Mrs. Hossack Guilty
Iowa Woman Killed Her Husband for Gold and Revenge
A landmark circumstantial-evidence murder trial ended with Margaret Hossack convicted of killing her husband with an axe after decades of marital strife, a case that later inspired Susan Glaspell's famous play "Trifles."
NewsPipe summary
Daily Inter Mountain · April 11, 1901 · Page 1
1 min readDes Moines, Iowa, April 11.
Mrs. Margaret Hossack of Indianola, wife of a wealthy farmer, was found guilty this morning of the murder of her husband on the night of December 1 and sentence was fixed by the jury to life imprisonment in the penitentiary. For two weeks the trial has been progressing in Warren county under guidance of the ablest attorneys in the state. The evidence was circumstantial.
On the night of December 1 John Hossack and his wife retired for the night and about 10:30 Mrs. Hossack declares that she was awakened by a flash of light. Upon getting out of bed she found her husband had been hit on the head with an axe. Two wounds were made, one by the sharp edge and the other with the blunt end of the axe, which was found hidden under the granary. Death ensued in an hour.
The state presented evidence that for thirty years the couple had quarreled and that previous to the murder they had a dispute over one of the children, of which nine are living. It was also maintained by the prosecution that Mrs. Hossack had as an object the securing of the $60,000 estate.
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