From Cradle to Grave [Paperback]

Joyce Egginton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 20, 1992

Year after year, one after another, the babies of Marybeth Tinning died - nine children in 14 years. Incredibly, neither police nor coroners, doctors, social workers or neighbours suspected anything. The vague verdicts of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome fooled even Marybeth's husband. On 4th February 1986, however, six weeks after the last baby's death, even he had to face the unthinkable - as his wife was charged with their murder. This book tells the story of Marybeth Tinning's children, her arrest and subsequent trial.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: True Crime; First Edition edition (August 20, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0863696465
• ISBN-13: 978-0863696466
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,456,513 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The psychopath and the cellophane man, January 10, 2009

By 

E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Cradle to Grave (Paperback)

I read "From Cradle to Grave" to find out how Marybeth Tinning got away with the suspicious deaths of eight of her nine children over a period of fourteen years, before she was tried and convicted in 1987 of second degree murder in the death of Tami Lynne, her last child.

She is up for parole again in March, 2009 so this might be a good time for her parole board members to read Joyce Egginton's thoroughly researched book about "the short lives and strange deaths of Marybeth Tinning's nine children."

How did she get all the way up to nine tiny graves before she was stopped? According to the author, members of her community in Schenectady, New York began to voice their suspicions after the death of Marybeth's third child. However, even after six autopsies, there was no sign of abuse. The causes of death were variously listed as `undetermined' or `natural' or `SIDS' (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). The main doctor on the case was convinced that Marybeth's children were dying of a yet-undiagnosed genetic disorder. The local Children's Protective Service workers ignored the anonymous phone calls. The county sheriff avoided what would probably be a political hot potato, until the death of Tami Lynne forced him to take action.

Back when Marybeth's first children started to die, there was no way to distinguish a SIDS death from death by suffocation. In 1987, there were ways to tell the difference, although subtle, and she was finally brought to trial.

One of the strangest characters in this book, other than Marybeth herself is her devoted husband, Joe Tinning. He reminds me of the clueless Amos in "Chicago the Musical" who laments: "Cellophane /Mister cellophane /Should have been my name /Mister cellophane /'cause you can look right through me /Walk right by me /And never know I'm there!"

No matter how hard the author works to keep him in focus, Joe's personality kept eluding me. He was a man who saw no evil, heard no evil, and spoke no evil even after Evil did away with eight of his children and almost succeeded in killing him with an overdose of barbituates.

Marybeth seems to be a good old-fashioned sociopath who killed her children to get the attention and sympathy she craved. The author does a great job of revealing her character from her deeds and the reactions of the people who were close to her.

But Joe? His passivity and the nine little graves that resulted from his marriage to a psychopath make this a haunting story.

5.0 out of 5 stars A tragic tale -meticulously researched and excellent reading, January 15, 2006

By 

Janna Jansen (Waiheke Island, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Cradle to Grave (Paperback)

Marybeth Tinning gave birth to nine children. After the third-born died at 8 days old due to a suspected self-induction (she wanted the baby to be born on Christmas day) with a coathanger caused meningitis, her other two children (aged 4 and 2) died within the next 8 weeks. She went on to have more children, and even adopted one, who all died one by one.

Unbelievably, it wasn't until the 9th died that the public in her county, social services, police, coroner etc managed to collectively work together to bring a case against her. Previously all of these agencies knew she had children that had died, but none knew the number or all of the information -except her close friends and family.

This book has been meticulously researched, it really is very thorough and well written. As a mother I found it at times unbearable -so many questions remain unanswered. The book contains a photo of each of the children, who were all beautiful.

Gripping reading, but also it is really important to learn something from this -when a child is in distress, no matter how small your suspicion or how afraid you are of offending people -do what you can to protect the child. This is officially the mother's job, but when she is suffering from Munchausen by Proxy she is unable to carry out her role.

That's a 'nice' way of putting it. Read the book and make up your own mind.