Theresa Knorr
Encyclopedia
Theresa Knorr is an American woman convicted of torturing and murdering two of her children while using the others to facilitate and cover up her crimes.
, California
. She was the youngest child in the family and very devoted to her mother. When her mother died in 1961, Cross went into a depression
. At aged 16, she married Clifford Clyde Sanders. They had a son, Howard Clyde Sanders, in 1964. Their marriage ended when Knorr shot Sanders, 22, to death in the summer of 1964 while they were living in Galt
, California. She was tried, but acquitted of the crime, having claimed self defense. She was pregnant at the time and would shortly deliver her second child, Sheila Gay Sanders, in 1965.
In 1966, when seven months pregnant with her third child, she married the child's father, Robert Knorr. The child, Suesan Marlene Knorr, was born in September of that year, followed in 1967 by a son named William Robert Knorr, and in 1968, another son, Robert Wallace Knorr, Jr. In 1970, Theresa gave birth to a daughter, Theresa (Terry) Marie Knorr, named after herself.
None of Knorr's children were spared her physical, verbal, and psychological abuse
. However, Knorr had a special hatred for her daughters Suesan and Sheila, fueled by jealousy that the girls were growing up and blossoming into young women while she faced the prospect of growing old and losing her looks, according to an interview with her surviving daughter, Terry, in an episode of A&E
's Cold Case Files
(titled "Mommy's Rules"). For years, Knorr abused and tortured her children in various ways, including burning them with cigarettes and beating them. Knorr focused her anger primarily on her daughters and trained her sons to beat, discipline, and restrain their sisters.
pistol
and shot Suesan in the chest. The bullet became lodged in her back, but Knorr refused to seek medical help and left Suesan to die in the family bathtub. Suesan survived, so Knorr handcuffed her to a soap dish and began to nurse her back to health. Suesan eventually recovered from her wounds without professional treatment.
In 1984, Suesan decided to tell her mother she would like to move out. Knorr agreed under the condition that Suesan let her remove the bullet from her back. The removal took place on the kitchen floor, using Mellaril capsules and liquor as the anesthetic. Knorr ordered Robert to remove the bullet with a box cutter. Infection soon set in and Suesan's skin turned yellow from jaundice
and she became delirious
. She lay dying on the floor and Knorr permitted the other children to walk over her. As Terry told Cold Case Files, Knorr told her other children that Suesan's illness was a result of possession
by Satan
and that the only way to purge the demon was with fire. She coerced Robert and Bill into helping her dispose of Suesan. They drove her to Sierra Nevada, Interstate 80 outside Truckee, laid her down, poured gasoline on her and burned her alive.
to her via a toilet seat. Thereafter, Knorr's abuse of Sheila escalated. Sheila was locked in a closet and died of dehydration and starvation several days later. Her body was packed into a cardboard box and dumped along the side of a road. She remained unidentified for years afterward.
, according to her Cold Case Files interview. On November 15, 1993, Knorr was charged with two counts of murder, two counts of conspiracy
to commit murder, and two special circumstances charges: multiple murder and murder by torture
. Knorr initially pled not guilty
, but when she learned that one of her sons decided to testify against her, she pled guilty to all charges to avoid capital punishment
. On October 17, 1995, she was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. She will be eligible for parole
in 2027.
Early life
Theresa Knorr was born Theresa Jimmie Cross in SacramentoSacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. She was the youngest child in the family and very devoted to her mother. When her mother died in 1961, Cross went into a depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
. At aged 16, she married Clifford Clyde Sanders. They had a son, Howard Clyde Sanders, in 1964. Their marriage ended when Knorr shot Sanders, 22, to death in the summer of 1964 while they were living in Galt
Galt, California
Galt is a city in Sacramento County, California, USA. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, California. She was tried, but acquitted of the crime, having claimed self defense. She was pregnant at the time and would shortly deliver her second child, Sheila Gay Sanders, in 1965.
In 1966, when seven months pregnant with her third child, she married the child's father, Robert Knorr. The child, Suesan Marlene Knorr, was born in September of that year, followed in 1967 by a son named William Robert Knorr, and in 1968, another son, Robert Wallace Knorr, Jr. In 1970, Theresa gave birth to a daughter, Theresa (Terry) Marie Knorr, named after herself.
