Mark Gado - Mom: The Killer

Mom: The Killer
Copyright 2011 by Mark Gado
Foreword copyright 2011 by Marilyn Bardsley
Cover art to the electronic edition copyright 2011 by RosettaBooks, LLC

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Electronic edition published 2011 by RosettaBooks LLC, New York.
ISBN e-Pub edition: 9780795319228

For my brothers, Pete and Kurt

We cannot blame it all on the lawyers, judges, and policemen.
Dr. Karl Menninger, The Crime of Punishment (1966)

Marybeth Tinning was a part-time nurse, a waitress and a school bus driver. She was also a mother from hell. Over a period of 14 years, all nine of her babies died mysteriously one by one while everyone around herfamily, friends, neighbors, doctors and policeseemed powerless to stop it. This tragic parade of death ended in a sensational trial where she was finally convicted of the murder of her 2-year-old daughter, amid her protests of innocence. In 2011, during a parole hearing, Marybeth finally admitted she murdered some of her children and, because of that admission, she may be granted freedom once again.

Former Detective Mark Gados 29 years with the City of New Rochelle Police Department in New York and two years as a federal agent on a Drug Enforcement Administration task force gives him a perspective on murder that few other true crime writers have. During his D.E.A assignment, he received the International Award of Honor in New Orleans, Louisiana. Gado was also named Investigator of the Year 2000 and received dozens of other awards and commendations during his long police career.

As a police department veteran, he knows how to get research material that would elude other writers and is comfortable approaching fellow officers, prosecutors, and judges for interviews. Like his colleagues, Gado had lived with the gut-wrenching frustration of trying to build a case against a heinous criminal when other key elements of the community are not cooperating. Unique law enforcement expertise is not the only thing that Gado brings to the table. He is an excellent storyteller, bringing together in the narrative the points of view of the victims family and community, as well as those in the criminal justice system.

Gados first book, Killer Priest: The Crimes, Trial, and Execution of Father Hans Schmid, was published by Praeger in March, 2006. Killer Priest is the true story of the only Catholic priest in American history to be executed for murder. His second book, Death Row Women: Murder, Justice, and the New York Press, was published by Praeger in November, 2007.

As a writer for more than 20 years, his work has appeared on numerous websites and in many publications, including Time Warners truTV Crime Library, Law Enforcement Journal, Cobblestone, Vietnam Express, Strange Days magazine, Correction History, Rochester Magazine, and Famous American Crimes and Trials Encyclopedia (2004). His story about serial killer Carl Panzram, Carl Panzram, Monster of Minnesota (2004), won a Page One award for one of the top three magazine articles of the year. He also appeared in a Swedish public television documentary on the 1964 Kitty Genovese murder case. Gado has a B.A. in Criminal Justice and an M. S. in Criminal Justice from Iona College.

Like many of his law-enforcement colleagues, Gado joined the rescue effort at Ground Zero immediately after September 11. He is also a U.S. Army combat veteran of Vietnam, 1967-1968.

It had been a rather quiet day that afternoon and even the phones werent ringing as much as usual. Because she had to work another five hours before she could go off-duty, the nurse tried to keep busy by tidying up the work station and making sure that the utensils, medications, bandages and support material were in their rightful places. When the emergency room was busy, there was no time to search for the correct calipers, the proper clamp or gauze dressings. They just had to be where they were supposed to be. The nurse prided herself on knowing exactly where everything was so that when a doctor needed something, she could put her hands on it before he even finished asking for it. Sometimes she was able to foresee what was needed and have it ready spontaneously. A good nurse knew what to do under any circumstance and knew what was expected of her. Like priests, many nurses feel they have a sacred calling to their profession. To those women, nursing is a mission, not simply a job, and this nurse was one of them. Just as she finished rearranging station six, the last cubicle in the room, she heard a loud commotion at the front entrance. Someone was screaming.

My baby! My baby! Somebody help her!

The nurse looked up and saw a frantic woman carrying a baby wrapped in a pink blanket. The woman rushed toward her with a frightened, agitated look on her face. Before the nurse could even react, the woman was upon her pushing the baby into her arms.

Look at her! Look at her! she cried.

The nurse accepted the child without thinking and could see immediately that the baby girl was a sickly gray color and not moving. When she instinctively felt the carotid artery for a pulse, there was none. She also noted that the babys skin was unusually cold.

Nora! Nora! Come quick! the nurse yelled over to a colleague.

Another nurse ran over to assist in laying the baby down on the nearest gurney just inside station one, the furthest from the front door. Soon, several nurses appeared from nowhere. A young doctor sprinted into the ER from an adjoining room. He took one look at the baby and ordered someone to get on the phone.

Call cardiology and get Dr. Mentha and Dr. Levine. Hurry!

A nurse ran to the main desk and grabbed a phone while the support team, along with the young doctor, gathered around the baby. Within seconds, there were so many people assembled at the bedside, they stood shoulder to shoulder and had to push against each other just to make room.

Oxygen! someone shouted.

Syringe! said another.

Make room! God damn it! Make room!

The nurse scurried around the table trying to get the blanket completely removed so aid could be given and the doctor had space to work. Moments later, two more doctors, clad in white lab coats, came trotting into the ER.

All right, what do we have? What do we got? one doctor called out.

The nurse got a better look at the baby and could see that she was a pretty little girl, maybe a few months old, maybe even younger. She had dark hair and a beautiful rounded face. She was wearing footed pajamas covered with playful drawings of clowns and circus toys. Her color was now ashen-gray and her limbs had the consistency of a rag doll. But there was no evidence of physical trauma or blood. The nurse managed to yank the blanket off the baby and placed it on an empty chair. As she shoved another nurse who tried to take her place near the gurney, she glanced over to the other side of the room where the mother stood.

The woman appeared to be about 40 years old, slightly built, with short blondish hair and very little make up. She was wearing a plain white buttoned-down blouse, black polyester stretch pants and faded white sneakers. She appeared to have settled down since she came into the hospital because she didnt seem to be paying too much attention to the life-and-death drama that was taking place only a few feet away from where she stood. The nurse couldnt see her face that well because the woman had turned her back and now faced the other direction. She could see that the mother was staring into a small compact mirror, which she held in her left hand while she primped her hair with the other. The nurse only caught a glimpse of the mother for a fraction of a second because she was so completely engrossed in caring for a dying baby and the chaos around her, but the image would remain etched in her mind, like some immovable sculpture, for the rest of her life. Her only thought at that very moment was, What the hell kind of mother is this?