Marybeth TinningMichaela Traylor

• Born September 11, 1942• Born in Duanesburgh, NY • Father, Alton Roe, worked

at General Electric • Attended Duanesburgh

High School (Montaldo)• Average student with few

friends • Did nothing special

during childhood(Montaldo)

Felt mistreated by her family Spent much of her childhood alone Claims her aunt verbally abused her Claims her dad locked in her room for

days(Galdo)

Family Life

Aspired to go to college, but began working unskilled jobs

began working as a nurse’s aide at Ellis Hospital (Montaldo)

Everyone says she was just OK at her job

After High School

Moderately attractive 5’4” with short blonde hair and blue eyes Kept a tidy and proper appearance

Appearance

Never had a boyfriend in High School Met Joe Tinning on a blind date in 1963 Two got along reasonably well Married in 1965 (Galdo)

Love life

Worked at General Electric with Marybeth’s dad.

Quiet and soft man (Galdo) Wasn’t prone to anger Took life in strides (Montaldo)

Joe Tinning

Suspected of killing 8 of her 9 children Admitted to smothering 3 of the eight, but

only the last murder was proven. Happened over the course of 14 years

The Crime

Joseph Tinning

• 2 Yrs Old • Killed 1/20/1972 • Hospital suspected

Reye’s Syndrome, but no cause of death (“Marybeth Tinning”)

Mary Frances Tinning • 4 and a half years old • Killed 3/02/1972 • Reportedly had Reye’s

Syndrome as well (“Marybeth Tinning”)

Not suspected of her murder

Died 1/02/1972 Died from

meningitis(Montaldo)

Jennifer Tinning

3 weeks old Killed 12/10/1973 Reportedly had Sudden Infant

Death Syndrome(SIDS) Marybeth later admits to

smothering him(“Marybeth Tinning”)

Timothy Tinning

5 Months old Killed 9/02/1975 Smothered “Died while in the car”

(“Marybeth Tinning”)

Nathan Tinning

4 Months old Killed 2/22/1979 Hospital reported SIDS (“Marybeth Tinning”)

Mary Frances Tinning

4 Months old Killed 3/24/1980 Hospital reported

cardiopulmonary arrest (“Marybeth Tinning”)

Jonathan Tinning

2 and a half years old Adopted Killed 3/02/1981 Hospital reported viral

pneumonia (“Marybeth Tinning”)

Michael Tinning

4 Months old Killed 12/20/1985 Smothered with pillow Marybeth found guilty of her

murder

Tami Lynne Tinning

Tried to poison Joe Tinning with a lethal dose of phenobarbital.

Stole money from her sister in law, Carol. She agrees to see a psychiatrist, but manages to escape from the hospital without anyone knowing (Galdo)

Early Signs

Before her son Nathan was born she told a coworker she was pregnant and reportedly said “God had told her to kill this one, too”

Supposedly burned down her and Joe’s trailer(“Marybeth Tinning”)

Early Signs Cont.

Police and others became more suspicious after Tami Lynne died(Montaldo)

Brought Marybeth and Joe in for questioning After hours of testing she admitted she

wouldn’t hurt any of her children besides Nathan, Tami Lynne, and Timothy

Suspicion

Forensic Pathologist Asked questions about SIDS Marybeth claimed the kids turned

blue, Baden said that doesn’t happen with SIDS

No way multiple kids in the same family died of SIDS

Suspected smothering Main reason why Marybeth was

further questioned(Montaldo)

Dr. Michael Baden

Claims she was a bad mother Thought kids were going to die eventually

anyway Claimed the Lord told her to do so (Galdo)

Reasoning

Currently 72 serving her 20 to life sentence at Bedford

Hills Correctional Facility for Women in Westchester, NY

Denied parole in 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2013

No new evidence (“Marybeth Tinning”) https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyLSJePGRAc

Present Day

Not scientifically or in terms of procedure Shows that a closer look must be taken Proved this easily could have been

prevented if someone cared to look closer into what was happening

Has it changed forensics?

This case is deeply disturbing to me. What disturbs me the most is that this isn’t the first parent to commit such acts to his or her own children for a long period of time and get away with some/all of what has been done. This easily could have been avoided if someone had cared enough to pay attention and run tests. The father should be persecuted too because there is no way he was oblivious for 14 years.

Montaldo, Charles. "Marybeth Tinning." About.com. N.p., 31 July 2014. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.

Galdo, Mark. "Baby Killer." CrimeLibrary. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.

"Marybeth Tinning." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.

Egginton, Joyce. "Marybeth Tinning." Radford.edu. Radford University, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.

Citations