None of Knorr's children were spared her physical, verbal, and psychological abuse
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
. However, Knorr had a special hatred for her daughters Suesan and Sheila, fueled by jealousy that the girls were growing up and blossoming into young women while she faced the prospect of growing old and losing her looks, according to an interview with her surviving daughter, Terry, in an episode of A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
's Cold Case Files
Cold Case Files
Cold Case Files is documentary television series on the cable channel A&E Network hosted by Bill Kurtis that documents the investigation of various long-unsolved murders through the use of modern forensic science , and criminal psychology, in addition to recent breakthroughs in the...
(titled "Mommy's Rules"). For years, Knorr abused and tortured her children in various ways, including burning them with cigarettes and beating them. Knorr focused her anger primarily on her daughters and trained her sons to beat, discipline, and restrain their sisters.
Suesan's death
In a heated argument in 1983, Knorr grabbed a 22-caliberCaliber
In guns including firearms, caliber or calibre is the approximate internal diameter of the barrel in relation to the diameter of the projectile used in it....
pistol
Pistol
When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...
and shot Suesan in the chest. The bullet became lodged in her back, but Knorr refused to seek medical help and left Suesan to die in the family bathtub. Suesan survived, so Knorr handcuffed her to a soap dish and began to nurse her back to health. Suesan eventually recovered from her wounds without professional treatment.
In 1984, Suesan decided to tell her mother she would like to move out. Knorr agreed under the condition that Suesan let her remove the bullet from her back. The removal took place on the kitchen floor, using Mellaril capsules and liquor as the anesthetic. Knorr ordered Robert to remove the bullet with a box cutter. Infection soon set in and Suesan's skin turned yellow from jaundice
Jaundice
Jaundice is a yellowish pigmentation of the skin, the conjunctival membranes over the sclerae , and other mucous membranes caused by hyperbilirubinemia . This hyperbilirubinemia subsequently causes increased levels of bilirubin in the extracellular fluid...
and she became delirious
Delirium
Delirium or acute confusional state is a common and severe neuropsychiatric syndrome with core features of acute onset and fluctuating course, attentional deficits and generalized severe disorganization of behavior...
. She lay dying on the floor and Knorr permitted the other children to walk over her. As Terry told Cold Case Files, Knorr told her other children that Suesan's illness was a result of possession
Demonic possession
Demonic possession is held by many belief systems to be the control of an individual by a malevolent supernatural being. Descriptions of demonic possessions often include erased memories or personalities, convulsions, “fits” and fainting as if one were dying...
by Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
and that the only way to purge the demon was with fire. She coerced Robert and Bill into helping her dispose of Suesan. They drove her to Sierra Nevada, Interstate 80 outside Truckee, laid her down, poured gasoline on her and burned her alive.
Sheila's death
In 1985, Sheila also died at the hands of her mother. According to Terry, Knorr forced Sheila into becoming a prostitute and later accused her of transmitting an STDSexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...
to her via a toilet seat. Thereafter, Knorr's abuse of Sheila escalated. Sheila was locked in a closet and died of dehydration and starvation several days later. Her body was packed into a cardboard box and dumped along the side of a road. She remained unidentified for years afterward.
Terry's attack
Subsequently, Terry claimed her mother forced her to burn down the family's Sacramento apartment, hoping to destroy any evidence that might implicate her in Sheila's death. Terry later said she survived her mother's abuse because she stood up to her and demanded to be allowed to leave the house.Aftermath
Knorr and her sons were arrested in 1993 when Terry contacted authorities after watching an episode of America's Most WantedAmerica's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
, according to her Cold Case Files interview. On November 15, 1993, Knorr was charged with two counts of murder, two counts of conspiracy
Conspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
to commit murder, and two special circumstances charges: multiple murder and murder by torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
. Knorr initially pled not guilty
Plea
In legal terms, a plea is simply an answer to a claim made by someone in a civil or criminal case under common law using the adversary system. Colloquially, a plea has come to mean the assertion by a criminal defendant at arraignment, or otherwise in response to a criminal charge, whether that...
, but when she learned that one of her sons decided to testify against her, she pled guilty to all charges to avoid capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
. On October 17, 1995, she was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. She will be eligible for parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
in 2027.
Further reading
- Cold Case FilesCold Case FilesCold Case Files is documentary television series on the cable channel A&E Network hosted by Bill Kurtis that documents the investigation of various long-unsolved murders through the use of modern forensic science , and criminal psychology, in addition to recent breakthroughs in the...
(A&E), Episode #48: "Mommy's Rules" (featuring an exclusive interview with Terry Knorr).