He Trusted her with His Money, She Poisoned Him Slowly Instead | Marcy Oglesby

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side in the quiet village of Macon, Illinois, a community of about 220 people. You’d expect everyone to look out for one another. But when Richard Young, a 71 year old retired police chief known affectionately as Rick the Cop went missing, the silence from his house was deafening. Richard was the heart of Macon, as I said, having served as a chief and spending 30 years working in law enforcement. Even after he stepped away from the job, people around the town still knew him as the guy who helped neighbors fix things or took time to mentor younger officers. That kind of work ethic has basically defined most of his life. Richard lived in a house with 50 year old Marcy Oglesby. Marcy had a background in the medical field and she described herself as she said, ah, a quote, soft hearted, God fearing woman who volunteered as an EMT and at her church. Also living in the home was Marcy’s 79 year old elder, Karen Dube. Despite how Marcy presented herself publicly, the reality inside the house was very different. The home the three of them lived in was later described as a filthy hoarder situation. Richard was deeply devoted to Marcy, but while he believed that they were building a future together, Marcy was focused on something else. Or should I say someone else. She had started an online romantic relationship with a man in Nigeria who went by the name of Sunny. The two of them had never met in person, but the relationship had become, as Marcy thought, serious. Then, in the summer of 2021, trouble started. Marcy convinced Richard that the two of them were going to buy an $800,000 farm together and start a new chapter of their lives there. Richard believed in the plan and started making preparations for their future. Now, for her to be able to buy this farm, Marcy needed access to Richard’s finances and his bank account, which of course, he granted because it was his wife and he trusted her. Richard was so excited about the farm plans that he was texting friends about the future that he thought he and Marc Darcy were about to build. However, after some time, people realized that they’d stopped seeing Richard. But no one requested a wellness check. Well, because they were still hearing from him, but only via text. Maybe they just thought that he’d gotten busy with his new land and new life. By late summer 2022, neighbors began noticing an increasingly putrid odor coming from a storage unit, so specifically unit 29. Despite growing concerns about the smell, complaints were initially dismissed or ignored. Finally, on October 7, 2022, the stench became so overwhelming that someone called the police. When police arrived, that smell led them straight to storage unit 29. Like I said, a unit with a brown door and a pink padlock on it. What also caught investigators attention was the location. The storage unit sat directly across the street from Richard’s house, so police went to speak with Marcy.

When officers asked about the smell, Marcy

told them that it was from a dead opossum that she had already removed. I mean, that’s a good explanation, but can’t we look inside? And Marcy let them in. Once inside, investigators began looking around the unit, and at one point, they asked Marcy if they can open a, uh, very specific box that was inside. And that request she refused. However, because police had a reason to believe foul play, that something wasn’t right here, police opened the box anyway. Inside, they found Richard’s body in an advanced state of decomposition. He was partially mummified and covered in a substance. Now, I’m going to spell it out. I don’t know how to say it, but I’ll tell you what it is. So this is how you spell it. A D, I, P, O, C, E, R, E, which is a waxy substance that can form on bodies in moist environments. The body had been partially wrapped in a plastic tarp and a sheet and then placed inside of a cardboard box.

