Marybeth Tinning

American serial killer (born 1942)

Marybeth Roe Tinning (born September 11, 1942) is an American murderer and suspected serial killer who was convicted in New York State of the murder of her ninth child, 4 month old daughter Tami Lynne, on December 20, 1985. She is suspected to be similarly involved in the previous deaths of her eight children, all of which took place within the span of fourteen years. The causes of death for Tinning's first eight children was initially thought to be genetic. Even when their sixth child, Michael who was adopted and not of blood relation died in 1981, authorities failed to open an investigation. Eventually, Schenectady County prosecutors had enough evidence a laboratory test indicating death from asphyxia by suffocation to charge Tinning in Tami Lynne's death. In July 1987, she was convicted of second degree murder

Tinning was incarcerated at Taconic Correctional Facility in Bedford Hills, New York. She was denied parole six times, but was granted parole at her seventh hearing in July 2018 and was released on August 21 of that year.

Marybeth Roe was born to Ruth and Alton Lewis Roe on September 11, 1942, in the small town of Duanesburg, New York. There is little information available regarding her formative years. During some of this time, Marybeth's father was deployed overseas fighting in World War II, while her mother worked. Because both parents were frequently absent, Marybeth was occasionally shuffled among relatives; one elderly relative told her that she was an unwanted, accidental child. When her little brother reached adolescence, Marybeth told him, "You were the one they wanted, not me." On completion of his active duty, Marybeth's father worked as a press operator in a nearby General Electric factory, which was the area's largest employer at the time. As an adult, she once claimed that her father abused her when she was a child. During a police interview in 1986, she told one investigator that her father had beaten her and locked her in a closet. During court testimony, she denied that her father had bad intentions. "My father hit me with a flyswatter," she told the court, "because he had arthritis and his hands were not of much use. And when he locked me in my room, I guess he thought I deserved it.”

In 1963, Marybeth met Joseph Tinning on a blind date. They married in 1965 and their first child, Barbara, was born in May 1967, followed in January 1970 by Joseph Jr. In October 1971, Marybeth's father died of a heart attack. She lived for only a week and never left the hospital; she died on January 3, 1972. Two weeks after Jennifer's death, Tinning took two year old Joseph Jr. to the Ellis Hospital emergency room in Schenectady, claiming that he had experienced a seizure and choked on his own vomit. Doctors found nothing wrong with him; he stayed in the hospital for several days under observation and was released. On January 20, a few hours after his release, Marybeth brought him back to the emergency room. He was dead on arrival, and his death was attributed to cardiac arrest. On that day, the Tinnings were visited by Betsy Mannix of Schenectady County's Department of Social Services, and by Bob Imfeld of the Schenectady Police Department, concerning Tami Lynne's death.

Marybeth and Joseph Tinning were separately taken to the Schenectady Police Department for questioning about Tami Lynne's death. During the police interrogation, Marybeth signed a document confessing that she had murdered Tami Lynne, Timothy, and Nathan. She was arrested and charged with Tami Lynne's murder. Dr. Michael M. Baden, the lead forensic pathologist and member of the New York State Police's special forensic unit, determined that Tami Lynne's death was a result of smothering. After charging Marybeth in the killing, officials said that they considered the deaths of the eight other Tinning children to be suspicious. Marybeth Tinning made her $100,000 bail payment and was released from custody until her trial date.

Tinning's murder trial began in Schenectady County Court on June 22, 1987. Dr. Bradley Ford, Tami Lynne's pediatrician, testified on behalf of the prosecution, saying Tinning had dismissed his suggestion that, due to her previous children's deaths, she should install a specialized alarm device enabling the monitoring of the baby's breathing and heart rate. Two additional prosecution witnesses, Dr. Marie Valdes Dapena of the SIDS Foundation, and Schenectady County medical examiner Thomas Oram, testified that they had concluded that Tami Lynne was smothered to death with a soft object. After the six week trial, the jury deliberated for twenty three hours across three days, and found Tinning guilty of one count of second degree murder. During their deliberation, jurors called for a read back of the portions of Joseph's testimony recounting his wife's alleged confession to State Police. In his testimony, Joseph said that he had a five minute conversation with his wife after the police questioning, and she told him, "I killed Tami". Marybeth was acquitted by the seven man, five woman jury of the count of "deliberately" causing the infant's death, but was convicted of murder by "depraved indifference to human life" count. Tinning placed her hands over her eyes and sobbed quietly as the verdict was announced. Joseph later said, "I still think she's innocent." Tinning received a sentence of twenty years to life in prison, five years shorter than the maximum penalty for the crime. She was imprisoned at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women. She appealed on the grounds that her confession was not voluntarily given and that her conviction was not supported by sufficient evidence. In 1988, her appeal was denied by the New York State Supreme Court's Appellate Division.

Tinning's first attempt at 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. 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. In late January 2009, Tinning went before the parole board for the second time. She stated "I was going through bad times" when she killed her daughter. The parole board again denied her parole, stating that her remorse was "superficial at best". Tinning became eligible for parole again in January 2011. At that hearing, Tinning said: "After the deaths of my other children I just lost it. (I) became a damaged worthless piece of person and when my daughter was young, in my state of mind at that time, I just believed that she was going to die also. So I just did it." For this hearing, Tinning was supported by people from Georgetown University Law Center and people she worked with in prison, who described her as the "most loving, most generous, caring person that they have ever met." She was denied parole due to her lack of remorse. Tinning's next opportunity for parole was in February 2015. The parole board again denied her release, finding that she continued to demonstrate no understanding or remorse for taking her child's life. She was denied parole for the sixth time in January 2017. Tinning, 76, was released on parole on August 21, 2018, after serving 31 years. Her husband, Joseph, who had supported her throughout her imprisonment, was present for her release. As part of her release, Tinning was ordered to remain under parole supervision for the rest of her life. A Department of Corrections spokesperson stated Tinning lives in Schenectady County. She has a curfew and must attend domestic violence counseling.