OSBORN, Mary - trial
Source: Muncie Star Press Tue 21 March 1950 p 7
Covington, Ind March 20 – Trial of Mrs. Mary Osborn, 39 of Covington on a charge of giving her husband a fatal dose of poison last Christmas Eve has been set for next Wednesday in the Fountain Circuit Court here.
Source: Richmond, Indiana Palladium-Item Fri 23 June 1950 p 11
Covington, Ind - Mrs. Mary Ellen Osborn who said, "I will sign it, but I didn't do it," was convicted of first degree murder Thursday night in the poison death of her husband. The Fountain Circuit court jury found the 39-year-old farm woman guilty of giving a fatal dose of arsenic to her husband, Amandus Osborn, 49 years old, last Christmas. He died the next day, calling, "Mary, Mary." The jury deliberated almost eight hours before returning its verdict. Mrs. Osborn showed no emotion as the jurors were polled to confirm the verdict. The state had labeled her in closing arguments, "the tigress of Fulton township." Prosecutor Carl Henthorn said, "The facts of the case warrant a death penalty, which I would ask were the defendant not a woman."
SUITOR SOUGHT
He told the jury Mrs. Osborn wanted to do away with her husband because she had fallen in love with a 30-year-old apple picker, Robert Tibbetts. Tibbets was wanted as a witness in the trial but never was located. The prosecution contended she put arsenice, "enough to kill a horse," in Osborn's buttermilk on Christmas Day. The defense pictured her as a woman tricked. She acknowledged signing two statements admitting her guilt, but said she had denied at the time that she killed her husband. Her lawyers denied there was anything illicit in her relations with Tibbetts and said, "There is nothing hidden about the affair." Mrs. Osborn was indicted after an autopsy showed a fatal dose of poison in Osborn's body. The statements were introduced in the trial by Coroner Charles Fishero and accepted as evidence over the objects of the defense.
Source: Kakakee Valley Post DeMotte, Jasper County 10 March 1950 p2
Veedersburg, Ind – A 39-year-old Fountain County farm wife confessed last night she murdered her husband with a dose of arsenic in a glass of milk during a family quarrel Dec. 26, authorities said. Mrs. Mary Pursley Osborne admitted giving the arsenic to Amandus K. Osborne, 49, in a statement to Fountain County Coroner Charles Fishero at Fishero’s home. Her two children, Grace, 19, and George, 17, were present.
Fishero said he became suspicious because no apparent cause of death could be found. An autopsy and tests by an Indiana University toxicologist disclosed a large quantity of arsenic in Osborne’s stomach, he said. Mrs. Osborne was taken to the Fountain County jail at Covington pending a grand jury investigation today. Week-end guests at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Frams Sr., were Mr. and Mrs. Earl Struble of Gary and Mr. and Mrs. Adani Smith and daughter of Medaryville.
Source: Terre Haute Star Thursday 16 March 1950 p 11
Covington, Ind March 15 - A grand jury returned a first-degree murder indictment today against a 39-year-old farm wife accused of giving her husband a lethal potion of poison last Christmas Eve. The woman is Mrs. Mary Osborn. When Sheriff Chester Cooper arrested her a week ago he said she told him she had poisoned her husband, Amandus K. Osborn, 49 because, "I was mad at him." The sheriff said Mrs. Osborn admitted she put poison in a glass of milk she served her husband but the officer also quoted her as saying, "I didn't know it would do anything to him." Mrs. Osborn has been held in jail since her arrest and she was notified in her cell of the action. Osborn died the day after Christmas. An investigation was begun when the attending physician refused to sign a death certificate. Coroner Charles Fishero sent Osborn's vital organs to the Indiana University Medical Center for examination and toxicologists reported they found enough arsenic to cause death. The Osborn home is south of Covington. Mrs. Osborn is the mother of two children, Grace, 19 and George 17.
Source: Unknown newspaper
Covington – Attorneys for Mrs. Mary Ellen Osborn have filed a motion for a new trial in the Fountain Circuit Coury. Mrs. Osborn was convicted here June 22 of first degree murder in the arsenic death of her husband, Amandus K, 39, Dec 26, 1949. The jury set her penalty at life in prison. The new motion cites 15 causes for a new trial according to Karl Overbeck (sic) of Veedersburg, chief defense counsel. One of them is an alleged statement by the foreman of the jury before the trial was over that in his opinion Mrs. Osborn was guilty. Mrs. Osborn was convicted here after a trial which lasted three weeks. One week was consumed in the selection of a jury. The state contended that Mrs. Osborn poisoned her husband as part of a love triangle plot involving Robert Tibbetts of Cates. Mrs. Osborn is now in the Indiana Women’s prison at Indianapolis. – kbz
Source: Unknown newspaper
Mrs. Mary Ellen Osborn convicted of the poison death of her husband, Amandus K. Osborn was sentenced to life imprisonment Saturday morning by Judge Roy C. Fenders in Fountain Circuit Court. Judge Fenters pronounced sentence at ____ after a jury of 4 women and 8 men had found the 30-year-old farm wife of near Cates guilty of first degree murder. The jury given the case at 2:37 p.m. Thursday returned its verdict at 10:35 p.m. Thursday. Mrs. Osborn charged with having given her husband arsenic poison in a glass of milk last Christmas day, showed no sign of emotion as Judge Fenters imposed the life penalty. When asked by the jurix if there was any reason as to why the sentence should not be imposed, Mrs. Osborn murdered no. Mrs. Osborn was taken from the courtroom at 11:09 a.m. Sheriff Chester Cooper announced she would be taken to the state women’s prison in Indianapolis Monday. Karl Overbeck defense counsel indicated he probably would file a motion for a new trial. Sentencing of Mrs. Osborn climaxed a trial last two weeks during which the state took the testimony of 17 witnesses. The defense called five witnesses. Mrs. Osborn was indicted by a Fountain County grand jury after Coroner Charles Fishero announced she had confessed the poison death of her husband. She had been a prisoner in the Fountain County jail since. The husband who was 40 years old died at the family home near Cates last Dec 26… (missing)
~~~Transcribed and Typed by kbz