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From Cradle to Grave: The Short Lives and Strange Deaths of Marybeth Tinning's Nine Children
She drove a school bus in Schenectady, New York. She even worked as a nurse's aide in a pediatric ward. But this seemingly normal woman killed her ninth child by smothering it and is suspected of doing the same to her other eight children--while escaping suspicion for more than a decade.
363 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
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2736 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
May 21, 2012
Reading this book is difficult. Marybeth Tinning's story is upsetting in the extreme, as she kills baby after baby. Egginton tells the story journalistically, with little emotion, reporting the facts. These facts speak for themselves. She shows us interviews with the many, many people who suspected Tinning of murder, and gives us glimpses into the processes.
It does make me feel ill to read it, but I am fascinaed at the same time.
It does make me feel ill to read it, but I am fascinaed at the same time.
April 22, 2021
Munchausen Syndrome taken to the extreme. Damn - this was disturbing!
August 11, 2008
What goes through someones mind when they are writing something like this. It is an incredible story about a woman (I cannot bring myself to call her a mother, sorry) who has Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. She killed nine of her own babies, without detection until the end!! What was going on with the authorities!! Anyway, do not read this book while pregnant or with young children it'll be far too upsetting.
July 31, 2007
Creepy as hell, very disturbing look at a mother who killed ALL of her babies! I was interested in reading because it takes place in Schenectady NY near my sons' homes. Couldn't put it down, it made me think of this woman and her husband for quite awhile after reading. They seemed so normal, yet she was a serial killer and he probably knew it.
March 31, 2015
The story of a mother(Mary Beth)who kills 8 of her 9 children. It shocks me that it took so long for them to actually do something about all the deaths of those babies. She loves all the attention she gets when a child dies which I've heard is typical of MSVP, she also did work in a medical facility which a lot of the times is the case too. Most of the residents who knew her in her small town in New York, believed her story of her children having a genetic disorder.
June 20, 2022
So the story itself is pretty messed up, but this telling of it was a chore to read for other reasons. The writing is clunky and repetitive, and full of superfluous detail. There are chunks of oddly-placed exposition in italics for seemingly no reason. The timeline is all over the place. I got lost in the weird writing and kept forgetting what I was actually reading.
May 15, 2015
The dispassionate actions of this unwell and sad woman are much more disturbing than the bulk of fictional works I've read. 4 stars due to the writing and the depth, not because it was "fun" to read.
August 24, 2024
I am gonna be honest - I was never that much disturbed and distressed by book how I was by this one. It makes me sick that this really happened. Read this book with caution. I wish that this woman will never be free again.
January 22, 2016
Grim tale of a multiple infanticide. Well worth your time.
September 1, 2021
It took 9 dead children for people to finally open their mouths & get involved. Interesting book but much too long.
June 12, 2022
As soon as I saw this book on the shelf, I had to grab it. It’s one I vividly recall my mother reading more than once. It’s definitely a product of it’s time, full of lots of ‘pertinent’ remarks like ‘a mother would never harm her child’ and ‘I thought she was a witch!’ Nevertheless, the case is horrible and fascinating, and definitely cause for deliberation. There’s so much to unpack here, but that’s not surprising, given the generations involved.
March 18, 2019
Loved the book until the end!??? Ugh.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 23, 2024
What a great book
June 13, 2023
Unbelievably, New York State had nothing in position to prevent mothers killing their babies by suffocation, if they felt like it. Which is what MaryBeth Tinning did. Only one doctor, Dr Karpowicz of Albany Medical Center had anything like a suspicion about her seventh natural child, Jonathan's death. He had been admitted to Albany Medical Center in a fatal coma. Extensive tests were made in the thought that it was a metabolic disorder but nothing was found. Some of the doctors thought there may have been an attempt made on his life and reported their thoughts to the New York State Department of Social Services. But there was no hard evidence to back it up.
