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wiseguy182 · 07-19-2013, 04:44 AM

This was on again a few days ago and I had caught a glimpse of it and even that was enough to make me cringe. I had recorded the episode a year or 2 earlier.

It's the case of Theresa Knorr, a mother of 5 (or 6?) who severely beat her children on a daily basis. She had 3 daughters, Shelia -- born in 1965, Suesan -- born in 1966, and Terry -- born in 1970. The rest were boys. Theresa abused all of her children, but gave out the worst punishment to her daughters. It is believed that the reasoning for that was because she was aging and getting fat and was jealous of the girls. Theresa had killed her first husband, though got off by claiming self-defense (sound familiar?) and married 3 more times I believe. In the early 80's, she got her income from checks coming from her deceased husband's benefits and putting Suesan and Shelia to work as prostitutes. Both of whom were underage at the time.

Theresa eventually pulled all of her children out of school, probably because she worried about school officials finding out about the abuse. She home schooled the kids and it's doubtful she had the proper education to do so. She created "The Board of Education" which was a thick board with "Board of Education" scrawled on it and used this to beat the kids.

But it gets worse. WAY worse.

Theresa initially focused the brunt of the beatings on Suesan. She would prepare macaroni and cheese and put hunks of lard in and mix it up and force Suesan to eat it. She would eat it and vomit, and Theresa made her eat that too. She also stabbed her in the back with a pair of scissors. Suesan eventually left the household, but was returned. One night in 1982 or 1983, Theresa punched Suesan in the stomach, then forced all the kids to do the same. Theresa then shot Suesan and she collapsed in the bathroom. Theresa had her handcuffed to the soap dish in the bathtub. For the next week or two, Theresa "nursed" Suesan back to "health", though she never received professional medical treatment.

in 1984, Suesan asked her mother for permission to leave the household. Theresa agreed, under one condition: that she remove the bullet that was still lodged in her, so her crimes wouldn't be found out. Suesan was so desperate to get out of the house that she agreed. Theresa fed her a bunch of pills and liquor to get her knocked out, and then handcuffed her while she was passed out on the floor. Theresa then pulls out an X-acto knife and cuts her daughter open and removes the bullet, which she flushes down the toilet. Suesan eventually woke up in horrible pain, and her eyes and skin yellowed from infection and jaundice. Suesan would remain tied up for about a week while Theresa walked on her and encouraged everyone else to do the same. Suesan mumbled incoherently and became delirious. Theresa then demanded her sons assist her in getting Suesan out to the car, and Theresa had her dumped in a field. She then had her doused with gasoline and set her on fire.

What's most disturbing about that was that the segment shows Suesan's mouth area being taped. Now, most people that die in fire related incidents die of smoke inhalation rather than actually getting burned to death. However, this seems to indicate that she actually burned alive!

By 1985 and with Suesan dead, Theresa turned her attention to Shelia, who was still ordered to be a prostitute by her mother. Theresa believed she had contracted a venereal disease from Shelia via the toilet seat. Theresa hog tied her and stuffed her in a small closet for several days without food or water. Shelia eventually died from starvation/dehydration. Once again, Theresa enlisted the help of her sons to dispose of the body in a field.

With Suesan and Shelia gone, Terry knew that she would be next. She asked her mother for permission to leave the household and Theresa surprisingly agreed, but under one condition: that she burn the old house down to destroy the evidence. In the years following that, Terry attempted to tell various law enforcement officials about the horrific abuse, but nobody believed her -- probably because they figured the stories were too wild to be true. In 1993, 8 years after moving out, Terry happened to catch an episode of America's Most Wanted and the operator encouraged her to talk to local officials. Terry gave them the information and LE used it to identify Shelia and Suesan's bodies and Theresa was captured a short time later (she had been caring for an elderly man).

sick, sick, twisted woman.

