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February 9, 1947
Girard, Trumbull County, Ohio

*Content Warning: this post contains details of child harm. I was very distressed while researching and writing this story.*

A Horrific Discovery

 

After a night spent with friends on Woodland Avenue in Youngstown, 39-year-old Garret Heston returned to his Girard home between 3 and 4 a.m. But instead of finding a quiet, sleeping household, he discovered horror.

His wife, 35-year-old Margaret, lay in their bed, moaning and bleeding from her stomach. His 3-year-old daughter, Margaret Mary, lay in her bed with a wound between her chest and left shoulder. He found his youngest daughter, Theresa, unresponsive.

He called his brother-in-law, Myrell Scoville, who lived around the corner. When Myrell arrived, he found Margaret in severe condition and Theresa beyond help.

“I couldn’t move Mrs. Heston because she had a stomach wound and was coughing up blood,” Myrell later told reporters. “I put Margaret Mary into my car and rushed her to the hospital. All I could think about was saving the child’s life, if possible.”

Before he left, Margaret made a confession to him. “Mrs. Heston admitted to me at the house that she had done the shooting,” Myrell later stated. “All she kept saying over and over again was that she was sorry.”

While Myrell transported Mary to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Garret stayed behind and called the police. Girard officers came to the scene and hastened Margaret and Theresa to medical care.

Garret pleaded with Margaret to tell him why she had done it.

“I don’t know. I don’t know,” she wailed in pain.

Hospital staff declared two-year-old Theresa dead on arrival.

Police questioned Garret about whether he and his family had any issues or arguments, but he denied this.

“We had no family trouble of any kind,” Garret professed.

However, this was a lie, and bit-by-bit, the true story emerged.

 

Family History

Garret was born on April 1, 1907, in Columbiana, OH, to Albert Allmon Heston and Nora J. Kyser. He served as a private in WWII. He divorced his first wife, Maryette Coudriet, with whom he shared a daughter, Blanche.

Margaret Clara Culley was born on December 31, 1911, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to John William Culley Sr. and Grace Rankl. She first married Frederick Howard Towers on April 26, 1937, in Allegheny County. They divorced after a short marriage.

She and Garret had two daughters, Mary Margaret and Theresa Jane. They settled at 801 Trumbull Avenue in Girard, Ohio, a home long-since razed, the property now occupied by commercial buildings. Garret found employment at Youngstown Sheet and Tube.

 

Propelled to Madness

Earlier on the day of the shooting, Margaret visited her family doctor, Dr. Chalker of Girard. During his evaluation of her, she showed clear signs of distress and professed her desire to end it all and take her daughters with her. Why the doctor did not immediately have her admitted to a psychiatric hospital is unknown, but the outcome most likely haunted him for the rest of his days.

That very evening, Garret came home with a married woman, Ruth Bable, whom he had known for some time. They brought beer and wine, which Margaret drank without restraint throughout the evening. Whether she had already tucked her daughters in bed before Garret brought Ruth over is unclear. What is clear is that Margaret knew something untoward was going on between her husband and Mrs. Bable.

At 12:30 in the morning, Garret told his wife that he and Mrs. Bable were off to visit their friends. Margaret was against the idea and vocalized her displeasure. He ignored her pleas to stay home, leading to an argument, and he and Mrs. Bable left in a taxi for Youngstown.

 

His dismissal of her distress and outright flaunting of his mistress sent Margaret into a tailspin. Drunk and out of her mind, she grabbed a .22-caliber rifle and shot both of her sleeping daughters. Then she pointed the gun at her own abdomen and pulled the trigger.

 

Medical Care

Doctors at St. Elizabeth Hospital saved the lives of both Margaret and Mary. Margaret required several blood transfusions before her condition stabilized. Her sister, Mrs. Scoville, and Garret’s sister, Mrs. George Schwarz, had their blood types tested and after doctors determined they were both a match, provided the blood for the transfusions. By the following day, Margaret was still in critical condition, with her resilient daughter Mary in fair condition. Deputy Rose wished to question Margaret as soon as possible, but she was in no position to speak.