"several aspects of the case troubled Dr Karpowicz. One was the flaw in the system which pressures doctors to name a cause of death when they cannot be positive. Part of this, he thought, was a pressure from within themselves, the need to come up with some kind of answer rather than admit they did not know. Part of it was a pressure from the system in which they function. In producing an answer, no matter how indeterminate, they precluded any possibility of future investigation. 'When the people at Social Services see a normal diagnosis, they are not going to start looking for child abuse,' Karpowicz argued. 'but if there were an undetermined diagnosis, the case could be reopened for a full investigation at any time.' "
Surely Mary Beth Tinning must have felt there was something wrong with her. In which case, why didn't she seek help? she met the Reverend Burnham Waldo, who also was part of the volunteer firefighters, as MaryBeth was. When a suspicious incident had her practically hysterical, he was summoned to calm her down. She then sought him for session after session, and he must have seemed like a savior to MaryBeth. She could talk to him as she had never been able to talk to her husband Joe.
"Her husband, painfully shy and inarticulate, seemed so out of touch with his own feelings that he could never have been much emotional support to her. His own childhood home was a place where love was taken for granted rather than demonstrated, and anger never got out of control. Equally, joe's religious upbringing - fundamentalist, authoritarian and scriptural- gave him no insights into the emotional Tempest which could tear at the soul of a Marybeth. Theirs was a marriage of unrecognized emotional longings, in which both Partners were barely cognizant of the existence of their own needs, let alone each other's; a partnership held together by habit, Duty and fear of the alternative."
And sex, apparently.
A Dr DiMaio was the considered expert on Munchausen syndrome and Munchausen by proxy syndrome.
"DiMaio had reached his own conclusions about why certain women repeatedly killed their babies and how they are able to avoid suspicion.
'It's a classical pattern,' he said. 'a mother will come to an emergency room and say that her child turned blue and stopped breathing. A doctor resuscitates the child and sends it home, but she is back in a day or two with the same story. This time the hospital staff gets really worried and does a work-up on the child but can find nothing. Before long the mother is back again, and a whole lot of Specialists get called in. All these doctors keep looking for some mysterious disease, but they do not get suspicious.
'with these repetitive suffocations, the mothers don't mean to do away with the child. They are not psychopaths. They just want attention. Some of them make multiple trips to the hospital, and if only pediatricians could recognize what is going on, they might prevent a few babies from dying.....
'they [pediatricians] think that all mothers care about their children and find it very difficult to accept that some mothers don't. A forensic scientist has a different approach. In my job I see a murder a day, and I can pick up on a case like this in 30 seconds. I would be able to recognize when a mother had been killing her children while the standard physician would be shaking his head and saying that this could not be.' "
The reader is wondering what is the problem with these doctors that they can't see, by the 8th kid, that she's a baby killer. When they do finally get Marybeth in jail and charge her with the murder of her latest kid, Tami lynne, she actually gets bailed out of jail.
"She spent almost 6 weeks in the Oneida County jail before being released on $100,000 bail. Joe and his parents went to extraordinary lengths to raise the money, he calling every acquaintance he could think of, and they teleponing around duanesburg to members of their church and the volunteer ambulance Corps. This must have been painfully embarrassing for such very private people, but all three of them had committed themselves to supporting Marybeth, who by now was protesting her innocence. Joe, who rarely asked a favor of of anyone, even begged one former associate to take out a loan on a piece of property he owned. With some embarrassment the man refused. Joe's father's calls were more oblique. 'he didn't come straight to the point,' said one recipient. 'he talked about how difficult it was to raise bail money and how it didn't have to be cash, that other people could put up Securities and these needn't pass out of their hands. He was giving me this information in the hope that I would volunteer, but I avoided the issue by asking how MaryBeth's case was going. Later young Joe called and asked straight out if I could help.'
More than 100 people were telephoned. Most of them refused. Joe also took a lot of teasing at work from colleagues who had their own crude suggestions about why he was so anxious to have his wife at home.... "
During her Court sessions, MaryBeth acted more like she was her lawyer Paul Callahan's assistant, instead of his client.
"Avoiding the press, she would arrive at the second floor courtroom by a back elevator, usually with Joe at her heels, and settle herself at the defense attorneys bench to the left of Paul Callahan. There she would unzip a new leather briefcase, take out some papers, and shuffle them around importantly. As the testimony proceeded, she made copious notes, occasionally passing one of them to Callahan as if presenting him with vital information. The half glasses which hung from a silver chain around her neck were taking on and off as she glanced from the papers on her desk to the witness box. Something about her was familiar - not the clothes but the behavior, something about her efficient attentiveness to her lawyer, her eagerness to help and please him, the way she cocked her head to one side to hear him better. From the first day of her trial MaryBeth had cast herself in a new role, Dallas Street to Callahan's Perry Mason. She no longer bore any resemblance to the dowdy little housewife whom St Clare's nurses remember..."
