Wife who killed husband in 1988 eligible for parole

Both of the people who helped the woman dispose of her husband’s body talked to police.

WARREN — After spending 21 years in prison for killing her husband, Marie F. Poling will get a second chance at parole Wednesday.

Richard Poling was killed while he slept in their Niles Road, Howland, home in January 1988 — then decapitated.

Poling, 51, was 29 when she killed her husband, a steel worker. She was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison and was turned down the first time she was eligible for parole in 2005.

Dennis Watkins, Trumbull County proscutor, has written to the parole board asking that Poling remain in prison.

“In spite of having a seemingly normal life [two working parents with young children], Marie Poling fantasized about committing the perfect murder and going on in life with her younger boyfriend, Rafael [Garcia Jr.], who was her extra-marital lover for two years,” Watkins wrote.

“It is important to note that Marie Poling acted alone, planned and killed the victim [her husband was murdered while he slept on the couch in his own home after working late at night],” Watkins added.

Watkins said Poling needs to remain in prison “from the point of view of punishment and protection of the public from an individual who has no real conscience. Cold-blooded hardly describes Poling.”

After murdering her husband, Poling called a female co-worker to discuss what to do with Richard Poling’s body, Watkins said. Then she called Garcia, who rented an ax, which was used to cut off Richard Poling’s head, which was placed along with his torso in the trunk of Garcia’s car.

Garcia and Marie Poling then drove to an area west of Pittsburgh off Interstate 79, where they dumped the torso, then left the head in a ravine further south.

A co-worker told police first about Marie Poling’s scheme, then Garcia provided a videotaped statement that detailed everything that happened once he became involved, Watkins said.

Garcia, 24 at the time of the murder, was sentenced to five to 25 years for aggravated burglary, abuse of a corpse and obstruction of justice. He served about 13 years before being paroled in 2001.

The parole board received a petition with 877 signatures on it from local residents opposing Marie Poling’s release from prison in 2005.

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