Coroner Henshaw examined Theresa’s body and found she had died from internal hemorrhaging due to the single bullet lodged in her chest. After her body’s release to the Blackstone and Reese Funeral Home, she was laid to rest in the Children’s Special Singles section of Calvary Cemetery in Youngstown. Her funeral took place on Wednesday, February 12, at 10 a.m. Her grave is unmarked.

 

Court Proceedings

Upon Margaret’s hospital release on Monday, March 3, Deputy Sheriff Henry Rose took her into custody and transferred her to the county prosecutor’s office. There, she signed a written confession, admitting to the shootings in the presence of arresting officer Deputy Rose, Prosecutor J. Reagen, county coroner Dr. J.C. Henshaw, and County Detective Kenneth McNair.

Afterward, Deputy Rose took her to the Trumbull County Jail, held on an open charge, where she awaited sentencing. Bodily, her condition was much improved, but because of her wound, had to eat five or six times a day. However, she needed to undergo a mental evaluation to determine her psychiatric state.

Prosecutor Reagan said that Margaret provided no motive for the murder-suicide plot. When relating the details of the confession, Reagan said, “She claimed that she had been drinking and was a little bit hazy.”

On Wednesday, Garret Heston, Merle Scoville, and Ruth Bable went to the prosecutor’s office and delivered their statements. Mrs. Bable was cooperative and stated she was present in the home with Garret and Margaret prior to their going out the evening of the murder. She said Margaret pleaded with Garret to stay home, and his refusal caused an argument between the married couple.

On March 4, Coroner Henshaw announced he had concluded his inquest and finished all his witness interviews. After conferring with Prosecutor Reagen, he filed a manslaughter charge against Margaret in the municipal court. In his statement, he related, "The Coroner's inquest has been completed in the case of the State of Ohio versus Margaret Heston.

"The evidence shows that on the night of the fatal shooting Garret Heston, husband of Margaret Heston, and a Mrs. Bable, a married woman, were together most of the evening and then went together to the Heston residence and took wine and beer...in which Mrs. Heston, imbibed freely.

“Mrs. Heston now states her mind is very hazy from family conditions that had her very much disturbed and also from the amount she drank on the night in question.”

The pages related the truth of what everyone suspected, that the affair between Garrett Heston and Mrs. Bable had been going on for a long time. Henshaw also shared the conclusion of his shocking interview with Margaret’s family doctor. On the morning of the shooting, Margaret had visited Dr. Chalker, and confessed her weak mental state. According to Dr. Chalker’s testimony, she said that she “decided to die and take her children with her.”

“Mrs. Heston also told one of the neighbors that she was very sorry for what she had done, but didn’t realize at the time what she was doing. This statement was made before she lapsed into unconsciousness.

"Therefore, with the prosecutor in this matter, I feel that an affidavit of manslaughter is proper."

Margaret arrived for her preliminary hearing with Judge Ralph R. Speak at 2 p.m. When he first asked her what she pleaded, she answered, “I don’t know.” Once the jurist explained the manslaughter charge to her, she pleaded not guilty.

On Friday, March 14, Judge Speak changed his initial figure for Margaret’s bond from $3,000 to $5,000. Without the funds or anyone willing to post Margaret’s bail, she returned to jail while her case moved to the grand jury.

 

 

 

Assault Charges

Back at home, tensions were high with Garret Heston and his ongoing affair with Ruth Bable. At 1:55 p.m. on Sunday, March 16, Deputy Sheriffs George Kelts and Herbert Varley arrested Garret on assault and battery charges. According to Ruth’s husband, Alfred, Garret attacked him in his own home the day prior. The details of the attack and Alfred’s injuries remain undisclosed, but Alfred pressed charges and Justice Thomas C. Masterson of Liberty Township issued a warrant.

Ruth filed for divorce from Alfred two years later.

