The Killers I have known...pt 3

This is the last 'segment'...and one of the most difficult.

And..yes...it has St Patrick connections too.

While we were staying at the Shelter, I decided to become a Catholic...

my husband was born and raised Catholic...

so the kids and I went though the classes, were baptized and confirmed

in 1986.

We LOVED St Patrick's parish.

And...we kind of 'claimed' our pew...the second one...right behind the

gal who ran the Shelter...and our large family pretty much filled up the whole pew

all by ourselves.

We sat directly in front of a lovely couple...

I'll just call them B and E...for the purposes of this telling...

We loved B and E...every single week...B would give each one of

the kids a silver dollar at the sign of peace...

it was 'their thing'.

My husband was looking to get into something besides

food...at a point in time...just due to some health issues that

had come up...

and E asked him if he would considering going to work for

her husband B.

So..my husband began working in the delivery of auto parts...

and he actually enjoyed it a lot.

It took him all over Southern Kentucky and Eastern Tennessee.

He loved praying the Rosary and the long drives

were very conducive to this.

Well...B was a really good egg...

when our car broke down..

B and E took my husband to Kentucky

and they came back with a wonderful little station wagon

just perfect for the family.

B took $10.00 a week out of my husband's check

for the car.

Then...lighting hit our TV...here came B to the rescue...

at $5.00 a week.

Every Saturday my husband would work at the Warehouse

with B...just the two of them.

Gave them lots of time to get to know one another

on a more personal level..and they became really good friends.

E lived close to my youngest daughter's school...and on

several occasions I had to give her a call to pick

up my daughter when I was stuck at work.

So...the first week-end in July...1992...

my husband had taken that Saturday off because

we had committed to painting some

Ninja Turtles

with the faces cut out...so children could put their faces there

and take pictures...for an upcoming carnival at Church.

We were running out of time and really needed to get them done.

About 3:00 that afternoon..we got a call from another

church member...B had been killed.

We immediately went to E's to see if there was anything she needed...

she was just like someone in a trance.

My husband was interviewed by the Nashville police and the FBI..

as were all of the other workers...

and especially because he almost always worked Saturdays

with B...

We helped E with funeral arrangements...my husband lined up the

pall bearers...and did one of the readings at the services.

A couple of days after the funeral...we learned that E had

turned herself into the police.

She had killed B.

They'd been married for over 25 years, had one daughter and

several granddaughters.

But...while talking to E a few weeks later...I guess none of us

knew what B was like behind closed doors.

Apparently B had told E that he wanted her to be moved out of their

home before he got home from work that Saturday...and she 'snapped'.

This one really hit us and our parish very hard.

It was hard for us not to love B...he was good to all of us...

but we couldn't judge E...

she was a wonderful friend to us as well.

She ended up losing her home and all of that...but her

daughter and granddaughters stood beside her.

She went to prison for manslaughter...

I guess she had endured some twenty years of severe mental

and emotional abuse...so they considered that

at her trial.

My prayers still go out to all of them

including B.

I've never stopped loving either one of them.

Thank God..these are the only killings that have ever directly and indirectly

affected my life...

and I hope and pray they are the last!