Paul Callahan, the defense attorney, hired Dr Emery, Who came from England for the defense witness. He had some interesting information about sudden infant death in England, that differed very much from how it's perceived here. He also explained the origin of SIDS:
" 'if you go back into the literature of sudden infant death,' Emery explained, 'it was claimed that most of the mothers were drunk, and a lot of parents were being harassed by the police and other people and blamed for these deaths, when in fact there was no evidence that they had done any harm to their babies at all. There was a group in Seattle in the state of Washington in this country who felt very strongly about this, and they had some meetings and said, let us, as it were, invent a term to describe babies that are found unexpectedly dead, and we will say that this is a natural cause of death so that these parents shall not be harassed. They called it sudden infant death syndrome and this had a very calming effect and made it possible to help these people.' "
I believe the author was as Fair as she could be in reporting the facts about MaryBeth Tinning and her suffocated children. So many times mothers who lash out at their children do so because their husbands are not available to help them or to help with the children. Whenever you see a mother doing some harm to their children, look to see where the husband/father is. MaryBeth had married a man who was emotionally unavailable, apparently only available for sex. He did stand by her, but I believe this is just because he had no brains.
I have very little sympathy for people who have mental illness and do not seek help. I Agree that in a third world country or perhaps even in a developing country, it's hard to receive help for mental illness, but in any first world country, you have but to ask to receive help. From my personal experience, these people make the lives of their families and friends hell on earth. Not only that, but it worsens their mental illness over the years to have no medical treatment.
"several aspects of the case troubled Dr Karpowicz. One was the flaw in the system which pressures doctors to name a cause of death when they cannot be positive. Part of this, he thought, was a pressure from within themselves, the need to come up with some kind of answer rather than admit they did not know. Part of it was a pressure from the system in which they function. In producing an answer, no matter how indeterminate, they precluded any possibility of future investigation. 'When the people at Social Services see a normal diagnosis, they are not going to start looking for child abuse,' Karpowicz argued. 'but if there were an undetermined diagnosis, the case could be reopened for a full investigation at any time.' "
Surely Mary Beth Tinning must have felt there was something wrong with her. In which case, why didn't she seek help? she met the Reverend Burnham Waldo, who also was part of the volunteer firefighters, as MaryBeth was. When a suspicious incident had her practically hysterical, he was summoned to calm her down. She then sought him for session after session, and he must have seemed like a savior to MaryBeth. She could talk to him as she had never been able to talk to her husband Joe.
"Her husband, painfully shy and inarticulate, seemed so out of touch with his own feelings that he could never have been much emotional support to her. His own childhood home was a place where love was taken for granted rather than demonstrated, and anger never got out of control. Equally, joe's religious upbringing - fundamentalist, authoritarian and scriptural- gave him no insights into the emotional Tempest which could tear at the soul of a Marybeth. Theirs was a marriage of unrecognized emotional longings, in which both Partners were barely cognizant of the existence of their own needs, let alone each other's; a partnership held together by habit, Duty and fear of the alternative."
And sex, apparently.
A Dr DiMaio was the considered expert on Munchausen syndrome and Munchausen by proxy syndrome.
"DiMaio had reached his own conclusions about why certain women repeatedly killed their babies and how they are able to avoid suspicion.
'It's a classical pattern,' he said. 'a mother will come to an emergency room and say that her child turned blue and stopped breathing. A doctor resuscitates the child and sends it home, but she is back in a day or two with the same story. This time the hospital staff gets really worried and does a work-up on the child but can find nothing. Before long the mother is back again, and a whole lot of Specialists get called in. All these doctors keep looking for some mysterious disease, but they do not get suspicious.
'with these repetitive suffocations, the mothers don't mean to do away with the child. They are not psychopaths. They just want attention. Some of them make multiple trips to the hospital, and if only pediatricians could recognize what is going on, they might prevent a few babies from dying.....
