The article portrays Mrs. Hossack as only potentially dangerous, while the excerpt presents two very different images of her. News contain a few factual inaccuracies and misquotes. Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2013. If youd like us to expand this Plot Summary into a Study Guide, click the Upvote button below. It seems like the attitudes of the time caused people to believe she was guilty and it couldnt possibly have been anybody else. In 1900, Margaret Hossack, the wife of a prominent Iowa farmer, was arrested for bludgeoning her husband to death with an ax while their children slept upstairs.. Free shipping over $10. In 1900, Margaret Hossack, the wife of a prominent Iowa farmer, was arrested for bludgeoning her husband to death with an ax while their children slept upstairs. It is the purpose of the defense to show that this Starred Review. The author ends up being unable to identify the killer or even offering a strong hypothesis. Ive continued to do research on this case and I am definitely not welcome in the area, although the intrigue of this case continues to stir me after years of researching it. I agree that it was definitely the ax that killed him. Alternate theories of the crime, accusing the Hossacks' children, disgruntled neighbors or a "mysterious horseman," should have been a little more fleshed out by the authors. On April 11, 1901, after five days of testimony before an all-male jury, Margaret Hossack was found guilty of her husbands murder and sentenced to life in prison. It is an opinion because it cannot be proven using objective evidence. Prof. Grimes states that in his opinion the axe was I recently read her play, Trifles, for an American Literature class and loved the fac. But the fact that there was no clear resolution and I still enjoyed it is evidence of what a well-written book this is. situation of the bed, he stated the bed footed north and that the foot of the "Historical whodunit devotees who have devoured all the literature on famous real-life mysteries will delight in this stirring and evocative account of an obscure turn-of-the-century Iowa murder. It was later reported that he had been interested in Jane Murchison, but circumstances prevailed and he married Margaret instead. However, the writing itself was lackluster -- more of reporting than storytelling. It is just fascinating. Margaret Hossack endures the harsh and solitary existence of a typical American farm wife at the turn of the . I stole this from someone else's review but I loved this short description. Do you believe that this item violates a copyright? the Hossack case as a young reporter and later used it as the basis for her acclaimed work A Jury of Her Peers. Midnight Assassin expertly renders the American character and . Right around midnight on a moonlit night between Saturday, Dec. 1, 1900 and Sunday, Dec. 2, prosperous Warren County, Iowa farmer John Hossack was murdered in his bed by two blows of an ax to his head. Printer Friendly. agony or by the bursting of an artery. The awful crime of which Mrs. Hossack stands accused is still fresh in the minds of every newspaper reader in Iowa. The book introduces us to Susan Glaspell, a young journalist who reported the story for the Des Moines Daily News and fifteen years later transformed the events into the classic one-act play, Trifles, and the acclaimed short story, A Jury of Her Peers., The book is described as a vivid portrait of life in rural America at the turn-of-the century and a chilling step-by-step account of the crime and its aftermath.. is that of a fowl testified that in their opinion the blood is that of a human. Witness said that during the past year he knew of no difficulties family. . A history of domestic strife convinced the local authorities that she had finally snapped after years of threats and verbal abuse. 119 W Park Rd John Hossacks elderly parents joined them and lived there until they both died a few years later. // Remington Steele Reboot, The Six Vegetation Zones In Ghana, Are Funables Fruit Snacks Halal, When I Am Tired I Am Like Simile, Articles M