A ratchet strap had been secured around

him, and there was a pillowcase over his head. Up until that moment, the situation had mostly been dealt with as a case of someone who simply hadn’t been seen in a long time. But after opening that box, the situation obviously changed immediately. By this point, no one had heard from Richard for close to a year, and his death had had never been reported by the person he lived with. Investigators had a new question now. What exactly happened to Richard? And why had no one reported him missing? Welcome, lambs. Welcome to Love and Heartbreak, to Homicide, your weekly true crime podcast telling you cases of relationships that have turned to murder. I am your host, Kai, and before we get back to this case, I want to remind you to go ahead and subscribe to Love and Murder on whatever platform you’re currently listening to on. Don’t forget, you can also subscribe for free on our Patreon patreon.com loveandmurder when you become a free Patreon lamb, you do get some bonuses, but you also won’t miss any episodes. But if you want to support Love and Murder, be a voice of the victims, and keep this podcast listener funded, then just go ahead and choose one of our bonus tiers. For instance, this week at the $5 a month bonus tear, I put out a bonus episode about a man who turned into a serial killer out of nowhere and left a message on the wall in blood of one of his victims for the police to find. It said Victim four In two Weeks, Catch Me if youf Can. If you want to hear that bonus episode. And if the police did catch him, then join our patreon at the $5 a month tier or above. That’s just one of the bonuses that I put out this week. I did put out another one as well. Patreon.com loveandmurder now, without further ado, let’s get back to this case of love and murder.

When Detective Jeremy Moore asked Marcy about

the body, she claimed she had kept Richard’s body because his dying wish was to be buried in an Indian burial mound. That’s what she said, and she simply hadn’t figured out how to fulfill that request. Marcy was arrested and initially charged with concealment, a Class 4 felony in Illinois, carrying a potential sentence of one to three years. Prosecutors argued that she had deliberately hidden Richard’s body to prevent authorities from discovering both his death and and the circumstances surrounding it. Now, once Richard was identified, investigators were finally able to start building a real timeline of what happened. Everything started almost a full year earlier. This is when investigators concluded that Richard had died around November 1, 2021, at the age of 71. Then after he died, he instead of calling authorities or notifying anyone, Marcy told investigators that she had put him back to bed and continued to talk to him for three days. When Richard’s remains were eventually recovered from the storage unit and taken to the medical examiner, investigators were faced with the challenge of determining a, uh, cause of death. Despite the advanced decomposition, toxicology testing revealed extremely high levels of, I’m going to try and say this. Tetrahydrozoline. I think in his system, that chemical is the active ingredient found in over the counter eye drops like Visine, Tyzene and mering tears. Plus, when used as directed in eye drops, it safely constricts blood vessels in the eye to reduce redness. But when swallowed, it becomes toxic. It dilates the blood vessels, causing blood pressure to spike, then crash. This makes the heart rate slow, breathing becomes shallow, and in sufficient quantities, it could lead to a coma or cardiac arrest and depress the central nervous system. Other symptoms include blurred vision, vomiting, tremors, cyanosis, and dangerously low body temperature. Based on those findings, the Knox county coroner was Ruled Richard’s cause of death to be tetrahyzoline poisonin. Once investigators had that information, they began looking more closely at what had been happening inside the house in the months leading to Richard’s death. During searches of the home, police discovered what they described as, quote, copious amounts of empty eye drop bottles. They also found a pill crusher and a dollar general receipt showing the purchase of more eye drops. Marcy’s phone provided even more concerning information. Investigators discovered Internet searches that included phrases like eye drop poisoning and, quote, how to make someone sick slowly.

Who searches stuff like that?

I mean, I see who searches stuff like that? But what those searches lined up with the period when Richard’s health had started to deteriorate.

Editing Kai, here you’re going to hear a difference in volume.

That’s because I stupidly didn’t look at

my mic, and the volume was initially way down.

And this is the time where I actually turned the volume up in my mic.

So apologies for this shift in pitch.

Now back to your episode. Detective Timothy Spitzer, uh, conducted a digital analysis of Richard’s phone, and the results helped investigators determine when someone else had started using it. Someone else was using his phone. That’s why nobody thought he was missing. Before November 2021, the search history on Richard’s phone looked exactly like investigators expected. The topics were what they described as manly, including searches for firearms, trucks, and men’s clothing. But after Richard died, the phone activity suddenly changed towards things like art sales, art galleries, and chicken recipes. At the same time, messages, uh, were still being sent from Richard’s phone to his sons, Even though investigators believed he had already been dead. That’s why no one was texting him. They thought he was still alive. Meanwhile, the months leading up to November 2021 showed a steady decline in Richard’s health. Between August and October of that year, he had been texting friends about how he was feeling, describing feeling, quote, dizzy, nauseous, and unsteady. Selfies from those months showed Richard becoming increasingly gaunt and. And investigators noted visible bruising on his face from frequent falls.

