Maggie May Traml was born on October 25th, 2010 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, a small college city located 47 miles north of Tulsa and 18 mi south of the Kansas border. She was the only daughter to parents Benjamin Traml and Lindsay Fiddler. The young mother had two other sons, ages 4 and three. But Lindsay wasn’t exactly mom of the year.
The 26-year-old had a lengthy criminal history with arrests for assault, harassment, failure to appear in court, drug possession, driving without a license, and failure to place her two sons in proper car seats while driving. Family members were concerned about Lindsay because of her past drug use. In fact, they tried to have her parental rights revoked before Maggie May was born.
The soon-to-be mama of three had been arrested in April for taking drugs while she was 4 months pregnant. and the suspected drug that she was using was crystal meth. But what started as an unfortunate addiction quickly turned deadly. On November 4th, Lindsay decided to use her new drug of choice to catch up on some chores.
She gathered up all of her dirty laundry, filled up her toploading washing machine, added detergent, and turned it on. Lindsay was not just casually using either. She had been on a 3day bender. It was later discovered that in addition to meth, Lindsay had other amphetamines as well as opiates and bzzoazipines in her system.
This is very important to note as the mother ended up tired, which is not a typical side effect of uppers, but is a side effect of some of the other drugs that she had ingested. While she was waiting for her laundry to finish up its wash cycle, the mother decided to lay down for a nap. Now, keep in mind, Lindsay has a newborn daughter and two toddlers, and her children’s father was not at home during the time of our story.
We’ll get into the rest of the story in just one minute. Please stay with us for the following ad. It not only supports the show, but it helps us support local charities in our area. Meanwhile, Lindsay’s aunt, Rhonda Koshhat, stopped by to check on her niece and the new baby, who was only 10 days old at this point. Rhonda found Lindsay asleep on the living room couch, but baby Maggie May was nowhere in sight.
One thing was rather apparent, though. Lindsay’s washing machine was terribly out of balance and making that awful thuting sound that echoes throughout the home once the machine hits its spin cycle. Somehow, all of these thuds didn’t wake Lindsay, so Rhonda decided to balance out the load for her. However, it wasn’t an unbalanced load of laundry or shoes running through the wash cycle that was causing all of the noise.
Inside of the machine was the mangled body of 10-day old Maggie May. While high on drugs, Lindsay had thrown her newborn daughter in with the dirty laundry and washed her. She had been in the machine for nearly 40 minutes. Rhonda shook her niece awake from her drugfueled slumber and told her who she had found. Absolutely mortified, Lindsay frantically dialed 911 where she’s heard screaming, “My baby is dead.
” She’s then heard arguing with her aunt Rhonda, accusing her of killing Maggie May, to which Rhonda responded, “No, I did not kill your baby. You did.” Paramedics desperately attempted to revive Maggie May as they transported her to the hospital. However, their attempts unfortunately were in vain. 10day old Maggie May Traml was pronounced dead on arrival.
Maggie May’s gruesome death left many of the first responders in tears. Paramedic John Hower, who tried to save Maggie May’s life, said terrible. I don’t even know how to describe it. Bartlesville Police Chief Tom Holland, who during his career has witnessed multiple homicides and gangland shootings, said it was the most tragic crime scene he had ever investigated.
According to Holland, a veteran detective taking crime scene photos of Maggie May’s body at the hospital had to step outside because he was so overcome with emotion. Holland vowed to leave no stone unturned with regards to the investigation. Lindsay’s family and community were also deeply affected by the events that led to Maggie May’s death.
Her boyfriend, Benjamin Traml, stood by her side, confidently stating that she did not intend to hurt their newborn baby on purpose. He said, quote, “Inside of my heart, I can’t believe that Lindsay would have hurt our little girl. I don’t believe it in my heart. To be honest with you, end quote.” According to the baby’s aunt, Jessica Solis, Maggie May was quote tiny, very tiny.
She had long feet and big hands. I only got to see her four times. I want people to see the effects of drugs. That’s the most important thing. I think it could have been prevented. End quote. Lindsay was swiftly arrested and her two young sons were taken into the protective custody of social workers. They were later placed with relatives.
She was held in the Washington County Jail in lie of a $100,000 bond. The mother initially faced first-degree homicide charges. However, prosecutors reduced her charges due to the fact that limited samples of Lindsay’s blood made it tough to prove exactly how many drugs were in her system. Nor did they feel that she intended to harm her newborn.
The medical examiner ruled Maggie May’s manner of death to be a homicide, and her cause of death was listed as drowning. The autopsy report also indicated that the baby had numerous abrasions and contusions consistent with those that would be endured during a wash cycle. The medical examiner took samples of Maggie May’s blood to check for elicit substances.
