Wednesday, July 31, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
The burned body of a baby found six years ago in an Arizona gully appears to be that of Francine Meegan, according to DNA tests.
The tests conducted by Arizona officials also show that the father of the baby likely is James Meegan, whose trial on charges of murdering her is set to begin Monday.
There had been reports that the baby was the result of an affair by her mother, Lillian Meegan.
But the DNA tests could not rule out James Meegan as the father, although the aging and degraded blood sample from the dead baby made a positive match impossible, prosecutors said.
Arizona authorities kept the blood sample after the baby was discovered in 1990 by cowboys driving cattle up the ravine near Prescott.
The baby's identity, however, was never discovered and, thus, there was no one available for the comparison tests until early this year. That is when an estranged family member revealed the child's existence -- and mysterious disappearance.
James Meegan, 39, and Lillian Meegan, 35, were arrested when they couldn't account for the baby's absence to police.
Lillian Meegan has pleaded guilty to felony child neglect charges for her role in the death and is expected to be called by prosecutors to testify against her husband.
Jailhouse informants also are scheduled to appear at the trial to testify that Meegan blabbed about the case during his months behind bars awaiting trial.
A former co-worker of Meegan is expected to tell a jury that the defendant confessed he shook the 11-month-old to death when she wouldn't stop crying.
If James Meegan is convicted in District Judge Sally Loehrer's courtroom of murdering his daughter, he could face the death penalty. The jury, however, also would have the option of handing down life prison terms.
That is what Meegan originally had agreed to take in a plea bargain in Justice Court. But he reneged on the deal when the case reached the District Court and he demanded a quick trial.
The DNA analysis completed Tuesday is the second such testing done by the Arizona laboratory -- at no cost to Nevada taxpayers -- on the baby's remains.
The initial testing was inconclusive because the blood sample used had degraded beyond a usable point.
Deputy District Attorney John Lukens has said the latest results should preclude the need to exhume the baby's body to determine whether it is Francine Meegan, although defense attorneys could still request such an exhumation if they believe it might aid the defense.
Shortly after Francine was born, she was adopted out to a California couple and then "repossessed" several months later by the Meegans when the couple wouldn't shell out more than the $30,000 they already had paid.
Few, including most of the Meegans' relatives, knew the baby even existed.
When confronted with Francine's disappearance, Lillian Meegan said the baby had been kidnapped from her car in a casino parking lot, where she had left it while cashing a check. She said she never reported it to police because the family didn't want the police scrutiny.
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