- Marybeth Tinning
-
Marybeth Tinning 
Background information Birth name Marybeth Roe Born September 11, 1942
Duanesburg, New YorkConviction July 17, 1987[1] Sentence 20 years to life[2] Killings Number of victims: 8 (one child died with legitimate medical issues) Span of killings 1972–1985 Country U.S. State(s) New York Date apprehended February 4, 1986 Marybeth Tinning (née Roe, born on September 11, 1942) is an American serial killer currently serving a 20 years to life sentence after being convicted of the murder of one of her children. Her case is held to be one of the most extreme cases of Münchausen syndrome by proxy.
Contents
Early life
Marybeth Roe was born in Duanesburg, a small town in New York. She and her younger brother both attended Duanesburg High School, where she was a typical student. Her father, Alton Roe, worked as a press operator for General Electric. She was a woman that tried to kill herself several times as a child.
Over the next few years, she worked in a series of low wage jobs. Eventually, she became a nurse's aide at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady. In 1963, she met Joe Tinning on a blind date. The couple married in spring 1965.
Children's deaths
In the first five years of their marriage, the couple had two children, Barbara and Joseph. In December 1971, Tinning gave birth to a third child, Jennifer. Jennifer was sick at birth and never left the hospital. A few weeks later, she died of a severe infection, which was diagnosed as meningitis.
On January 20, 1972, Tinning took Joseph, then two years old, to the Ellis Hospital emergency room. She said that he had experienced some type of seizure. The child was kept under observation for a time and, when doctors could not find anything wrong with him, was sent home. Several hours later, Tinning and her son returned to the ER, her son now dead. She told doctors that she had placed him in bed and returned later to find that he had turned blue, and was tangled in his sheets.
Less than six weeks later, Tinning was back at the same emergency room with her daughter Barbara, four. She said the little girl had gone into convulsions. Though the doctors wanted the child to stay overnight, Tinning insisted on taking her back home. Several hours later, she returned with Barbara, who was unconscious and later died. Her death was attributed to Reye's Syndrome. All three of Tinning's children had died within 90 days of each other. Tinning became pregnant with her fourth child the following year.
On Thanksgiving Day 1973, she gave birth to a son, Timothy. On December 10, three weeks after his birth, Timothy was brought back to the same hospital dead. Tinning told doctors she found him lifeless in his crib. Again, doctors found nothing medically wrong. His death was listed as SIDS.
Two years later, on March 30, 1975 (Easter Sunday), Tinning gave birth to her fifth child, Nathan. On September 2, she showed up at St. Clare's Hospital with the baby dead in her arms. She said she was driving in her car with the baby in the front seat when she noticed that he had stopped breathing. Again, there seemed to be no explanation for his death.
In 1978, the couple made arrangements to adopt a child. The same year, Tinning became pregnant again. The Tinnings did not cancel the adoption and chose to keep both children. In August 1978, they received a baby boy, Michael, from the adoption agency. Two months later, on October 29, she gave birth to her sixth child, Mary Frances. In January 1979, Tinning rushed Mary Frances, to the emergency room, directly across the street from her apartment, saying the baby had had a seizure. The staff were able to revive her. However, on February 20, Tinning came running into the same hospital with Mary Frances, who was brain dead. Once again, Tinning said she found the baby unconscious and did not know what had happened to her.
Once Mary Frances was buried, Tinning once again became pregnant. On November 19, she gave birth to her seventh child, Jonathan. In March 1980, she showed up at St. Clare's hospital with Jonathan unconscious. Like Mary Frances, he was successfully revived. Due to the family's history, Jonathan was sent to Boston Hospital where he was thoroughly examined. The doctors could find no valid medical reason why the baby simply stopped breathing. Jonathan was sent home. A few days later, Tinning returned to the hospital with Jonathan, and he was brain-dead. Jonathan died on March 24, 1980.
Less than one year later, on the morning of March 2, 1981, Tinning showed up at her pediatrician's office with Michael, her adopted child, then two and a half years old. He was wrapped in a blanket and unconscious. She told the doctor that she could not wake Michael and had no idea what was wrong. When the doctor examined Michael, he was already dead. Since Michael was adopted, the long-suspected theory that the deaths in the Tinning family had a genetic origin was discarded.
On August 22, 1985, Tinning gave birth to her ninth child, Tami Lynne. On December 19, next-door neighbour Cynthia Walter, who was also a practical nurse, went shopping with Tinning and later visited her home. Later that night, Walter received a frantic telephone call from Tinning. When Walter arrived, she found Tami Lynne lying on a changing table. Walter testified that the child was not moving and she could not feel any pulse or breathing. At the emergency room, the baby was pronounced dead.
Confession and conviction
Suspicion mounted against Tinning, who was always alone when the children died, but there wasn't any evidence of wrongdoing. However, after a police interrogation, Tinning confessed to smothering Tami Lynne, Nathan, and Timothy (which she later retracted).[3] She denied having harmed the other children. She was convicted in Tami Lynne's case and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.[2]
Her first attempt for parole was in March 2007. At the parole board meeting Tinning said, "I have to be honest, and the only thing that I can tell you is that I know that my daughter is dead. I live with it every day," she continued, "I have no recollection and I can't believe that I harmed her. I can't say any more than that." Her parole was denied.[4]
In late January 2009, Tinning went before the parole board for the second time. Tinning stated "I was going through bad times," when she killed her daughter.[5] The parole board again denied her parole, stating that her remorse was "superficial at best."[5] Tinning was eligible for parole again in January 2011.[5] In 2011 parole was denied again.[6] [7] Her next opportunity for parole will be in January 2013.[7]
Further reading
- Egginton, Joyce (February 1989). From Cradle to Grave: The Short Lives and Strange Deaths of Marybeth Tinning's Nine Children. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0688075665.
References
- ^ Mahoney, Joe (1987-07-18). "Conviction in Infant Death; N.Y. Woman Who Smothered Baby Faces More Charges". The Washington Post: p. A2.
- ^ a b Leggett, James H. (1987-10-02). "Tinning Sentence Is 20 Years to Life for Killing Baby". Schenectady Gazette: p. B1. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qQshAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fXIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1524%2C386049.
- ^ Leggett, James H. (1987-06-30). "Tinning Confession Key To Arrest for Murder, Investigators Testify". Schenectady Gazette: p. C1. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SBAhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Y3IFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1357,7498118&hl=en.
- ^ Buell, Bill and Steven Cook (2007-03-30). "Tinning parole denied". The Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY): p. A1.
- ^ a b c Cook, Steven (2009-03-05). "No parole for Tinning, jailed for killing baby". The Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY): p. B1.
- ^ Gavin, Robert (2011-02-11). "Notorious child killer Marybeth Tinning tells parole board she ‘just lost it,’ feared daughter would die". Albany Times Union. Albany, NY. http://blog.timesunion.com/crime/notorious-child-killer-marybeth-tinning-tells-parole-board-she-just-lost-it-feared-daughter-would-die/6690/.
- ^ a b Cook, Steven (2011-02-08). "Marybeth Tinning again denied parole: Now 68, child killer next eligible in January of 2013". The Daily Gazette. Schenectady, NY.
External links
Categories:- 1942 births
- Living people
- American female murderers
- American serial killers
- Female serial killers
- Filicides
- American people convicted of murder
- People convicted of murder by New York
- American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
- Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by New York
- People from Schenectady, New York
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
