NEW HAMPTON - Frustration boiled over and eventually caused a Nashua man to shake his newborn daughter, he said in a recorded interview played to jurors Wednesday.

Randy Lee Blanchard, 32, repeatedly told state investigators that he didn't mean to harm 12-day-old Aliya on Feb. 5, 2008. He just wanted to quiet her down.

"I shook her a little bit," Blanchard said during a taped interview with Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agents.

But prosecutors claim the little shake was actually violent enough to cause cerebral hemorrhaging, leading to Aliya's death six days later at a hospital in Rochester, Minn.

"By the time Aliya arrived at the Mayo Clinic, she could no longer breathe on her own," Chickasaw County Attorney Patrick Wegman said.

Wegman made his comments Wednesday at the opening of Blanchard's first-degree murder trial in New Hampton. Blanchard is also charged with child endangerment resulting in death.

Blanchard waived his right to a jury trial in February, leaving District Judge Richard Stochl to hear the facts and render a verdict.

Prosecutors allege Blanchard lashed out and shook the girl and dropped her on her head around 3 a.m. Feb. 5. Blanchard and the girl's mother, Annette Eilderts, took her to the Floyd County Medical Center after she suffered a seizure around 10 a.m.

From there, she was taken to Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo, where doctors attempted to stabilize her, DCI special agent Jack Liao testified. Doctors were able to identify her ailment after a battery of tests, he said.

"Aliya had suffered from serious trauma, some of that was consistent with shaken baby (syndrome)," Liao said.

Dr. Nasreen Wahidi, who treated Aliya at Covenant Medical Center, said the two biggest signs of such a diagnosis were hemorrhaging in the brain and swollen and bleeding retinas, which were both evident in Aliya.

Wahidi said she initially thought the infant had major infection, but changed her mind after several tests, including a spinal tap that revealed blood in her spinal column. She said that's a sign of head trauma.

"From the findings I have, I think she was shaken," Wahidi said.

The sentiment was echoed by Dr. Michael Puk, an opthamologist who worked on Aliya. Puk said an eye test showing retinal bleeding and swelling is a common indicator for shaken baby syndrome. Puk also said it would take large amount of force to cause the amount of trauma to Aliya's eyes.

Both doctors admitted under cross examination by Dave Staudt, Blanchard's defense attorney, that other diseases could potentially exhibit these symptoms, such as a bleeding disorder or an infection. But they said it's a small pool of ailments that would have these exact same symptoms.

During an interview with DCI on Feb. 6, Blanchard initially denied that he harmed Aliya in any way. However, he changed his story after agents repeatedly questioned him. He said he shook the infant a little bit, but not nearly enough to cause the amount of harm she suffered.

Aliya had woken up around 3 a.m. Blanchard said he fed her and tried to get her to go to back to sleep.

"I got frustrated," he said. "She was just crying, crying, crying."

In a follow-up interview two days later, Blanchard also admitted he dropped Aliya on a couch after he shook her. He said the distance was a few inches, and didn't think she hit anything hard. Hospital officials found a skull fracture during a later treatment. On the tape, agents still didn't buy his story.

"There's no other explanations for how she got her injuries, Randy, except for what you've done," Liao said.

Blanchard told Liao that he had five double-shots of Black Velvet whiskey the night before, and was a "little groggy" when the assault occurred. He said he lost his temper and could have shaken her harder than he thought.

However, Blanchard told agents he knew he did something wrong when asked about the case.

"Even though it was an accident, I still should be punished," he said.

Testimony continues today in Chickasaw County District Court.

Contact Josh Nelson at (319) 291-1565 or josh.nelson@wcfcourier.com