A Des Moines woman who was convicted twice in the drowning death of her infant son has been rejected for an early release from prison.
The Iowa Board of Parole has decided against granting Heidi Anfinson an in-person interview and instead denied her parole based a “paper review” of her case.
That’s according to parole board executive director Clarence Key Jr., who told Radio Iowa the decision was made on October 12. Other media outlets had reported Anfinson’s case for release would be reviewed in late November, but Key said she’s already been denied based on “the serious nature of her crime.”
Anfinson’s son Jacob disappeared in 1998. Eventually, Anfinson confessed to drowning Jacob and hiding his body in Saylorville Lake. Her supporters said Anfinson was suffering from severe postpartum depression, but she was convicted and served nine years in prison for second-degree murder before she was granted a new trial.
In 2009, she plead guilty to multiple acts of child endangerment. The plea deal involved a 50 year prison term, with an agreement that the amount of time she actually served would be up to the parole board. The board has now denied Anfinson parole twice since she was resentenced.