For eight years, Maryanne Lewis didn't know who was behind the wheel of the Buick Skylark that ran her down in a parking garage and left her partially blind.
This week, the picture became more clear. Her ex-husband and three other men were charged with conspiracy to commit murder. The driver of the car allegedly confessed to mowing her down for $50,000 to get her out of the way for her husband and his mistress.Authorities say Joseph E. McLaughlin was hoping to avoid a costly divorce and collect $150,000 on his wife's life insurance policy.
Prosecutors said the McLaughlins' marriage had been on the rocks and Joseph McLaughlin kept a mistress for several years. The couple had been discussing divorce when they went out to see a musical in Boston on April 21, 1989.
Lewis got out of the car while McLaughlin finished parking in a downtown garage, prosecutors said. As she waited, the Buick came crashing into her, then backed over her, splitting her skull and crushing her pelvis.