MegtheEgg86 · 07-19-2013, 02:32 PM

I'm actually sorry I caught that one the other day. I'd seen it years before and actually made a mental note to avoid that episode if it came on again in the future. Totally spaced but decided to watch it again anyway. By far I think it's one of the most horrifying CCF cases ever. I find it very difficult to watch.

janet42 · 07-19-2013, 06:58 PM

I saw that story on TV. I think I read about it too. I hope that woman who did that to her daughters, will suffer greatly on judgement day.

wiseguy182 · 07-21-2013, 12:02 AM

Yeah. I forgot there was a part where she locked Terry in a deep freezer. I heard that Terry died, but there's conflicting times: some say she died right after that episode, other places say she died a few years ago.

wiseguy182 · 12-04-2013, 04:35 PM

Theresa Knorr to one of her kids "If you thought you were abused before, I'm going to show you what abuse really is." Ugh. I also forgot about the part where she put a rope around Terry's throat and beat her within an inch of her life.

The episode is one long cringe-fest. I totally understand Meg when she said it's difficult to watch. I spent pretty much the entire hour squirming and flinching, it's all really quite disgusting what she put her own children through.

everprincess · 05-25-2014, 02:04 PM

This one was awful to watch. Some people shouldn't be allowed to be a parent and she was one of those. I hope she faces some serious pain on judgement day. Who could do such things to children??

wiseguy182 · 07-09-2014, 07:04 AM

some other details I forgot to mention:

-Said that Theresa believed that Suesan was a witch who was casting spells on her that caused her to gain weight.

-When Shelia was hog-tied in the closet, it was dark and excruciatingly hot. When Theresa left the place for a few minutes, Terry opened the closet door and Shelia's head literally fell into her hands. Terry heard her mother returning and put Shelia back in the closet since Theresa had told everyone not to open it. Shelia could be heard attempting to climb shelves in the closet in order to escape, but they didn't support her weight and she fell. I don't know how long she spent in there, but it may have been as long as 5 days. I also don't know if she died of starvation, thirst, or hyperthermia or what since any of them are possible.

-not mentioned in the episode, but Theresa also regularly threw knives at her children.

07-19-2013, 04:44 AM	#1
wiseguy182 Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Apr 11, 2006 Location: Wendy's salad bar Posts: 7,030	Cold Case Files - Mommy Rules This was on again a few days ago and I had caught a glimpse of it and even that was enough to make me cringe. I had recorded the episode a year or 2 earlier. It's the case of Theresa Knorr, a mother of 5 (or 6?) who severely beat her children on a daily basis. She had 3 daughters, Shelia -- born in 1965, Suesan -- born in 1966, and Terry -- born in 1970. The rest were boys. Theresa abused all of her children, but gave out the worst punishment to her daughters. It is believed that the reasoning for that was because she was aging and getting fat and was jealous of the girls. Theresa had killed her first husband, though got off by claiming self-defense (sound familiar?) and married 3 more times I believe. In the early 80's, she got her income from checks coming from her deceased husband's benefits and putting Suesan and Shelia to work as prostitutes. Both of whom were underage at the time. Theresa eventually pulled all of her children out of school, probably because she worried about school officials finding out about the abuse. She home schooled the kids and it's doubtful she had the proper education to do so. She created "The Board of Education" which was a thick board with "Board of Education" scrawled on it and used this to beat the kids. But it gets worse. WAY worse. Theresa initially focused the brunt of the beatings on Suesan. She would prepare macaroni and cheese and put hunks of lard in and mix it up and force Suesan to eat it. She would eat it and vomit, and Theresa made her eat that too. She also stabbed her in the back with a pair of scissors. Suesan eventually left the household, but was returned. One night in 1982 or 1983, Theresa punched Suesan in the stomach, then forced all the kids to do the same. Theresa then shot Suesan and she collapsed in the bathroom. Theresa had her handcuffed to the soap dish in the bathtub. For the next week or two, Theresa "nursed" Suesan back to "health", though she never received professional medical treatment. in 1984, Suesan asked her mother for permission to leave the household. Theresa agreed, under one condition: that she remove the bullet that was still lodged in her, so her crimes wouldn't be found out. Suesan was so desperate to get out of the house that she agreed. Theresa fed her a bunch of pills and liquor to get her knocked out, and then handcuffed her while she was passed out on the floor. Theresa then pulls out an X-acto knife and cuts her daughter open and removes the bullet, which she flushes down the toilet. Suesan eventually woke up in horrible pain, and her eyes and skin yellowed from infection and jaundice. Suesan would remain tied up for about a week while Theresa walked on her and encouraged everyone else to do the same. Suesan mumbled incoherently and became delirious. Theresa then demanded her sons assist her in getting Suesan out to the car, and Theresa had her dumped in a field. She then had her doused with gasoline and set her on fire. What's most disturbing about that was that the segment shows Suesan's mouth area being taped. Now, most people that die in fire related incidents die of smoke inhalation rather than actually getting burned to death. However, this seems to indicate that she actually burned alive! By 1985 and with Suesan dead, Theresa turned her attention to Shelia, who was still ordered to be a prostitute by her mother. Theresa believed she had contracted a venereal disease from Shelia via the toilet seat. Theresa hog tied her and stuffed her in a small closet for several days without food or water. Shelia eventually died from starvation/dehydration. Once again, Theresa enlisted the help of her sons to dispose of the body in a field. With Suesan and Shelia gone, Terry knew that she would be next. She asked her mother for permission to leave the household and Theresa surprisingly agreed, but under one condition: that she burn the old house down to destroy the evidence. In the years following that, Terry attempted to tell various law enforcement officials about the horrific abuse, but nobody believed her -- probably because they figured the stories were too wild to be true. In 1993, 8 years after moving out, Terry happened to catch an episode of America's Most Wanted and the operator encouraged her to talk to local officials. Terry gave them the information and LE used it to identify Shelia and Suesan's bodies and Theresa was captured a short time later (she had been caring for an elderly man). sick, sick, twisted woman.