He was basically documenting it and sending to his friends, and he didn’t. They didn’t even know what’s wrong. He didn’t even know what was wrong. As investigators pieced together the timeline, they

began to believe Richard had been poisoned slowly over time.

According to prosecutors, it was what they described as a drip, drip campaign.

Karen, remember Marcy’s elder, the one that

lived in the house with them, eventually became a key witness in the case because she had initially Been charged with murder as well.

But prosecutors reached a plea deal with her. In exchange for her testimony against marcy,

the state dropped the murder charges against Karen.

So she basically sang like a bird so she wouldn’t go to jail.

Karen’s testimony gave investigators a direct look

at what had been happening in the house months before Richard died. First, she sang and told authorities that both she and Marcy wanted Richard out of the house, but he refused to leave. Then she told them that in July 2021, she saw Marcy starting to put eye drops into Richard’s coffee and said that Richard was the only person in the house who drank coffee. Karen also admitted that she had purchased multiple bottles of eye drops that Marcy. So isn’t that accessory, like, okay, I’m gonna drop the murder charges, but after

you tell me all of this, then

I’m gonna put on accessory to murder, Wouldn’t you?

Then in August 2021, Richard got COVID 19, and lost his sense of taste. Ashley werbe, the state’s attorney handling the

case, later told the court that this was when, quote, the light bulb goes off for Marcy. With Richard unable to taste anything, Attorney argued that Marcy ramped up the doses of eye drops she was giving him. Wow. She just started dumping it in his coffee. Huh, huh. Because he couldn’t taste anyway. By October, Richard’s condition had clearly deteriorated. This was when he had sent the messages describing, you know, feeling dizzy and nauseous and stuff to his friends.

At the same time, Richard’s health was

collapsing, Investigators found that his finances were also disappearing.

Remember when Marcy had convinced him that

they were going to buy a farm? Well, investigators learned that the farm deal had fallen apart. And instead of preparing for a new life together, Marcy had been spending his savings on unknown items. Remember, to get this loan, she needed access to his bank account. And here, now she has access to his bank account, and she’s just spending willy nilly.

Records showed that more than $60,000 had

disappeared from Richard’s account. And by October 21, he had only a few hundred dollars left. How, uh, do you steal $60,000 from somebody and not feel guilty? But I guess it’s the same way. I mean, murder is way worse than stealing. So I guess if you could murder someone, so, uh, some crazy people in this world. Investigators also discovered that Marcy had prior convictions for forgery in 2020, which prosecutors later pointed to as another example of financial deception. In February 2023, murder charges were added to Marcy’s list of charges. And the, uh, murder charges mandates a, uh, 20 to 60 year prison term to be served in full. But the legal process did not move forward smoothly. It never does. In March 2023, Judge Andrew Doyle dismissed the murder charges because of concerns about a speedy trial violation. But that decision was, uh, short lived. In November 2023, an appellate court reinstated the charges, allowing prosecutors to move forward with the case. Marcy’s bench trial began on June 23, 2025, and lasted only four days. Because it was a bench trial, Judge Andrew Doyle would be the one who decided the verdict instead of a jury. During the trial, prosecutor Werbe built her case, calling 26 witnesses to testify against Marcy and described the case as a tale of olden times. She argued that the motive behind Richard’s

death came down to a mix of

financial greed and a love triangle, all which existed in Marcy’s head. She didn’t say that part, but I’m saying that because she’s talking to a Nigerian dude named Sonny, and it was very serious. But she’d never seen him before. Hmm.

Huh.

