Natalie Finn's parents will have separate trials in her death

Grant Rodgers

The Des Moines Register

The adoptive parents of a West Des Moines teenager who died of starvation will each face separate trials on charges stemming from their daughter's death, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Nicole Finn, 42, is set to go to trial on Oct. 23 on first-degree murder and other charges in the death of Natalie Finn, almost one year to the day after emergency workers found the emaciated 16-year-old on the floor of her bedroom in her mother's home. Joseph Finn, 46, also faces charges of kidnapping, neglect or abandonment and child endangerment and will go to trial on Nov. 27.

Nicole Finn leaves a Polk County Courthouse courtroom Wednesday, May 31, 2017, in Des Moines. Nicole Finn asked a judge to give her a separate trial from her ex-husband, Joseph Finn II, who faces kidnapping and other charges in his daughter's death. The parents were currently scheduled to stand trial together in Des Moines in October.

District Court Judge Karen Romano separated the former couple's trials at a hearing Wednesday morning following a request from Nicole Finn's defense attorney, who highlighted concerns about incriminating statements that her ex-husband made to investigators following the death. Prosecutors did not oppose the request.

Both parents sat across from each other at the defense table Wednesday wearing Polk County Jail uniforms.

Joseph Finn II sits in a Polk County Courthouse courtroom Wednesday, May 31, 2017, in Des Moines. Nicole Finn asked a judge to give her a separate trial from her ex-husband, Joseph Finn II, who faces kidnapping and other charges in his daughter's death. The parents were currently scheduled to stand trial together in Des Moines in October.

Romano also ordered a survey be taken of Polk County residents who arrive for jury duty for the next several weeks to help determine awareness and biases about the case in the potential jury pool. The results will be used in weighing a request from the parents' defense attorneys to have their trials moved out of Polk County.

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