A notorious New York woman will soon walk free from prison, despite being found guilty of killing all of her nine children over a 13-year-period.

Marybeth Tinning, a former nurse’s assistant, suffered what appeared to be the most horrible string of tragedies: each of her nine kids passed away under mysterious circumstances from 1972 to 1985.

At first, doctors pointed to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) as the cause of some of the infants’ deaths. They also pondered the possibility that some of them passed away from a rare hereditary disorder. It wasn’t until 4-month-old Tami Lynne died in 1985 that the horrifying truth was uncovered: Tinning confessed to New York State investigators that she smothered Tami Lynne to death after she wouldn’t stop crying. She also allegedly admitted to killing two of her children.

Although Tinning, now 75, later recanted her admission, investigators have stood by their belief that she took the lives of all nine of her children because she revelled in the attention she received. This is an extreme case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Investigators have maintained that Tinning continued killing her babies because she was overwhelmed and love the sympathy she received.

Prior to her time in prison, Tinning worked odd jobs as a school bus driver and waitress. She allegedly also confessed to trying to murder her husband Joe in 1974 by poisoning his grape juice with phenobarbital pills she had gotten from a friend with epilepsy.

Tinning was convicted of murdering Tami Lynne in 1987 and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. It seems her time in prison has come to an end, as she was granted parole on July 10. She could be released from prison as early as Aug. 21. When she does walk out the gates a free woman, she has plans to live with Joe. Authorities say Tinning will remain under community supervision for the remainder of her life, as well as be required to follow a curfew and take part in domestic violence counselling.