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.