'they [pediatricians] think that all mothers care about their children and find it very difficult to accept that some mothers don't. A forensic scientist has a different approach. In my job I see a murder a day, and I can pick up on a case like this in 30 seconds. I would be able to recognize when a mother had been killing her children while the standard physician would be shaking his head and saying that this could not be.' "
The reader is wondering what is the problem with these doctors that they can't see, by the 8th kid, that she's a baby killer. When they do finally get Marybeth in jail and charge her with the murder of her latest kid, Tami lynne, she actually gets bailed out of jail.
"She spent almost 6 weeks in the Oneida County jail before being released on $100,000 bail. Joe and his parents went to extraordinary lengths to raise the money, he calling every acquaintance he could think of, and they teleponing around duanesburg to members of their church and the volunteer ambulance Corps. This must have been painfully embarrassing for such very private people, but all three of them had committed themselves to supporting Marybeth, who by now was protesting her innocence. Joe, who rarely asked a favor of of anyone, even begged one former associate to take out a loan on a piece of property he owned. With some embarrassment the man refused. Joe's father's calls were more oblique. 'he didn't come straight to the point,' said one recipient. 'he talked about how difficult it was to raise bail money and how it didn't have to be cash, that other people could put up Securities and these needn't pass out of their hands. He was giving me this information in the hope that I would volunteer, but I avoided the issue by asking how MaryBeth's case was going. Later young Joe called and asked straight out if I could help.'
More than 100 people were telephoned. Most of them refused. Joe also took a lot of teasing at work from colleagues who had their own crude suggestions about why he was so anxious to have his wife at home.... "
During her Court sessions, MaryBeth acted more like she was her lawyer Paul Callahan's assistant, instead of his client.
"Avoiding the press, she would arrive at the second floor courtroom by a back elevator, usually with Joe at her heels, and settle herself at the defense attorneys bench to the left of Paul Callahan. There she would unzip a new leather briefcase, take out some papers, and shuffle them around importantly. As the testimony proceeded, she made copious notes, occasionally passing one of them to Callahan as if presenting him with vital information. The half glasses which hung from a silver chain around her neck were taking on and off as she glanced from the papers on her desk to the witness box. Something about her was familiar - not the clothes but the behavior, something about her efficient attentiveness to her lawyer, her eagerness to help and please him, the way she cocked her head to one side to hear him better. From the first day of her trial MaryBeth had cast herself in a new role, Dallas Street to Callahan's Perry Mason. She no longer bore any resemblance to the dowdy little housewife whom St Clare's nurses remember..."
Paul Callahan, the defense attorney, hired Dr Emery, Who came from England for the defense witness. He had some interesting information about sudden infant death in England, that differed very much from how it's perceived here. He also explained the origin of SIDS:
" 'if you go back into the literature of sudden infant death,' Emery explained, 'it was claimed that most of the mothers were drunk, and a lot of parents were being harassed by the police and other people and blamed for these deaths, when in fact there was no evidence that they had done any harm to their babies at all. There was a group in Seattle in the state of Washington in this country who felt very strongly about this, and they had some meetings and said, let us, as it were, invent a term to describe babies that are found unexpectedly dead, and we will say that this is a natural cause of death so that these parents shall not be harassed. They called it sudden infant death syndrome and this had a very calming effect and made it possible to help these people.' "
I believe the author was as Fair as she could be in reporting the facts about MaryBeth Tinning and her suffocated children. So many times mothers who lash out at their children do so because their husbands are not available to help them or to help with the children. Whenever you see a mother doing some harm to their children, look to see where the husband/father is. MaryBeth had married a man who was emotionally unavailable, apparently only available for sex. He did stand by her, but I believe this is just because he had no brains.
I have very little sympathy for people who have mental illness and do not seek help. I Agree that in a third world country or perhaps even in a developing country, it's hard to receive help for mental illness, but in any first world country, you have but to ask to receive help. From my personal experience, these people make the lives of their families and friends hell on earth. Not only that, but it worsens their mental illness over the years to have no medical treatment.
