The Hossack Case

Martha May Hossack Coulter

Born on May 11, 1880, May was the youngest of the four daughters of John and Margaret Hossack. She was living at home when her father was killed. On the night of the murder, she was sleeping upstairs in the room she shared with her sister, Cassie. Soon after being awakened, May went to the Haines' farm with her brother, Jimmie, to ask William Haines to come to the house to help. Haines refused to leave his house, claiming that he'd seen a stranger on his porch earlier in the evening (although Haines later admitted that he was lying).

Between the first and second trials, May married Ira Coulter. The couple had six children, but the marriage was unhappy, and May eventually separated from her husband. May outlived her parents and all of her siblings. She died on January 21, 1956.