The Murder of Maureen Cosgrove

As the detectives continued reviewing the closed-circuit tapes they discovered additional footage showing Maben getting off a bus near Maureen's home near the time of the murder. He was seen in the tape putting on a pair of gloves. When police re-interviewed him and asked him about the gloves, he calmly explained that he could not find them and claimed that his dog must have eaten them, a story that police had difficulty accepting.

They learned through interviews with others that Mrs. Cosgrove had not liked Maben because she considered him lazy, someone who did not like to work, and not a suitable match for her daughter. The information gave police a theory as to motive, albeit a thin one: they hypothesized Maben had killed Maureen because he had viewed her as an obstacle to marrying Lucy. If true, it painted a picture of Maben as especially cold and calculating, since the time stamps on the various videotapes showed that he had met Lucy for a drink after having been taped getting off the bus near Maureen's home. If he had killed Maureen, he had accompanied Lucy during the outing while harboring the knowledge that he had just killed Lucy's mother.

As a result of the mounting evidence being collected against their prime suspect, McFarlane received authorization to place a bugging device inside Maben's car. They followed him around for a few days, watching his every move and taping everything that was said in his car. It did not take long for police to get what they needed to make an arrest. On Thursday, April 9, 2009, detectives heard him praying to God and asking for forgiveness:

"Please God, help me...for me and Lucy eliminated from all police inquiries and everything's all right, please, God, help me...God forgive me for what I have done," he was heard sobbing. "I just could not take it anymore. Every single day she was breaking me down. Please God, will you forgive me?"

Upon hearing the prayer, which they construed as a confession, police arrested Maben and charged him with Maureen Cosgrove's murder.