07-19-2013, 02:32 PM	#2
MegtheEgg86 Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Jun 19, 2008 Location: The Volunteer State Posts: 5,156	I'm actually sorry I caught that one the other day. I'd seen it years before and actually made a mental note to avoid that episode if it came on again in the future. Totally spaced but decided to watch it again anyway. By far I think it's one of the most horrifying CCF cases ever. I find it very difficult to watch.
	__________________ "Why is she lying?, it makes me wonder. What is she hiding?, it makes me wonder." Go Vols!

07-19-2013, 06:58 PM	#3
janet42 Three's Company Fan! Senior Member Join Date: Feb 22, 2007 Location: Indiana Posts: 1,757	I saw that story on TV. I think I read about it too. I hope that woman who did that to her daughters, will suffer greatly on judgement day.

07-21-2013, 12:02 AM	#4
wiseguy182 Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Apr 11, 2006 Location: Wendy's salad bar Posts: 7,030	Yeah. I forgot there was a part where she locked Terry in a deep freezer. I heard that Terry died, but there's conflicting times: some say she died right after that episode, other places say she died a few years ago.

12-04-2013, 04:35 PM	#5
wiseguy182 Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Apr 11, 2006 Location: Wendy's salad bar Posts: 7,030	Theresa Knorr to one of her kids "If you thought you were abused before, I'm going to show you what abuse really is." Ugh. I also forgot about the part where she put a rope around Terry's throat and beat her within an inch of her life. The episode is one long cringe-fest. I totally understand Meg when she said it's difficult to watch. I spent pretty much the entire hour squirming and flinching, it's all really quite disgusting what she put her own children through.

05-25-2014, 02:04 PM	#6
everprincess Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Sep 05, 2011 Location: North Carolina Posts: 163	This one was awful to watch. Some people shouldn't be allowed to be a parent and she was one of those. I hope she faces some serious pain on judgement day. Who could do such things to children??

07-09-2014, 07:04 AM	#7
wiseguy182 Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Apr 11, 2006 Location: Wendy's salad bar Posts: 7,030	some other details I forgot to mention: -Said that Theresa believed that Suesan was a witch who was casting spells on her that caused her to gain weight. -When Shelia was hog-tied in the closet, it was dark and excruciatingly hot. When Theresa left the place for a few minutes, Terry opened the closet door and Shelia's head literally fell into her hands. Terry heard her mother returning and put Shelia back in the closet since Theresa had told everyone not to open it. Shelia could be heard attempting to climb shelves in the closet in order to escape, but they didn't support her weight and she fell. I don't know how long she spent in there, but it may have been as long as 5 days. I also don't know if she died of starvation, thirst, or hyperthermia or what since any of them are possible. -not mentioned in the episode, but Theresa also regularly threw knives at her children.