California Teen Avoids Heavy Sentence in Matricide by Pinning the Blame On Boyfriend

Photo of Accused Murderers Steven Colver and Tylar Witt
There’s no doubt about it, the mother/daughter dynamic can be tough.  Words and actions can be easily misconstrued—on both sides—and it can ultimately lead to a lot of pain and heartache.

And, evidently, murder.

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In 2009, Joanne Witt of California was brutally stabbed to death in a plot hatched by her daughter Tylar, then just fourteen years old, and Tylar’s 19-year-old boyfriend, Steven Colver.

Seems Ms. Witt had the audacity to go to the police and file a statutory rape claim against Colver, now twenty-one, giving authorities Tylar’s diary as evidence.

Tylar Witt clearly felt that matricide was a just reward for her …

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Husband and Stepson Killer Set to Be Virginia’s First Female Execution in 100 Years

Photo of Husband-Killer Teresa Lewis

There are some issues that garner strong reactions in people — reactions that render logical arguments and respectful discourse pretty much useless since emotions come into it. Abortion. Vaccinating children. Breastfeeding. Women’s facial hair (here on Zelda Lily, anyway). The death penalty is another such hot-button topic.

I would ask that, as you consider this story of a woman sentenced to death for masterminding the murder of her husband and stepson, you make an effort to put aside your emotions. Try to look at the whole situation, the first death sentence to be carried out on a woman in Virginia in almost a century, with an open mind.

Okay, here’s the gist. Teresa Lewis hired the guy she was banging on the side and another man to kill her husband Julian Lewis and his son Charles, motivating them through the promise of a share of the life insurance money. The men who actually pulled the trigger, Lewis’s lover Matt Shallenberger and Rodney Fuller, received life in prison through plea-bargaining, leaving …

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