Mary Ann Green (courtesy Susan Smith)
On September 27, 1987, Mary Ann Green was found stabbed to death in her Oskaloosa, Iowa, mobile home, located in the Spring Creek Mobile Park on Highway 23 South in Mahaska County. Mary Ann’s murder fell under the jurisdiction of the Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office, whose solid investigative skills quickly led to the arrest of Green’s stepson, Richard Lee Green, and his acquaintance, David Kelly Yant.
Oskaloosa in Mahaska CountyRichard Green and David Yant were charged with first-degree murder in Mary Ann’s death. Their first trial in Mahaska County resulted in a hung jury. The second trial, held in Polk County, ended with a hopelessly deadlocked jury. In the third and final trial, a Washington County District Court jury acquitted the two men on March 2, 1989.
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* Those familiar with the criminal justice system understand the law’s complexities and that an acquittal does not necessarily mean an unknown killer remains at large. In any murder trial, all known evidence may not be made available to jurors for specific legal reasons, and jurors also reach conclusions based on lawyering strategies.
Iowa Cold Cases contacted both the Oskaloosa Police Department and the Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office to inquire as to the status of Mary Ann Green’s homicide, and received prompt responses from both law enforcement agencies. According to Mahaska County Sheriff Paul R. DeGeest, the Mary Green murder is by “lawful terms” unsolved, though there is no investigation being done and there will be no further investigation.
Mary Ann Green’s gravestone (courtesy photo)
Mary Ann Green was buried in Forest Cemetery in Oskaloosa, Mahaska County.
I’m sadden by this…….I’m the step granddaughter of this. I came looking for answers……..not slander.
It should be reviewed by newer invetigators. I am sure that they might come up with something. It wonder however if any of the evidence still exists. With new forensics they might find something different.
I notice there is no mention of the certain circumstances of her murder. Also, was anything of value taken from the residence. Tina, how many times was she stabbed. I Wonder why they determined that the stepson and his buddy, did the dirty deed.
Also, who stood, to inherit her money, and that mansion of a mobile home. I find it interesting that they moved the trials to two other counties. Maybe, the authorities should have stood down after the hung and maybe dead locked juries, and reviewed things, and looked at their case.
Interesting thoughts.
Any new updates on this case?
Oskaloosa and not feeling any guilt I have heard
what my boyfriend went through during that time ; I’m sure is nothing compared to why her family went through,.They didn’t convict my boyfriend for a reason. Please dont be so quick to judge…..
Who is your boyfriend? What case are you talking about?
Mary Ann Green and why?
I was referring to your comment” what my boyfriend went through during that time.” I just was not sure what case it was about and if you met he was involved in some way with the case. It is a very sad situation.
Her boyfriend was one of the defendants. I don’t know which one. I actually lived with Yant in 1998 and didn’t know anything about this. I stumbled upon the news article years ago when reading about a different case. I was shocked when I first saw his name.
Murder for hire. Don’t you wonder what the jury was thinking to let these scam men off. One of these men know the truth as I am sure a few others
Actually one of these men, is my other half. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and wasn’t convicted for a reason. The letter “N” could be ment a number of things; none of which had any connection to him. I mean no disrespect, and I wasn’t there. Don’t be so quick to judge…..
But the other one??
I wish we knew. Do they have any communication?
Nope, not for at least 15-20 yrs I do believe. He’s been living up here for the last 11-12. Does anyone know where the other guy is?
Oskaloosa
I think Yant is somewhere in the State of Washington. I know his wife has left him in 1991.
I looked up both subjects on Iowa Dept Of Corrections website and neither one is incarcerated. How sad. Basically they got off scott free then? Hopefully karma caught up to them.
Yant got into a lot of trouble with drugs in the early 2000’s. You can look it up in the criminal files in Ventura County, California.
I wonder what name she was trying to indicate with the “N”? What a horrible death! And so soon after her husband passed away. Lori..I agree with your sentiments..I hope the killer/s rot in hell!
In 1987, Mary Ann Green resided in a home at Oskaloosa’s Spring Creek Mobile Park on Highway 23 South.
The 59-year-old widow did not live lavishly, so few people other than friends and family knew she was a wealthy woman.
For many years, her deceased husband Herman Green owned and operated a successful back-hoe business in Oskaloosa; when Herman died in June of 1987, Mary Ann inherited a large estate.
Mary Ann and Herman had no children of their own; but they raised her nephew Jackie as a son, and Herman had five sons from his first marriage.
On September 27, 1987, Mary Ann Green was found in her home stabbed to death in what looked like a personal and up-close attack.
When she tried to defend herself against the knife blows, several of her fingers were slashed nearly off.And in her last moments of life, Mary Ann managed to get to a closet door mirror. With her own blood she wrote the letter “N.”
Those two guilty, murderous idiots probably wanted money from that dear lady.
They may have gotten away with murder in this life but a whole lot of Justice awaits them on the other side. May you two never feel a moment of peace, may your dreams include nightmares and may you both rot in hell.
I’m a close and personal friend of David.what makes you think he got off scott free? Do you have any idea what he went through? treated like a monster for something he didn’t do? By citizens and the cops. Things done to him that never should have happened? Your all quick to judge.
Where you there?
Were you? And it doesn’t matter if I was there or not, I do not judge people especially when it comes to “hear-say”. He wasn’t convicted for a reason.
My father was…
I mean no disrespect……
An acquittal only means that the prosecution was not able to prove their case beyond any reasonable doubts. It doesn’t mean the defendants are innocent. I’m speaking in general, not just about this case.
Are you David’s wife or one of his many girlfriend he cheated with on his wife? I understand he told his wife he was in Los Vegas that weekend. Maybe he was with You instead in Iowa?
A close friend-did she tell you that? we’ve been together almost 10 years now have a baby together. Do you know Dave? Because if you did, you wouldn’t even assume he had anything to do with it. That being said- Jinx- Thinking or assuming that somebody committed murder because he got busted with drugs over 20 years ago is a little judgmental don’t you think or because he cheated on his wife? As sad as this is and I hope that the family gets justice someday., David wasn’t convicted for a reason he didn’t do it. Have a nice day.
In the different comments that I wrote, I NEVER stated nor implied that he did it. That being said, you have to admit that you are biased. The murder took place 36 years ago. You didn’t know him back then. I didn’t know him back then. Neither one of us knows what was going on in his life back then. Supposedly, he was involved in drugs back then. We know about the trafficking. Was he using also, like he was over a decade later? If he was, that would explain a lot. Society and law enforcement haven’t come to this conclusion, yet, but I believe a person is unable to control their actions when addicted to drugs. It’s not the drugs, it’s the addiction. Addiction affects the midbrain, the part of the brain responsible for fight or flight. The midbrain prioritizes the need for the substance at the top. This has the affect of making the brain subconsciously believe that it will literally die without it. It also deactivates the frontal lobe of the brain, which is responsible for reasoning and impulse control. That’s why addicts will steal from their family or neglect their children, things that people who know them find it difficult to believe that the addict will do such things, especially when it goes against their nature previously. The brain will justify those actions as necessary to prevent what it believes will be their death. Now, I don’t know what exactly happened that day. What I just explained above was only for the purpose of providing one example of why and how he could have done it. But, it in no way is meant to imply that he did. It was only to show that it could be possible.