The financial aspect of the case was particularly troubling. Richard had genuinely believed he and Marcy were about to start a new life together on that farm. And while he was texting his friends about tractors and planning the future, Marcy was draining his accounts and feeding him eye drops. The defense, led by attorneys David Hansen and Chris Canfac, called only two witnesses and argued that the prosecution’s theory didn’t fully add up. They told the court that there was, quote, too much that doesn’t make sense. Like.

Like what?

There’s literally a witness. He died of eyedrop poisoning. They went in her house. There was like a slew of eyedroppers there. What didn’t make sense? Much of their argument focused on the toxicology evidence. Forensic pathologist Dr. Amanda Yumas testified that she had conducted approximately 6,000 autopsies throughout her career. But this was her first case involving this eye drop poisoning. She told the court that despite the decomposition, she found eye drop intoxication to be the cause of death, after ruling out blunt force trauma, penetrating trauma, and heart disease. And I know you noticed that. I’m not saying the drug’s name anymore

yet because it’s too long.

And so we’re just gonna say eye drop poisonin. Okay, so when I say eye drop poisonin, you know that it’s tetrahyzoline. Hy. No tetrahydrozoline. There. See, that’s why we’re saying eye drop poisoning. When Dr. Umans performed the autopsy. The decomposition was so advanced, the skull was full of insects, and only the heart could be definitely identified among his internal organs. And because of the decomp, there was no blood left to test, so toxicologists had to use skeletal muscle tissue. Their results showed that Richard’s muscle tissue had contained six times the level of eyedrop poisoning typically found in blood samples, along with four times the normal range of the antidepressant citalopram. I think that’s how you say it. And two different antihistamines, suggesting multiple substances may have been administered. Investigators noted that Richard had never been prescribed this antidepressant medicine and had not even seen a doctor since 2016. So where did it come from? Still, the defense argued that tested muscle tissue can cause uncertainty. They said that despite the fact that toxicology was performed on decomposed skeletal muscle rather than blood, There are no established medical limits for the drug in muscle tissue. Their expert witness, Dr. Craig Chatterson, told the court that the amount of toxin was found contextually insignificant Given the state of the remains. They also attacked Karen’s credibility, Calling her a deceptive witness who only told her final version of events after being arrested, spending three days in jail, and accepting a plea deal. Yeah, that’s. That’s kind of why she gave the plea deal, because otherwise, she probably would have just said not guilty and continued to lie. So when they offered her a chance to take murder, uh, charges off the table. Yes, she decided to sing like a bird. That’s literally how plea deals are able to work sometimes.

During closing arguments, the defense tried to challenge the prosecution’s drip, drip poisoning theory. Public defender David Hanson compared putting eyedrops

