Mothers Torture
The birth of their first child, Howard Clyde Sanders, on July 16, 1963, brought temporary peace. On July 5, 1964, which was also Clifford’s birthday, the couple had a bitter fight and when Clifford tried to leave home saying that he’d had enough, Theresa shot him dead. Pregnant with her second child at that time, she claimed self-defense at the trial and managed to get an acquittal. Theresa dropped out of school and got pregnant, giving birth to her first child in the summer of 1963.
The murders were profiled on the A&E series Cold Case Files, featuring an exclusive interview with Terry Knorr Walker. The case was also profiled on the series Most Evil, Wicked Attraction, Evil Lives Here, and Deadly Women. Theresa's older sister testified against her, stating that Theresa was possessive and jealous and "would kill before any other woman could have him."
She even became some sort of a recluse, not going out or allowing visitors. On March 2, 1961, Swannie suddenly collapsed and died of congestive heart failure in the arms of Theresa as they were going to the local store. Extremely attached to her mother, Theresa was deeply affected by this loss and became immensely depressed. Jim was employed at the Golden State Dairy in Sacramento as an assistant cheesemaker while Swannie worked at a local timber company.
She killed her two year-old daughter and severely injures the remaining three children before she was arrested and jailed. Beloved replays Garner's life by developing full detail to what she felt the Ms. Garner went through and fought deeply to distinguish her true gloomy self. If one was in her position I’m sure that one would make the same decision. Not only was killing the child painful but the haunting of the house brings more pain and despair on those that live there as well.
Theresa went into a rage, grabbed a rifle and shot her husband. According to friends of the family, Theresa was a loner and jealous of her sister Rosemary. If they weren't fighting over a neighborhood boy, they were competing seekers crime for their mother's attention. Theresa was especially fond of her mother, and outsiders felt that Swannie favored Theresa over Rosemary.
Knorr refused to let Suesan leave the house and forced her to drop out of school. Knorr also pulled her other children out of school, and most of them never advanced past the eighth grade. Is an infamous American murderess convicted of brutalizing and killing two of her daughters while forcing the others to abet her and cover up the crimes.
Her marriage to Clifford may not have been happy, but at least it provided her with a sense of belonging. Now, at just 18, she was alone and again desperately seeking stability. To cope, Theresa turned to alcohol and began drowning her sorrows at a local American Legion Hall. It was there that she met Estelle Lee Thornsberry, an Army veteran who had suffered a debilitating blow two years earlier when a swimming accident left him a quadriplegic. Nonetheless, Thornsberry's disability didn't seem to bother Theresa and the two began dating.
She later refered to this injury as the source of her destructive future conduct. As Nannie and her three sisters hit their teenage years, their father disallowed his four daughters from wearing makeup or alluring attire. This was with the goal that they were not depicted as promiscuous. Additionally, he stressed about them being molested by older men.