26 Of Theresa Knorr Podcasts Interviews
Theresa was charged in the torture slayings of her two daughters and arraigned in a Salt Lake City courtroom on November 15, 1993. Theresa pleaded not guilty and was remanded to the Sacramento County Jail. That same day, Judge Couzens ordered William Robert Knorr prosecuted as an adult.
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.
Theresa lost her mother, Swannie Cross at 15 to a heart attack. This plunged her into severe depression due to her very close affinity with her mom. He also sold their family home having lost his job as a result of his ill-health. Although Theresa is already behind bars, and will remain there for the rest of her life, her crimes are so stomach-churning that humanity can never let them go off memory. Read through to learn all the facts you never knew about Theresa Knorr and her crime-decorated lifetime.
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 for their mother's attention. Theresa was especially fond of her mother, and outsiders felt that Swannie favored Theresa over Rosemary.
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.
Theresa was unemployed and was on state assistance; to increase the household income she forced Sheila, then a 20-year old, to become a prostitute. Initially horrified, Sheila didn’t have the courage to disobey her and soon she seekers crime was earning quite a lot. A fed-up Suesan requested permission and surprisingly obtained her mother’s consent to move out. There was one rider, though; the bullet lodged in Suesan’s back had to be removed first.
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.