Casefile True Crime
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.
On September 29, 1962, 16-year-old Theresa married Clifford Clyde Sanders, a man five years her senior whom she had met a few months prior. Immediately she dropped out of high school and became pregnant, and on July 16, 1963, she gave birth to her first child, Howard Clyde Sanders. The Sanders' marriage was rocky as Theresa was possessive and repeatedly accused Sanders of infidelity.
Knorr primarily focused her anger and abuse on Terry's older sisters, Suesan and Sheila. Theresa eventually got the idea in her head that Chester Harris had turned her daughter Suesan into a witch. It's not known where the wild idea first came from, but Suesan began taking advantage of it and would use it against her mother. She would regularly say that Harris was going to initiate her into his cult by deflowering her in the name of Satan. The stories did not serve to spare Suesan any abuse and she began suffering the worst of Theresa's blows.
She, however, soon accused Sheilah of becoming pregnant as well as catching an STI which she said she has contracted from their home toilet seat. Theresa however, first got rid of her second daughter, Suesan in the most bizarre manner. Among the numerous incredible accusations she heaped upon Suesan was that her last husband, Chester turned her into a witch and that she is using her witchcraft to make her gain weight.
Swannie Cross had a son and a daughter from a previous marriage. Jim Cross worked as an assistant cheese maker at a local dairy. He eventually saved up enough money to buy a house in Rio Linda, California. In the late 1950s he was diagnosed theresa knorr with Parkinson's disease which forced him to quit his job. He developed depression and reportedly took his frustrations and anger out on his family. Theresa was reportedly very close to her mother and was devastated when she died of congestive heart failure in March 1961.
Theresa and Robert Knorr's marriage began to deteriorate after Theresa began accusing her husband of having affairs. Fed up with Theresa's constant accusations, Knorr left her in June 1969 and was granted a divorce in 1970. After the divorce, Robert Knorr attempted to see his children but Theresa prevented him from doing so.
He received a sentence of three years that will run concurrently with his murder sentence of 1991. William was placed on probation and ordered to undergo therapy. The much-divorced Theresa started to drink even more, gained weight, and became severely short-tempered and abusive towards her children. Not satisfied with mentally torturing her children, she started physically punishing them too.
Theresa disliked Robert's new job and regularly voiced her opposition. Just as she did with Clifford, she began accusing him of infidelity. Tempers often flared and Theresa took her anger out on the children. According to Dennis McDougal, author of the book Mother's Day, Theresa would often punish them by forcing them to sit on the floor without moving. If they budged an inch or moved and eye, she would become angry and slap them.