March 6, 2020
It's not really possible for me to rate this book, it's just too heartbreaking to like. I started the story because I was interested to find out what kind of person could do something so horrifying to her children, and finished it only with the sense that I could never understand someone like this. They defy all logic. Marybeth Tinning maintains that she loved her children, but if this is true why did she bury all of them long before their natural lives ever would have been over? The only child we can say with certainty that she didn't have a hand in killing was her third child Jennifer, and even then it's suspected that the meningitis the baby got in utero that did kill her was caused by Marybeth attempting to induce labor. What kind of fractured personality does it take for someone to kill her children and then say with complete certainty that she had nothing to do with it? After reading this book I have more questions about this woman's mental health than the answers I was looking for.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 4, 2009
POTENTIAL SPOILERS:
It seems odd to give a rating of "I really liked it" to a book written about the suspicious deaths of 9 children in the same family. It was well written by Ms. Egginton and that is from where my rating stems.
I consider myself a rational person and can only see things from my perspective of rationality - I can not possibly fathom how someone could watch child after child die and not want to know why - why no genetic testing, why did the couple continue having children, why did it take 9 deaths before a real investigation was launched?
This book doesn't give a great deal of insight into the mind of Marybeth Tinning - mostly due to her lack of participation and honesty. What can be learned about her is gleaned from former friends, co-workers, neighbors and family members. But ... you can learn a great deal from people's impressions of her and why they all (with the exception of her husband and a few family members) eventually pull away.
It seems odd to give a rating of "I really liked it" to a book written about the suspicious deaths of 9 children in the same family. It was well written by Ms. Egginton and that is from where my rating stems.
I consider myself a rational person and can only see things from my perspective of rationality - I can not possibly fathom how someone could watch child after child die and not want to know why - why no genetic testing, why did the couple continue having children, why did it take 9 deaths before a real investigation was launched?
This book doesn't give a great deal of insight into the mind of Marybeth Tinning - mostly due to her lack of participation and honesty. What can be learned about her is gleaned from former friends, co-workers, neighbors and family members. But ... you can learn a great deal from people's impressions of her and why they all (with the exception of her husband and a few family members) eventually pull away.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 27, 2012
I read the book in Dutch: En toen was het stil.
Zelf overlever zijnde van een moeder die kindermishandeling door Münchhausen by proxy pleegde, moest ik dit boek gelezen hebben. Het boek is een rapport van een onderszoeksjournaliste. Het leest dan ook bijna documentarisch. Zeer goed weergegeven en vooral voor mensen die het niet zelf bij de hand gehad hebben, moet het ongelooflijk zijn dat iemand 8 eigen baby's en 1 geadopteerd kindje kan vermoorden eer er iemand erg in heeft. En het gebeurt nog steeds en het zal blijven gebeuren als er niet veel meer bekend wordt over deze vorm van kindermishandeling.
Kortom een heel erg goed boek dat een zeer duidelijk beeld geeft over Münchhausen by proxy.
Zelf overlever zijnde van een moeder die kindermishandeling door Münchhausen by proxy pleegde, moest ik dit boek gelezen hebben. Het boek is een rapport van een onderszoeksjournaliste. Het leest dan ook bijna documentarisch. Zeer goed weergegeven en vooral voor mensen die het niet zelf bij de hand gehad hebben, moet het ongelooflijk zijn dat iemand 8 eigen baby's en 1 geadopteerd kindje kan vermoorden eer er iemand erg in heeft. En het gebeurt nog steeds en het zal blijven gebeuren als er niet veel meer bekend wordt over deze vorm van kindermishandeling.
Kortom een heel erg goed boek dat een zeer duidelijk beeld geeft over Münchhausen by proxy.
December 12, 2015
The true story about a disturbed woman who was accused of killing her children over two decades in my hometown Schenectady, New York. Nine children died during this time period and the likelihood of Marybeth Tinning, their mother, being the murderer is for you to decide. It's surreal to read street names and landmarks that I grew up with while not knowing their significance. I highly recommend this book.
January 31, 2019
Make me want to read it when I was awake in the middle of the night? check
Make me tell me tell my friends all about it and hope they'll read it? check
Make me compare all the visions-of-grandeur/hero/victim folks I know to the main character with shock and glee? yep
Teach me all about the fascinating psychology of infanticide? Yup.
