Margaret Hossack Case Essay

The Hossack case is considered an extremely controversial case. The case took place in Iowa. The night of December 1st, 1900, John Hossack was found murdered in his bed. The result of death was two axe strikes to the head. One strike with the blade and the other with the handle. John’s wife, Margaret Hossack, was arrested for the murder a couple days after the incident (John Hossack Homicide).
The case went on for months. Mrs. Hossack was eventually found guilty, but there was a lot of controversy about the decision. The case was reopened to reexamine the evidence and her initial sentence. Although there was limited concrete evidence to convict her guilty beyond reasonable doubt, it is safe to assume she committed the murder. Margaret Hossack should be convicted guilty of the murder of her husband, due to the holes in her defense case, the history of the couple’s unsteady relationship, and a financial induced motive (Bovsun).
The defense by Mrs. Hossack was questioned repeatedly by the prosecutors, and rightfully so. There were too many holes in her defense claim and story. The first big hole was the fact she slept through the murder. One would surely have to be a sound sleeper for that to be true. Yet, she goes onto claim how she woke up two different times

“When questioned about the proposed division of the property at the time a separation was talked of, he stated that it was intended his father should take the east eighty acres and his mother the rest” (Susan Gospell’s Coverage of the Hossack Murder). The person being questioned in this quote is William Hossack, one of the sons. This quote is important because it provides support to the idea as the motive being financial. If the wife was going to obtain the entire estate, then this idea would be ruled out. However, eighty acres is a lot of land and provides a lot more net worth (Susan Gospell’s Coverage of the Hossack