For the family and friends of Baugh, this will be the fourth trial they have endured. Her parents, Wanda Williams Baugh and Frank Baugh, have consistently said in court that the people convicted in their daughter’s killing were “the purest form of evil” and have not shown any remorse for their actions.
After their daughter was killed, they took over custody of their granddaughters.
Attorney Sarah Gad, photographed at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis in August 2023. (Jeff Wheeler/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
On top of the intensity of retrying such a notable case, additional legal drama has swirled after a search warrant was filed in Hennepin County this year alleging that Wiggins’ attorney, Sarah Gad, sneaked legal paperwork soaked in cocaine and fentanyl to Wiggins inside the county jail.
Gad has vehemently denied those allegations, saying the investigation is built on sham science and that the warrant was leaked by the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office as part of an “orchestrated smear campaign” against her and her client.
The warrant was filed on a Monday in February and multiple news outlets, including the Minnesota Star Tribune, reported on the investigation. Gad told the Star Tribune at the time, “I would never engage in such conduct. I am at a loss for words.”
The Sheriff’s Office denied leaking the warrant to the press and said this year it was a publicly available document accessible to anyone at the courthouse. More than 10 months after the search warrant was filed, no casework has been submitted for criminal charges against Gad in Hennepin County. Megan Larson, the public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, said the investigation into Gad remains open.