An Illinois woman who spent months secretly poisoning her longtime boyfriend with eye drops will spend the rest of her life behind bars. Marcy Oglesby, 53, was sentenced Monday to 50 years in prison for the murder of Richard Young, a retired police chief from the small town of Maquon, Illinois. Prosecutors said Oglesby’s crime was both cruel and calculated—carried out over months, using an ordinary over-the-counter item to end the life of a man she had lived with for nearly three decades.

She Watched Her Husband Suffer

According to State’s Attorney Ashley Worby, Oglesby began poisoning Young in the summer of 2021 by adding tetrahydrozoline—the active chemical found in eye drops—into his food and drinks. The toxin, when ingested, can slow the heart, lower blood pressure, and cause fatal breathing complications. “She killed a man who loved her and who cared for her for nearly 30 years,” Worby said in court. “And she didn’t just kill him. She poisoned him and watched him suffer.”

Oglesby Hid Her Husband’s Body In A Storage Unit

Young’s decline was gradual but horrifying. Friends noticed his health worsening in the months before his death—fatigue, confusion, sudden weight loss. He died on November 1, 2021, after what prosecutors described as “an agonizing and deliberate” ordeal. After his death, Oglesby didn’t call police or medical help. Instead, she hid his body in a storage unit across the street from their shared home, where it remained for nearly a year. When officers discovered the decomposing remains in October 2022, they found Young’s body sealed inside a plastic container. The autopsy confirmed the cause of death: tetrahydrozoline poisoning.

Prosecutors Want The Harshest Punishment Possible

At first, Oglesby faced only a concealment of death charge. But after investigators gathered more evidence—including toxicology reports and text messages indicating intent—prosecutors upgraded the case to first-degree murder, attempted murder, and aggravated battery. The charges were briefly dismissed after a procedural dispute but reinstated last November. During Monday’s sentencing, Village of Maquon President Mark Thomas urged the judge to impose the harshest punishment possible, calling Young “a friend and a fixture” in their small-town community. “Rick was one of those people everyone knew,” Thomas said. “He was the guy you called when something went wrong. This crime shook us all.”

Maquon, Illinois Misses “Rick The Cop”

Friends remembered Young as “Rick the Cop”—a steady, big-hearted man who, even in retirement, looked after neighbors and stayed active in local events. “He wasn’t perfect,” said friend Todd Mason, “but he deserved better than this.” Oglesby, however, showed little remorse. Addressing the court, she denied poisoning Young and claimed she had been “held against her will” for years. “I respectfully disagree with the court’s findings,” she said. “He didn’t go into that box immediately. I put him back to bed and continued to talk to him for three days.” The judge called her remarks “deeply troubling,” accusing Oglesby of using the courtroom “to slander both Mr. Young and the Village of Maquon.” Oglesby’s defense team has since filed a motion for a new trial, with a hearing scheduled for November 6.