Mary Osborn (murderer)

Osborn was originally from Bedford, Pennsylvania.^[5][6] By her own account, her upbringing had been uneventful.^[5]

By the time Osborn moved to Saltfleet Township (today Stoney Creek, Ontario), she was widowed with two sons.^[3][7] According to her later co-accused, she claimed to have killed her first husband by poisoning him with hellebore.^[2]

Around 1798, Osborne accepted a job as the housekeeper of Bartholomew London, a farmer originally from New Jersey who had been imprisoned during the American Revolution for his loyalty to Britain.^[3][1] Osborn was around 40 years younger than London, who had four children and four grandchildren of his own when they met.^[3] He had left, and perhaps not legally divorced, his first wife in the United States in 1789.^[3]

Nonetheless, London entered into a relationship with Osborn, who became pregnant in 1798 with their daughter, Hannah (born April 5, 1799).^[3][2] London recognized Osborn as his wife or partner in May 1800 by changing his will to leave his estate of 200 acres to her.^[3][5][8] This will instructed Osborn to provide for her sons, Nathaniel and William Osborn,^[9] as well as Hannah in the event of his death.^[3] Were Osborn to remarry, she would also retain one-third of London's estate, which was a generous settlement for a prospective widow at that time.^[3] The will also excluded London's children from his previous marriage.^[2]

Later in 1800, London hired another Pennsylvanian immigrant, 28-year-old George Nemiers (also recorded as Nemire^[10]), to work on his farm.^[8] Osborn and Nemiers were acquainted from having both lived in Carlisle for a time.^[6][2][11] An affair began between Osborn and Nemiers,^[1] and Osborn was pregnant again by late 1800, though she was unsure if the father was Nemiers or London.^[11]

According to Osborn, Nemiers responded to news of her pregnancy by suggesting they should murder London.^[3] However, when Osborn suggested that Nemiers should shoot London, Nemiers disagreed.^[3] A short time after this discussion, Nemiers intervened in a verbal argument between London and Osborn by hitting London on the head with a hammer.^[2][11][1] This assault left London with a fractured skull, but it became apparent that he would recover from his injury.^[6][11]

After Nemiers' attack on London proved non-fatal, Osborn and Nemiers conspired to poison him.^[11] Using an assumed name, Nemiers visited a doctor in Long Point in early 1801, claiming he required sulfuric acid for a poorly-healing wound.^[7] In conversation with the physician, he asked how much of the substance would be needed to kill a person; the physician assured him that the amount prescribed would not prove fatal.^[7] Nemiers subsequently asked the physician to increase the dosage, but was refused.^[7][2]

The second attempt Nemiers made to secure lethal substances was successful.^[7] He purchased opium and ratbane during a trip to the Finger Lakes in New York, and returned to Ontario on February 14, 1801.^[3][7][2] Over the following days, Osborn was said to have served London whiskey laced with the substances from Nemiers, and London died after a third dose on February 17.^{[1][2][3][12]} Hamilton Public Library recognizes this event as the first recorded murder in the city of Hamilton.^[13][14]

Suspicion arose after physicians, including Dr. Oliver Tiffany, examined London's body and concluded he had been poisoned.^[3][11] Osborn, then four months pregnant, was arrested along with Nemiers.^[5] In the months before their trial, the couple attempted to blame one another solely for the crime.^[11][12]