Munchausen by Proxy – Marybeth Tinning

Arrest and Admission

Police consulted a chief medical examiner and SIDS expert, Dr Michael Baden, who advised them that it was beyond impossibility for a family to lose 3,4 or more children to SIDS and also that SIDS babies do not turn blue as Marybeth had suggested many of her children had. This is, in fact, a sign of homicidal asphyxia; the babies had most likely been smothered.

Marybeth was arrested for the suspected murder of her daughter Tami Lynne on February 4^th 1986 and subjected to hours of questioning. She admitted to detectives that she had murdered 3 of her children, saying:

“I did not do anything to Jennifer, Joseph, Barbara, Michael, Mary Frances, or Jonathan, just these three, Timothy, Nathan and Tami. I smothered them each with a pillow because I’m not a good mother. I’m not a good mother because of the other children.”

Imprisonment

On the afternoon of July 17^th 1987 after a lengthy trial Marybeth was found guilty of murder in the second degree of her daughter Tami Lynne. Detectives had tried to prosecute her for Timothy and Nathan as well, bodies were even exhumed but no solid evidence could be found to support the charges so they were dropped. Marybeth was sentenced on October 2^nd 1987 to 20 years to life

Marybeth has been before the parole board in Schenectady 4 times since becoming eligible for Parole in 2007, each time her parole has been denied, with her last appearance being in January 2013 and her next in January 2015.

SOURCES

• http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/mental-disorders/munchausen5.htm
• http://www.aacn.org/wd/cetests/media/c106.pdf
• http://voices.yahoo.com/severe-cases-munchausen-syndrome-proxy-7305076.html
• http://earthops.org/munchausen/92jun006.html~
• http://jimfishertruecrime.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/marybeth-tinning-worst-munchausen.html
• http://www.crimecasefiles.com/forum/famous-crime-cases/203-marybeth-tinning.html
• http://crime.about.com/od/female_offenders/a/marybeth-tinning.htm
• https://murderpedia.org/female.T/t/tinning-marybeth.htm
• http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2013/jan/10/0110_tinning/
• http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/14-years-tiny-corpses-authorities-finally-action-murderous-mother-article-1.122089
• http://www.crimecasefiles.com/forum/famous-crime-cases/203-marybeth-tinning.html

Clare Whitfield Chief Editor

Clare Whitfield is the Editor of Stay at Home Mum and a recognised voice in practical home management for Australian families. Based in the northern suburbs of Sydney, she balances editorial leadership with life as a stay at home mum to two school age children. Her background in home economics and more than a decade of experience in recipe development, family budgeting, and household systems inform her work.

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