However, the toxicology report did not reveal any alcohol or drugs in Maggie May’s system. According to Lindsay, quote, I omitted to use ordinary care and caution in regards to supervising Maggie May by using and abusing memphetamine and prescription drugs. End quote. She acknowledged that her actions caused the death of her infant daughter.
Quote, I know everybody has slammed me and I deserve some slamming for taking care of my children while on drugs, but I know I would not have hurt my children. I never have. It’s all so bad and everyone has spent so much time putting me down. I feel like it’s them against me.” End quote.
Lindsay claimed that she had been waking up every day to the same bad dream since November 4th. She said, quote, “It sucks being me. Everybody has made it out like I’m a monster. I want the truth to come out, but I know it never will. I am guilty of child neglect, and I lost my daughter. I know I am not the victim in this case, but I wish I would have died and not her.
there’s nobody that can hurt me any worse than I’ve been hurt now.” End quote. She went on to explain that in November of 2010, she fed, bathed, and dressed her baby and laid her down. She passed out on the couch, and when she woke up, she said her aunt found Maggie May dead in the washing machine. Lindsay further explained that her aunt was high on morphine, thus establishing plausible deniability.
She claimed that she was guilty of child neglect because of her drug use, but she does not believe that she put her infant inside of the washing machine. Yes, her aunt Rhonda was indeed on morphine, but it was legally prescribed to her. The Bartlesville Police Department had already investigated this fact and discussed it further with the district attorney.
As such, Ronda Koshett was not charged in connection with Maggie May’s death. However, we did come across one interesting piece of information with regards to Rhonda’s account of events. The majority of the news sources claimed that Rhonda came by to check on Lindsay and her kids and in turn came across this horrific scene.
However, in an article published by Tulsaworld.com on March 3rd, 2011, Rhonda claims that she fed Maggie May and changed her diaper before Lindsay took her into another room with the intent of putting the baby back to bed. Rhonda claims that she told police that she found the baby in the washing machine, which had been making noises as if it were out of balance.
If that were the case, Rhonda would have been in the home for longer than the 40 minutes that it took for the washing machine to reach the spin cycle at that time. Why didn’t she question the whereabouts of Maggie May? Furthermore, she claims to have told authorities about Lindsay’s 3-day bender in the cocktail of drugs that she had ingested.
Now, if all of this is true, shouldn’t Rhonda be at least culpable for not calling CPS? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below. Following what he had described as a 9-monthlong investigation, Washington County District Attorney Kevin Buchanan issued the following statement at Lindsay’s trial.
This case involved unique, factual, and legal circumstances that resulted in the tragic death of Maggie May Traml, the defendant’s 10-day old infant. These unusual circumstances created difficult evidentiary issues, including limited samples of Miss Fiddler’s blood to prove the quantity of drugs in her system.
After extensive review and the discussion of events that led to the death of Maggie May Traml, the evidence does not indicate that the defendant intentionally killed her child. Ms. Fiddler’s conscious decision to ingest amphetamine along with other prescription medication directly led to the death of Maggie May.
The defendant’s intoxication rendered her incapable of caring for her child and exposed her infant child to the consequences of illegal drug use. The Washington County District Attorney’s Office has made this case a priority and has dedicated many long hours and resources to the successful prosecution. Consideration was given that the recommended sentence will ensure that the defendant’s surviving minor children will reach the age of majority before Miss Vidler is released and therefore they will not be placed back into her custody. After
release from incarceration, the defendant will be closely supervised for an additional 15 years. In the event of future violations of the law or rules of probation, the defendant will be subject to surveying the remainder of the sentence in jail. The Washington County District’s Attorney’s Office is acutely aware of the outrage felt by our community following Maggie May Traml’s death.
Given the challenges facing my office in prosecuting this case to a successful and desirable verdict, I believe that an appropriate and just outcome has been reached for Ms. Fiddler’s surviving children and all others personally involved and affected by this case. On August 9th, 2011, Lindsay waved her right to a jury trial and plead guilty to secondderee manslaughter and child neglect.
She was sentenced to 30 years. 15 were for child neglect and four for secondderee manslaughter charges served concurrently. The additional 15 years included supervision after release. She was also required to pay $1,500 in fines, attend mandatory substance abuse counseling, and was required to register as a violent offender.
Because the crime of child neglect is categorized as violent crime, the state of Oklahoma requires that Lindsay serve 85% of her incarceration before becoming eligible for parole. Though it is not guaranteed that Lindsay will receive parole. At the conclusion of her sentencing, District Judge Curtis Dilap told the mother, “Good luck, Miss Fidler.
