the car a little bit. He is sleeping in bed longer than us. He may collapse under his weight at any time.”

On April 8th, the day his father died, Shaun posted, “My father is so weary that he must spend half of the day in bed. His motor skills are deteriorated to the point where he cannot mow a lawn properly or drive a vehicle safely. If he gets behind the steering wheel of any vehicle, his failing motor skills would put pets, people, and himself in danger.”

As her mother and sister were being questioned by detectives and admitting to her attempted murder, Sarah was slowly recovering in the hospital. No one had expected her to survive, but she was finally improving. Unfortunately, she’d be left with lifelong brain damage. She had to learn how to do basic tasks again, like walking. But most importantly, she was alive.

When she learned what her mother and sister had done, Sarah said that she actually was worried about something happening. She was worried that her mother was going to kill her after her father and brother. Sarah had found a journal of her mothers where Diane had written that Mark died, then Shaun, then listed her name. When she asked her mother about it, Diane told Sarah not to worry about it, that she wasn’t going to die. 

Though it’s not clear exactly when, it was finally revealed who the anonymous tipster was that gave detectives the idea to start investigating the Staudte family deaths. It was Senior Pastor Jeff Sippy, the pastor at the family’s church. After Mark’s death, Pastor Sippy had concerns, but those concerns turned into suspicions after Shaun died too. When Sarah was taken to the ICU and found to be near-death, Pastor Sippy immediately called the police department and shared his suspicions. It’s possible that the family may not have been investigated if not for Pastor’s Sippy’s tip.

The pastor explained that thought he could see Diane struggling, that the Staudte family was stressed and overwhelmed, but that Diane never told him anything about Mark having an alcohol problem, that she never asked him for help or prayer. He could tell that something was wrong.

The Aftermath

Both Rachel and Diane were arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of assault. In March of 2015, Rachel agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder and agreed to testify against her mother in exchange for the death penalty to be taken off the table. She was sentenced to two life prison terms, plus 20 years, but will be eligible for parole after serving 42 years. She will be around 65 years old.

Diane entered an Alford plea, where she would not admit her guilt, but acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict her. She is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and first-degree assault. Diane will never get out of jail. 

Years after her attempted murder, Sarah explained how she felt on an episode of 20/20. When she found out that her mother and sister were responsible for the deaths of her father and brother and her attempted murder, she said “I just felt like I wanted to slap both of them, and call them ‘B’ words.”

During Rachel’s sentencing, she read a statement, apologize to her big sister. She said, “I’m sorry I couldn’t find the courage to stand up for what was right, to go for help, to protect you and our siblings. Your suffering could have been prevented and I hate myself for not being there for you…I want you to know that you are an inspiration for me.”

Though Rachel appeared to show some emotion, those in the courtroom said that there was a lot of crying, but very little tears. Diane on the other end, showed no emotion. She now denies having poisoned her family members. In an interview with 20/20 Diane said that she was told what to say during her interview with police, but won’t say by who. She said that Rachel doesn’t know the whole story, and that she can’t say much because of her family’s safety. Most notably, Diane continues to make the situation revolve around her being the victim. She explained that while Sarah was in the hospital, she was also sick, that she could’ve been poisoned too. Detectives report that there were absolutely no signs of illness or symptoms consistent with poisoning noted when they spoke with Diane. 

As of 2016, Sarah was living in an assisted care facility and had a state-appointed guardian. She developed a great devotion to her faith and church, and says that she still feels her father and brother around. They’re “like angels, watching over me. And every once in a while, I have dreams they visit me, from beyond the grave.”

Though she’ll never forget what her sister and mother did, Sarah uses her faith to help her move forward, telling ABC News, “I forgive them for what they did because forgiveness is the right thing to do.”