5 stars
Make me tell me tell my friends all about it and hope they'll read it? check
Make me compare all the visions-of-grandeur/hero/victim folks I know to the main character with shock and glee? yep
Teach me all about the fascinating psychology of infanticide? Yup.
5 stars
March 3, 2017
These true crime novels never cease to amaze me. The capacity we humans have for evil can seem endless. There is no doubt in my mind this woman is guilty and I am glad she is in jail where she belongs!
November 14, 2024
Nine children died before anyone did anything about it. Was Marybeth Tinnings killing her children, or was it SIDS? At the time, it was believed that SIDS could happen in subsequent siblings, but now we know more about the condition. Marybeth had a difficult childhood. She was odd, unaccepted and often resorted to lying to get attention. There was something about her father being unkind to her, punishing her when he didn't punish her younger brother, never showing her affection or praising her for anything...and it was suspected there may have been additional abuse. Marybeth manipulated her easy-going husband, crying to get what she wanted, spending too much of his hard-earned money. They had two beautiful children, ages 4 and 2. But, when Marybeth's father died right before Marybeth bore her third child, she suffered a breakdown of some kind. That third baby died of meningitis. Within three months, her other two children had died as well. Three children buried in three months....and it was just the beginning.
The fact that Marybeth never received any help from a psychiatrist really bothered me. She was obviously very sick. But, because she was a hard worker, and kind to others, the deaths of her children did not seem more than just a genetic abnormality of some sort, and she was greatly pitied over each loss. Then, with each new pregnancy there were baby showers and hope... all for naught. Eventually some of her family and friends were suspicious. But, still no one sought help for her. This was such a tragic book about a very tragic series of events. The reader is horrified by the children's deaths, but equally horrified by the senselessness of it all. And, what of Marybeth? As a child, she should have been treasured and loved. Had her father been good to her, perhaps none of his nine grandbabies would have followed him into his grave. A gripping story of senseless losses and of justice not truly served.
The fact that Marybeth never received any help from a psychiatrist really bothered me. She was obviously very sick. But, because she was a hard worker, and kind to others, the deaths of her children did not seem more than just a genetic abnormality of some sort, and she was greatly pitied over each loss. Then, with each new pregnancy there were baby showers and hope... all for naught. Eventually some of her family and friends were suspicious. But, still no one sought help for her. This was such a tragic book about a very tragic series of events. The reader is horrified by the children's deaths, but equally horrified by the senselessness of it all. And, what of Marybeth? As a child, she should have been treasured and loved. Had her father been good to her, perhaps none of his nine grandbabies would have followed him into his grave. A gripping story of senseless losses and of justice not truly served.
June 2, 2021
This book is well-researched and very thorough, which explains the nearly 400 pages. It can be a bit droll at times (as facts tend to be) so it took me a while to get through it. This is a fascinating true-crime story about an obviously mentally ill woman who ended up murdering all nine of her children- eight biological, one adopted. I have no idea how she managed to go for so long killing one child after another and very few, if any, accusations were made. Especially after her adopted son died, it seemed like that would be a catalyst for involving law enforcement, yet again nothing concrete was done. And the fact that she was obviously poisoning her husband and once nearly fatally poisoned him-- yet she was free to live and get pregnant again and smother yet another baby. Her odd, embellished stories, the arsons, the poisonings, the truck stop hookups, and the smothering of her children all show just how mentally ill Marybeth Tinning is. I really appreciated the end chapter where the author tries to help explain what could be behind Marybeth's actions. Really that is what I wanted the whole time- some sort of explanation, a diagnosis, a REASON why Marybeth would do and act the way she did. Obviously there is no real answer, only conjecture.
I resisted googling Marybeth until I finished the book, and was surprised to read that she is still alive and was released from prison in 2018.
This book very much reminded me of Helter Skelter in terms of its thoroughness and details (and length!).
I resisted googling Marybeth until I finished the book, and was surprised to read that she is still alive and was released from prison in 2018.
This book very much reminded me of Helter Skelter in terms of its thoroughness and details (and length!).
February 24, 2019
I gave this book five stars because the author went into depth with her research into this riveting, heartbreaking case.
This is the true case of a woman who, under the diagnosis of munchausen's syndrome, murdered her children one by one shortly after they were born.
