They have no witnesses. They have no case. With this blunt
observation, Mariann Colby-an attractive, church-going Shaker
Heights, Ohio, mother and housewife-bet a defense psychiatrist that
she would not be convicted of murder. A lack of witnesses was not
the only problem that would confront the State of Ohio in 1966,
which would seek to prosecute her for shooting to death Cremer
Young Jr., her son's nine-year-old playmate: Colby had deftly
cleaned up after herself by hiding the child's body miles from her
home and concealing the weapon. Thus, this "highly intelligent"
woman, as she would be described at her trial, had hedged a little
on her wager. Not only were there no witnesses to the crime, but
there was not a shred of physical evidence to pin the slaying on
her. Under the usual forensic standards, her wager was spot on; the
probabilities were that she would get away with it. But as the
Shaker Heights police found themselves stymied by an investigation
that was going nowhere, Mariann Colby upped the ante a bit. Under
intense questioning, she broke down, claiming the gun had
accidentally discharged. The state thought it had its capital
murder case, but Mariann Colby's bet against it would be right on
the money. As her trial unfolds in the book, the imprecision of her
insanity defense confounds the judges, and psychiatrists disagree
about her diagnosis. To make matters worse, the panel of judges
that initially tried Colby was so confused by what they'd heard
that they did not reach a decision consistent with the law of the
state. This led to a second trial and more conflicting psychiatric
opinions, another controversial judgment, and clashing trial
outcomes. After reading The Insanity Defense and the Mad Murderess
of Shaker Heights, readers-and the many childhood friends of the
slain boy whose painful reminiscences are set forth in the
book-will contemplate whether Mariann Colby did indeed get away
with murder. In addition, those interested in legal history will
find much of value in Tabac's discussions of the case and its use
of an insanity defense strategy.
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