From cradle to grave : the short lives and strange deaths of Marybeth Tinning's nine children

382 Pages·1990·20.758 MB·English

by  Egginton, Joyce

FPT ISBN O0-b88-0?5bb-5 >418.95
FROM GRADLE
HGRAVE
Nine Children |
Joyce Egginton
Year after year, one after another, the
babies of Marybeth Tinning died, nine of
them over the past fourteen years. The
causes were listed variously as.natural or
undetermined or Sudden Infant Death Syn-
drome....But somehow no one—not
the police, not the coroner, doctors, social
workers, or neighbors, not even Mrs. Tin-
ning’s husband—detected something evil in
the strange patterns of death.
—The New York Times
On the surface she was a normal working-class
woman who held responsible jobs: driving a
school bus, volunteering as an ambulance driver,
working in a restaurant—even helping in a pedi-
atric ward. But Marybeth Tinning barely men-
tioned her children, and when she did there were
no outward signs of sorrow. She would recite their
names and birth dates as though she were reading
a list, citing a cause of death in each case but hav-
ing nothing more to say about them. There were
no affectionate little anecdotes, no spoken memo-
ries, no sense of tragedy at their loss. They
seemed to slip in and out like little wraiths, leav-
ing no palpable impressions.
There were six autopsies and never any sign of
abuse. There were whispers and suspicions. But
there was no clear or rational explanation. Mary-
beth said her children cried a lot; they made her
feel nervous; they made her feel she was not
a good mother. But then there was another
baby. ... And no one understood the silence oper-
ating in a community where infants died in a way
that seemed too terrible to be true—From Cradle
to Grave.
Hartford Public Library

FROM
CRADLE
TO
GRAVE
FROM
~ CRADLE
The Short Lives and
Strange Deaths of
Marybeth Tinning’s
Nine Children
+
TO GRAVE
Joyce Egginton
+
WILLIAM MORROW AND COMPANY, INC.
Ne
Copyright © 1989 by Joyce Egginton
All rights reserved. No part of this book may- be reproduced or utilized in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
Publisher. Inquiries should be addressed to Permissions Department, William Morrow
and Company, Inc., 105 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Egginton, Joyce.
From cradle to grave.
Includes index.
1. Infanticide—New York (State)—Schenectady—
Case studies. 2. Tinning, Marybeth. 3. Murder—
New York (State)—Schenectady—Biography. 4. Trials
(Infanticide)—New York (State)—Schenectady. I. Title.
HV6534.S38E44 1989 364. 1'523'0974744 88-64106
ISBN 0-688-07566-5
Printed in the United States of America
First Edition
123. APSt6-7 8 9°10
BOOK DESIGN BY KATHIE PARISE
In memory of my mother,
Lillian Egginton, who gave me
so much more than life