Murder victim. John Hossack was an Iowa farmer and a prosperous citizen of Warren County, Iowa. He was killed in his bed from two blows with an ax. The accused murderer was his wife of 32 years, Margaret Hossack. She claimed that she was sleeping next to him at the time of the attack and did not hear a thing. She was arrested at his funeral and was charged with the murder. Prosecutors alleged that she killed him because he was abusive to her and the children. In a sensational trial, in which she denied killing her husband, she was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. The conviction was overturned on appeal and she was retried in the adjacent county. The second trial ended in a hung verdict with the jurors voting 9-3 in favor of her guilt. There was no third trial and no one was ever convicted of the crime. His wife, who never discussed the murder after the second trial, is buried next to him in the family plot. The murder and trials are depicted in the book Midnight Assassin.
Murder victim. John Hossack was an Iowa farmer and a prosperous citizen of Warren County, Iowa. He was killed in his bed from two blows with an ax. The accused murderer was his wife of 32 years, Margaret Hossack. She claimed that she was sleeping next to him at the time of the attack and did not hear a thing. She was arrested at his funeral and was charged with the murder. Prosecutors alleged that she killed him because he was abusive to her and the children. In a sensational trial, in which she denied killing her husband, she was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. The conviction was overturned on appeal and she was retried in the adjacent county. The second trial ended in a hung verdict with the jurors voting 9-3 in favor of her guilt. There was no third trial and no one was ever convicted of the crime. His wife, who never discussed the murder after the second trial, is buried next to him in the family plot. The murder and trials are depicted in the book Midnight Assassin.
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