Sheboygan County Sheriff's Department / AP 
 
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 James Klokow had watched enough TV shows to know that police have a lot more tools today to solve tough cases than they did when he was a little boy.And so, on a summer day two years ago, the 55-year-old Sheboygan, Wis., man walked into his city's police department and told detectives what he believed: that his mother killed his baby sister five decades earlier.Now Ruby Klokow, 74, stands charged with second-degree murder in the March 1, 1957, death of 7-month-old Jeaneen Marie Klokow. She is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing Wednesday afternoon in Sheboygan County Circuit Court.The charges, filed last week, came after two police detectives listened to James Klokow's suspicions and then dusted off the files from an original police investigation that declared the death an accident -– the girl's mother said the baby had fallen from a sofa and hit her head.But this time, in an interview with police detectives, Ruby Klokow "stated she shouldn't have had any children, wished that she never had children, and knew she was 'mean' to them," according to the criminal complaint.The charge of second-degree murder no longer even exists in Wisconsin. Klokow was charged based on the criminal statutes as written in 1957, police said in a news release. She faces up to 25 years in prison, if convicted. The charge is about the same as a reckless homicide charge today.At an initial court appearance on Tuesday, Klokow was ordered held on a $10,000 cash bond. Dressed in a red jail jumpsuit, she repeatedly asked the court commissioner to explain what a preliminary hearing is and how to get a lawyer, according to the Sheboygan Press. "I don't think it's going to make any difference if I have an attorney or not," she added, according to the newspaper.At the time of Jeaneen's death, Klokow was an overwhelmed mother of four battling her own childhood trauma, she told the detectives in the initial interview last year, according to the criminal complaint.After interviewing other family members and reviewing a detailed autopsy report of the death, the detectives decided last summer to exhume the remains of Jeaneen and another child, Scott Klokow, who was found dead in his crib in 1964.A forensic pathologist discovered Jeaneen had three scalp bruises and two brain hemorrhages, which he said were consistent with abuse rather than an accidental fall, the criminal complaint said. The detectives then went back to interview Klokow again.This time, they said, she admitted she was frustrated that both Jeaneen and James Jr. were crying at the same time, so she grabbed Jeaneen from her stroller and threw her toward the couch, the complaint said. The baby, she said, let out a "different kind of cry" and her eyes looked strange, according to the complaint."We have to recognize it was something that happened in 1957 ... and it wasn't intentional, although it was reckless," Sheboygan District Attorney Joe DeCecco told the Sheboygan Press."She had a lot of kids at a relatively young age, she wasn't happy in her marriage, there was a lot of drinking going on there and she had a temper."The criminal complaint details a long list of other abuse against the children, including allegations that she broke James Jr.'s arm and nose in separate incidents, and injured his knees by kicking him with steel-toed boots on multiple occasions.The complaint also says she made younger brother Bruce stand in a corner with a paper bag on his head at the age of 5 or 6 while she hit each of his toes with a hammer. And Ruby Klokow's mother and a sister both said they had seen Bruce bleeding from the face while sitting in his crib, according to the complaint, which notes that Bruce Klokow is mentally handicapped.Although the statute of limitations has expired on the other abuse allegations, DeCecco said they were included in the complaint because the statute under which Klokow was charged requires prosecutors to prove she caused the death "through dangerous conduct, evincing a depraved mind."No charges have been filed in Scott Klokow's death."She talked very freely about Jeaneen," DeCecco said, according to local news affiliate Fox 11 . "She adamantly denied having anything to do with Scott."Sheboygan police detective Paul Olsen, who investigated the case with detective Paul Hammann, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that James Klokow first came forward because he'd been watching television shows about solving old crimes and hoped that with the advancements in forensics "maybe something could be done."But, Olsen added, it's a shame that no one either helped or prosecuted Ruby Klokow back in the late 1950s."It's a different world now," he told the newspaper. ||||| For more than 50 years, doubts dogged the memory of little Jeaneen Marie Klokow. 
 
 The 7-month-old died at her Sheboygan home in 1957, after her mother said she had fallen from a sofa and hit her head. The official cause of death was listed as an accident, but relatives always suspected worse. 
 
 Now, after an extraordinary two-year investigation that was equal parts forensics, historical research and family therapy, Jeaneen's mother has been charged with killing the infant. Prosecutors say it is the oldest case ever charged in Sheboygan County and possibly the state. 
 
 Ruby C. Klokow, 74, faces one count of a crime no longer on the books - second-degree murder, or causing death by imminently dangerous conduct "evincing a depraved mind." She was arrested at her home Monday and is being held at the Sheboygan County Jail on $10,000 bail. 
 
 The criminal complaint tells the story of Klokow's abusive relationship with her children, recounted by her oldest son and others who remembered her as a mean young mother with a bad temper. 
 
 Sheboygan District Attorney Joe DeCecco called it "a sad and tragic situation" that likely would have been addressed much sooner in today's environment of heightened child abuse awareness, mandatory reporting laws and more refined death investigations. 
 
 "You kind of wonder why if they were suspicious, why not approach someone sooner," he said. 
 
 In the summer of 2008, someone finally did. 
 