 

Sentencing

On April 23, Margaret stood before Court of Common Pleas Judge G.H. Birrell without counsel. Her mother had tried to hire a defense attorney for her, but lacked the retainer fee. So, with a clear, steady voice, Margaret told the judge she did not want counsel and would accept whatever sentence the court decided for her. She stated she understood the manslaughter charge.

When Birrell asked what she pleaded, she answered, “Guilty.”

Though she had the chance to speak in her own defense and ask the court for compassion in her plight, she remained silent. Birrel deferred sentencing until he had time to review the case.

On April 29, the grand jury charged her with first-degree manslaughter. The judge sentenced her to serve one to twenty years at the Marysville Women’s Reformatory.

 

The Women’s Reformatory is a state prison in Union County, Ohio. Opening in 1916, it now accommodates over 2,000 prisoners. Intake officers booked Margaret in after the 190 mile, 3 hour-long ride from Warren. The prison once had a farm with dairy cows, pigs, and grain fields that she would have tended to as part of her rehabilitation. At the time of her incarceration, the prison had no indoor plumbing, and she used a chamber pot, or “slop jar”, instead of a toilet.

 

Margaret served only two years. The judge granted her parole on June 1, 1949. Her rehabilitation records are sealed to anyone besides immediate family, but she would have been checked out as mentally fit and no threat to society or to herself.

With her surviving daughter, Mary, she moved to Pittsburgh and lived with her parents and her unmarried sisters, Rosela and Gertrude. By 1987, she had relocated to Ohio and was living in Girard once again.

Garret died on June 2, 1972, in Youngstown and was buried in Girard Liberty Union Cemetery. His oldest daughter, Blanche, was laid to rest in the same cemetery in 1988. I could not find the whereabouts of his middle daughter, Mary, since she moved to Pittsburgh with her mother in 1949.

Margaret lived to the age of 88. Her Rosary and funeral were held on Friday, Dec. 15, 2000, at St. Mark Catholic Church in Phoenix. She is buried in Tempe Double Butte Cemetery.

 

Closing Thoughts

Cases of parents murdering their children before killing themselves are, unfortunately, all too common throughout history. In a 1955 case, a Detroit local, Mrs. Russell Hagey, put her two young sons into their family car, drove to an open field, and connected the exhaust to the car’s interior. All three died of carbon-monoxide poisoning. Their bodies were not discovered for three weeks. In 1958, Thomas McDowell from Glen-Ridge, New Jersey, poisoned his wife, two sons, his elderly mother, and himself. All five died. In 1960 in Warren, a 50-year-old father, Taft Jordan, killed his wife, Pat, and himself. One of their children, eight-year-old Judy, was hospitalized with a bullet wound and recovered while her siblings remained unharmed.

The motives for murder-suicides involving juveniles vary, from mercy killing–“saving” the child or children from the cruel world; psychotic–the parent is propelled to kill by delusion, hallucinations, or the voices in their head; revenge against spouse–the murderer wishes to cause ultimate pain and suffering to the child’s other parent; parental burden–inability to care for the child; to fatal maltreatment–ongoing abuse and neglect ultimately causing the death of the child.

In Margaret’s case, I believe she suffered a severe mental breakdown. She felt she had no other option but to exit the world and take her daughters with her. Whether it was so they would not endure the same suffering as their mother or as retaliation against Garret, only Margaret knew. The results of her mental evaluation were never released, but considering she was charged with manslaughter instead of murder, Coroner Henshaw and Prosecutor Reagen believed she was of an unsound mind when she killed Theresa and attempted to kill Mary and herself.

I feel as though the medical system failed Margaret. She told her doctor exactly what she intended to do, to take the lives of her daughters as well as herself. Even if he treated her with prescription medication–an unknown detail–he did not take her seriously enough to get her immediate help. She was already in an extremely fragile mental state when, that very evening, her husband openly caroused with a married woman, and sharpened the tipping point. Little Theresa Jane’s death was entirely preventable. May her precious memory live on.