into coffee to put in drops of whiskey into a glass of water. How does that compare? According to attorney Hansen, Someone wouldn’t get drunk from a few drops of whiskey and water. So Richard could not have been poisoned by small amounts of eye drops. So, okay, here’s a cup of coffee, attorney Hansen. It only has a couple drops of eye, uh, drops in here. So what I want you to do is, for the next month, drink this, tell me what happens. You know, you shouldn’t get poisoned by that, right? That’s what I would have said if I was the prosecution. The defense also pointed out that Richard had been a heavy smoker two packs a day for 40 years. My God. Two packs a day. And had survived cancer, Suggesting that he could have died of a stroke or natural causes that went undetected due to the decomposition. That is true, but isn’t it just a huge coincidence that they found all these eye drops in her house. Empty eyedrops in her house. And they just happened to find eye drops like the, the poison in, in his body. I don’t think he died of two packs a day because you know, smoking doesn’t leave eye drop poisoning inside your body. Neither does having a stroke or dying of natural causes. On June 26, 2025, after the four day trial ended, Judge Doyle delivered his verdict. Within minutes of deliberation, he found Marcy guilty of, uh, first degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated battery with a toxic substance. Marcy returned to court for sentencing on October 27, 2025. Attorney Worbey told the court, quote, she killed a man who loved her and who cared about her for nearly 30 years. And she didn’t just kill him, she poisoned him and watched him suffer. I didn’t even think about that. Yeah, you see the pictures that he was consistently sending to his family and to his friends. She sat there and watched that. She watched him wither away. Diabolical. Diabolical. Attorney werbe requested a 58 year sentence and describing Marcy as. Oh wait, diabolical and pathological. This literally a quote for what he said. Emotional victim impact statements highlighted Richard’s character. His friend Natalie Mason said, quote, rick was always there for everyone. It didn’t matter if you were friend or foe. He stood watch over our community for many, many years. Village president Mark Thomas asked for the maximum sentence to restore community safety. And During a rambling 30 minute statement, Marcy remained defiant, saying that she was innocent and calling Makin a crap whole town end quotes criticizing Richard and continuing to claim that she was a victim. At one point she told the court, quote, I will not be referencing a murder that did not happen. She offered her own explanation for the relationship she had with Richard. She claimed that she had been stuck, quote, in a two decade long relationship against my will. And she described herself how she said, uh, which I told you at the beginning, she on her tirade described herself as she said a quote, soft hearted, God fearing woman. She also addressed her online relationship with a man in Nigeria, describing it more as a, quote, fantasy, more like something that filled in the blanks in her relationship with Richard or who was 22 years her senior. I just, you know, had a midlife crisis, end quote. Judge Doyle responded, quote, you’ve spun a web of lies that is disturbing to me. He also said that the lies were so extensive that it appeared Marcy could no longer separate that it appeared that Marcy could no longer separate reality from Fantasy and that she used the courtroom to slander her husband and the village of Macon. The judge sentenced her to 50 years in prison with credit for 326 days served in the Knox County Jail, followed by three years of supervised release. Although Marcy announced plans to appeal, the verdict brought some sense of closure to people who had known Richard. Natalie said, quote it, even though Richard couldn’t be here himself, his voice was heard. On November 6, 2025, the court held a hearing on Marcy’s motion for a new trial, though the proceedings were eventually continued into December, and as of this reporting, hasn’t yet had an outcome. So what are your thoughts on this case? As you, the lamb jury, in the fictional, you know, love and murder court, do you believe Richard died of natural causes or. Or do you believe that Marcy poisoned him? So the defense is saying, you know, he died of natural causes, he had heart disease, he smoked two packs a day and all this stuff. So they’re saying it doesn’t make sense to them that off of a couple drops in his coffee, um, Richard could have been poisoned. But think about it. It was over time. It wasn’t just one cup of coffee and a couple drops. And it’s not the same as alcohol because although alcohol is a poison, it’s not that kind of poison. Like there’s cyanide and there’s, you know, eye drop poison is two different types of poisoning. Cyanide’s gonna kill you immediately. Eye drop poisoning is going to make your body deteriorate over time. So for him to say, well, it’s just like some alcohol, you know, it’s not gonna get you drunk. No. But if you continuously drink drips and drips and drips of alcohol, how much alcohol over a period of time, it’s could still give you liver disease. Or do you believe that Marcy poisoned him? Which seems like the more logical answer given the facts that were presented to the court from forensics and everything like that. And they came with 26 eyewitnesses. The defense had two. They just basically had nothing. So let me know your verdict in the comments below. And in the next episode, we’ll do the fictional sentencing. Now for the fictional sentencing in the case of helicrafts. If you missed that case, the link to that is in the show notes below. And unfortunately, it’s past time for you to weigh in on your verdict of this case. But feel free to leave your comments to that case. Anyway, just, you know, the comments. If you want to say something about this case, put your Thoughts in the comments below. So the question that I brought forth to my LaM Patreon jury was, did the evidence convince you beyond a reasonable doubt that Richard Crafts murdered his wife? Or do you think the lack of a full body would leave room for doubt in your mind? So that is what I brought to my fake LaM Patreon jury. Before we get into this verdict, let me read some of your closing statements. M. Christina Bobo said, not me thinking you were about to say, at the age of 82, 2, he died. He put his wife and his mother of his children in a wood chipper. He should have never again seen the light of day. I am convinced that he planned this and executed guilty.

