Bio

Lyndsey Dawn Fiddler was born in 1984.

She lived in Bartlesville, in Washington County, Oklahoma.

By 2010 she was in her mid-20s and was a mother of three children. Reports from that time described her as 26 or 27 years old.

Murder Story

On November 4, 2010, ten-day-old Maggie May Trammel was found inside a washing machine in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The baby was the daughter of Lyndsey Dawn Fiddler.

The Oklahoma State Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide. The autopsy said Maggie May died by drowning. It noted contusions and abrasions consistent with being in a washing machine during a wash cycle. Toxicology showed no drugs or alcohol in the infant.

Maggie May's great aunt, Rhonda Coshatt, told authorities she had fed and changed the baby before Lyndsey took her to another room. Coshatt said she later found the infant in the washing machine. Lyndsey Fiddler has denied placing the baby there. In court papers Fiddler said she fed, bathed and dressed the baby, then passed out on the couch. She said she woke up to learn her aunt had found Maggie May.

Bartlesville police arrested Lyndsey Fiddler the same day. Tests after her arrest showed methamphetamine, amphetamine, opiates and benzodiazepine in her system.

Fiddler was first charged with first-degree murder and child neglect. Prosecutors later said the evidence did not indicate an intentional killing. In August 2011 she pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter and child neglect.

On October 5, 2011, a judge sentenced Fiddler to four years for manslaughter and a split 30-year term on the child neglect charge, with 15 years to be served in prison and 15 years on probation. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently. The child-neglect sentence requires serving 85 percent before parole eligibility. She was fined $1,500, ordered to undergo substance-abuse counseling and to register as a violent offender. Her two other children went to live with a relative.

In a presentencing report Fiddler wrote that she omitted to use ordinary care and caution in supervising Maggie May because of her use of methamphetamine and prescription drugs. She wrote that her actions caused the infant’s death, but she said she did not believe she put the baby in the washing machine. The district attorney said Fiddler’s drug use directly led to the infant’s death.