 

References:

 

• Margaret Culley and Frederick Towers marriage: "Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1775-1991", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMZF-JRP : Wed Jul 24 16:32:08 UTC 2024), Entry for Howard F Towers and Margaret Culley, 26 Apr 1937.
• Theresa Heston Death Certificate: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6W9S-BPK?view=index&action=view&cc=1307272&lang=en
• “Gun Kills Girard Baby, 2, Wound Mother, Sister, 3” Warren Tribune Chronicle 10 Feb 1947 1:1 and 4:2
• “Mother Kills Baby Girl, 2”: The Indiana Gazette (Indiana, Pennsylvania) · 10 Feb 1947, Mon · Page 2
• “Mother Slays Daughter, Wounds Self, and Another”: Niles Daily Times, Page 1, Feb 10, 1947
• “Mother Shoots Two Daughters and Self”: The Evening Review (East Liverpool, Ohio) · 10 Feb 1947, Mon · Page 12
• “Mother Confesses Killing Daughter”: The Daily Times (New Philadelphia, Ohio) · 10 Feb 1947, Mon · Page 10
• “Girard Mother ‘Poor’ Today”: Warren Tribune Chronicle 11 Feb 1947 1:1 and 4:1
• “Baby, Aged 2, Shot to Death”: Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, The Evening News (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) · 11 Feb 1947, Tue · Page 20
• “Mrs. Heston Still in Poor Health” Niles Daily Times, Page 1, Feb 11, 1947
• “Girard Mother Fails to Rally” Warren Tribune Chronicle Feb 12, 1947 4:3
• Condition Update: Warren Tribune Chronicle 18 Feb 1947 7-1
• “Girard Shooting Case Figure Gains, Report” Warren Tribune Chronicle 20 Feb 1947 2-7
• “Mental Test Is Planned” Warren Tribune Chronicle Mar 4, 1947 1:6
• “Girard Mother Faces Charges Of Manslaughter”: Niles Daily Times, Page 1, Mar 14, 1947
• “Woman Confesses Charge of Murder”: The Daily Times (New Philadelphia, Ohio) · 25 Apr 1947, Fri · Page 6
• “Woman Faces Sentence”: Telegraph-Forum (Bucyrus, Ohio) · 2 May 1947, Fri · Page 2
• “Mother Faces Death Charge”: Warren Tribune Chronicle Mar 14, 1947 1:6 and 2:3
• “Mrs. Heston Is Bound Over”: Warren Tribune Chronicle Mar 15, 1947 1:4
• “Mrs. Heston’s Mate In Jail”: Warren Tribune Chronicle Mar 17, 1947 1:5
• “Girard Woman Who Killed Daughter Paroled”: Warren Tribune Chronicle March 11, 1949 14:2
• “Mrs. Heston Is Indicted”: Warren Tribune Chronicle Apr 18, 1947 1:4 and 6:1
• “Mrs. Heston Pleads Guilty to Shooting”: Warren Tribune Chronicle Apr 23, 1947 1:3 and 3:5
• Mrs. Heston Gets One To Twenty: Warren Tribune Chronicle Apr 29, 1947 1:7 and 8:6
• 1950 Pittsburgh Census: "United States, Census, 1950", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XB1-86YL : Tue Mar 18 04:24:06 UTC 2025), Entry for John W Culley and Grace Culley, 4 April 1950.
• Myrell Scoville Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/163013192/myrell-d-scoville
• Margaret Heston obituary: Arizona, Maricopa County, obituaries, 1948-2005, Arizona Republic (Phoenix, Arizona)
• “Homicide-Followed-by-Suicide Incidents Involving Child Victims” by Joseph E Logan, Sabrina Walsh, Nimeshkumar Patel, Jeffrey E Hall; 2016
• “Former Drug Executive Kills Four In Family” The Niles Daily Times, Saturday, July 5th, 1958, page 1
• “Jordan Dies–No Motive Seen in Murder-Suicide” The Niles Daily Times, Monday, October 31st, 1960, page 1
• “Murder Suicide” Mrs. Hagey and Sons: The Niles Daily Times, Monday, October 17th, 1955, page 3