 Klokow's son James Klokow, 55, the oldest of her four children, walked into the Sheboygan Police Department and revealed how he believed his mother had killed Jeaneen. DeCecco said James Klokow said his suspicions had bothered him for years, and that he had always felt blamed for his sister's death because his mother said he was fussing on the toilet and distracting her from the baby girl when she fell. 
 
 He went on to detail other abuse he and his siblings suffered at their mother's hand. He suspected his brother Scott, who died in 1964, was a victim of their mother's neglect if not outright abuse. His aunt told the detectives her own recollections about Ruby Klokow's mistreatment of both her own children and her siblings. 
 
 Sheboygan police detectives Paul Olsen and Paul Hammann got started on the case. 
 
 Prompted by TV shows 
 
 What prompted James Klokow to finally come forward? He had started watching cable TV shows about old crimes being solved and thought maybe now, with advances in forensics and the passage of time, "maybe something could be done," Olsen said. 
 
 "A lot of modern day cold cases get solved with DNA hits. This was totally different," Olsen said. "It made it all the more challenging." There's no dedicated "cold case squad" in Sheboygan, either; the detectives worked on Jeaneen's case between and on top of regular assignments. 
 
 They dusted off old police reports but learned the physical evidence collected from the scene was long gone, as were records from hospitals and social services. They did find a detailed autopsy, however, which proved very valuable. Two pathologists who reviewed it both agreed that the injuries described were extremely unlikely to have come from a 16-inch fall from a sofa. 
 
 Next the detectives began tracking down other relatives of Ruby Klokow, and some investigators from 1957 who were still alive. Olsen said it quickly became clear it was a matter "historically encompassing dark family secrets," as the investigators encountered mixed reactions from interview subjects. 
 
 "Some were, 'Why would you be doing this?' and others were, "I know exactly why you're doing this,' " Olsen said. 
 
 In January 2010, the detectives visited Ruby Klokow. She told them she had had a traumatic childhood, fighting off sexual advances from her father, and that she was very frustrated trying to raise four children and had no one to confide in about her challenges. She admitted she might have been a little rough with Jeaneen. She said she felt better for having talked with the detectives. 
 
 That summer, investigators decided to disinter the tiny coffins of both Jeaneen and Scott from their graves at St. John's Church Cemetery in the Town of Herman. Analysis of Jeaneen's remains found evidence of abuse. Officials found no evidence of foul play on the remains of Scott. 
 
 In August, Olsen and Hammann talked to Klokow again at her home. She said her sons James and Bruce were difficult and had been put in foster care, but she admitted she had a short temper as a young mother. "She stated she shouldn't have had any children, wished that she never had children, and knew she was 'mean' to them," according to the complaint. 
 
 Mother feared prison 
 
 Ultimately, Klokow "acknowledged causing Jeaneen's death" and said she never told police the truth because she feared going to prison. She said she didn't mean to hurt her daughter but should be punished for what she did. 
 
 According to the complaint, that included other abuse as well. 
 
 His grandmother told James his mother had broken his nose when he was 3, which went untreated until he had it surgically repaired at 17. And James told investigators that his mother also broke his arm, had kicked him in the knees with steel-toed boots and would lock him in the basement so long he had licked water from the floor to slake his thirst. 
 
 James Klokow said when he was about 9, he watched his mother hit his younger brother on each toe with a hammer, while he wore a bag on his head and cried. 
 
 But the statute of limitations has run for any such other offenses, and prosecutors were left to look up the 1957 statute of second-degree murder, roughly the equivalent of today's crime of reckless homicide. Ruby Klokow denied causing her son Scott's death in 1964, and prosecutors said there was no evidence to support a charge in that case. 
 
 The strongest evidence in the murder case is Ruby Klokow's own admissions. 
 
 Olsen, the detective, said it was a shame no one either helped Ruby Klokow, or prosecuted her, in the late 1950s. 
 
 "It's a different world now," he said. 
 
 Even with the long delay, he said James Klokow was happy to see his mother charged. 
 
 Olsen said he and Hammann were glad to finally get "long overdue justice for Jeaneen, for the guys who are still alive," for all the abuse they suffered.
– More than 50 years after the suspicious death of a 7-month-old little girl, her mother has been arrested and charged with the killing. Jeaneen Marie Klokow supposedly died after falling off a sofa in 1957, but relatives thought Ruby C. Klokow, now 74, may have played a role in the death. In 2008, Klokow’s oldest child, James, finally reported his suspicions to police and told them of the abuse Klokow allegedly inflicted on him and his siblings. After a two-year investigation, she was arrested Monday and charged with second-degree murder, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Police had a tough time investigating the case, because physical evidence and many records were gone. An autopsy, as well as testimony from relatives, helped. Ultimately, Klokow herself admitted she had a hard time raising four children and might have treated her daughter too roughly. Both Jeaneen and another baby sibling, Scott, were disinterred; James believed his mother may also have played a role in Scott’s 1964 death. Klokow admitted causing Jeaneen’s death, but no evidence of foul play was found on Scott’s remains. Click for more on the tragic case, including how Jeaneen actually died.