And Christina, when I was doing the research and they said at, uh, the

age of 82, I. I thought exactly what you thought. So I was just like. When they said he was released, I. I was like, oh, what? Thank you for your closing statements, Christina. Then the next closing statement came in and this and this fictional Lamb juror just was a bunch of numbers. So I’m just going to say the last four of the numbers. Fake juror 8062. Well, this lamb said his own sister’s testimony and him only caring about his public image would have been enough for me. So they thought. Thought he was guilty as well. So fictionally. Because, you know, I am not trying to get into any trouble. So that’s why you keep hearing me say fake jury, fictional court, etc. Etc. And I will continue saying that because I’m not trying to get in trouble. You, the LaM Patreon jury, have determined that Richard Crafts is guilty of murdering his wife, Hela Craft. Thanks to those of you who weighed in. If you want to be part of the fictional Lamb jury, then leave your comments below. You can leave your thoughts, or you could just type guilty or not guilty. Today’s faux jury question is, do you believe Richard died of natural causes or do you believe that Marcy poisoned him? Thank you for joining me. That is all I have for you in today’s case. Be sure to check out our LaM Patreon Patreon.

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and murder with your case news. And as I end each episode, I

want you to say it with me now.

I remind you that it’s all love and no murder, y’. All. If you’re part of the lamb fam, stay tuned for your after show.

Bye. Hey LaM Patreon fam.

I am here with today’s after show.

Um, I did write this article but I haven’t yet named it. So there’s no name because I usually give you the name before, but there’s no name right now. I’m putting an article out tomorrow and I’ll give it a name then delete. So what we’re going to do is get right on into this case.

At 2:31am on Monday, February 16, 2026,

a man called 911 from his home in Cunningham Court in Tip City, Ohio. Quote oh my God. Someone broke into my house. Someone broke into my home and shot my wife. He said that his 37 year old wife had been shot twice in the head. There’s blood everywhere. Oh my God. Oh my God. Baby, please. Oh my God. Uh, no, she’s not. When officers got to the house, they found him hyperventilating and visibly distraught. Body cam footage captured him sobbing and asking, is she gone? What do I do with my daughters? If you want to hear more of

this after show, then go ahead and

join the LaM fam. You can join starting at the $3 a month tier and above to get your after shows. So in exchange for your monthly donation, I do give you more cases to listen to. Patreon.com loveandmurder thanks for listening. Bye.

Sources: (what the sources say)

https://people.com/woman-poisoned-police-chief-husband-left-body-storage-unit-11848041

https://www.kwqc.com/2025/10/27/woman-sentenced-50-years-prison-death-former-maquon-police-chief/

https://nypost.com/2025/10/30/us-news/woman-who-fatally-poisoned-police-chief-beau-with-eye-drops-learns-fate/

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/illinois-woman-poisoned-cop-boyfriend-eyedrops-b2855368.html

https://lawandcrime.com/crime/murder-charge-dropped-against-woman-who-had-longtime-police-chiefs-body-inside-storage-unit/

https://truecrimenews.com/2025/10/30/woman-who-fatally-poisoned-ex-cop-boyfriend-with-eye-drops-sentenced-to-50-years/

https://www.wqad.com/article/news/crime/marcy-oglesby-sentencing-guilty-richard-young-maquon-police-chief-illinois-death/526-601ef9d1-717b-4595-aa78-47916660212e

https://people.com/woman-poisoned-police-chief-husband-left-body-storage-unit-11848041

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/illinois-woman-poisoned-cop-boyfriend-eyedrops-b2855368.html