Frankly, I don't buy the munchausen's syndrome thing; I think this is just a label that a cold-blooded, psychopathic, premeditating murderess with no conscience can hide behind and then "justify" murdering her own flesh and blood.
As far as the husband is concerned, I have no doubt in my mind he knew what was happening and simply closed his eyes to it because he didn't want his boat rocked.
That being said, if you like true crime, this is a great book to read and duly worthy of the five stars that I gave it.
This is the true case of a woman who, under the diagnosis of munchausen's syndrome, murdered her children one by one shortly after they were born.
Frankly, I don't buy the munchausen's syndrome thing; I think this is just a label that a cold-blooded, psychopathic, premeditating murderess with no conscience can hide behind and then "justify" murdering her own flesh and blood.
As far as the husband is concerned, I have no doubt in my mind he knew what was happening and simply closed his eyes to it because he didn't want his boat rocked.
That being said, if you like true crime, this is a great book to read and duly worthy of the five stars that I gave it.
January 22, 2023
What an awful woman! I know people who are struggling with infertility, and to see this woman, almosy exactly mother's age, kill all the babies in her care, white with rage.
How a woman of 42 can be so "inexperienced" with babies that she didn't know about refrigerating formula, or that diapers need to be changed, or that *babies cry* is one of those things that looks obvious in hindsight, but may not be apparent at the time.'
You know what's worse? She's out of prison, living with poor Joe, who must be in fear for his life every time he sits down for a meal or drink with her.
How a woman of 42 can be so "inexperienced" with babies that she didn't know about refrigerating formula, or that diapers need to be changed, or that *babies cry* is one of those things that looks obvious in hindsight, but may not be apparent at the time.'
You know what's worse? She's out of prison, living with poor Joe, who must be in fear for his life every time he sits down for a meal or drink with her.
February 29, 2024
A tuff read, a real story that sounds like fiction! This book is full of details and background and stories related to the case of Marybeth Tinning's showing her full life and character. It's such a heart reaching story but has wonderful insights into her twisted mind and horrible condition. 3 starts as some chapters were fillers, and I found myself losing interest or feeling like the information was repeated. However, I am glad I read this story to honour 9 beautiful lives and remember them always.
October 21, 2020
This was a very well presented, true crime story about a young mother and the deaths of her 9 children, most within months of their birth. The gaps in the Social Service and law enforcement systems allowed this to go on way longer than one would expect. Although eventually convicted of the murder of her last child, the portrayal of her as a person left me feeling that now the justice system had failed her. She seemed to be very much in need of psychiatric help.
February 19, 2023
Back from the 70’s to 80’s, Marybeth Tinning had 9 children pass away in their infancy. Eight of these children, Marybeth gave birth to and the 9th was one she and her husband, Joe, adopted. Marybeth seemed like a normal woman living in Schenectady, NY with her husband, but the truth was far from that. Unfortunately, all 9 children had to die before someone finally put the law to the case to find justice for those innocent children.
For a book written years ago, this certainly was written a lot better than some other true crime books that I have read in the more recent months. This story is mind blowing and goes to show you how much can be swept under the rug sometimes. These murders were before nurses were allowed to report and even before CPS was fully established and running. It’s sad that some of these deaths could have been prevented. I know there have been a few cases of infanticide in the news lately so this was interesting timing for this book pick.
On the Cat Scale:
😺😺😺
For a book written years ago, this certainly was written a lot better than some other true crime books that I have read in the more recent months. This story is mind blowing and goes to show you how much can be swept under the rug sometimes. These murders were before nurses were allowed to report and even before CPS was fully established and running. It’s sad that some of these deaths could have been prevented. I know there have been a few cases of infanticide in the news lately so this was interesting timing for this book pick.
On the Cat Scale:
😺😺😺
February 15, 2020
Strasidelne. Ako si mohol niekto tak dlho nevsimnut, co sa dialo?
A co sa dialo v hlave matky, ktora putala na seba pozornost tymto strasnym sposobom?
A co sa dialo v hlave matky, ktora putala na seba pozornost tymto strasnym sposobom?
October 20, 2020
My cousin was cleaning out a trailer and this was in there, so I grabbed it for something different to read. Fascinating story.
April 22, 2022
I'm still baffled as to how she got away with it for so long, especially after the adopted child.
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