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The Crimes of Teresa Lewis
Teresa Wilson was born April 26, 1969. In September 2010, she would become the first woman in Virginia to die by lethal injection.
Teresa grew up in Danville, Virginia. Her parents both worked at a nearby textile mill. As a girl, Teresa grew up singing at church, and she eventually dropped out at 16 to marry a man she met there. Together, they had a daughter named Christie. The couple divorced, and Teresa began to abuse alcohol and prescription medications.
While working at the Dan River textile mill, Teresa struck up a romantic relationship with her supervisor, Julian Clifton Lewis Jr. Julian was a widower with three children — Jason, Charles, and Kathy. Teresa and Christie, then 16 years old, moved in with Julian in June 2000. Eventually, Teresa and Julian got married.
In December 2001, Julian’s oldest son, Jason, was killed in an unfortunate car accident. Life insurance issued Julian $200,000. He used the money to buy a manufactured home and some land to put it on.
In August 2002, Julian’s younger son, Charles, was set to deploy to Iraq with the U.S. Army Reserve. In preparation to deploy, Charles had obtained a $250,000 life insurance policy. Julian was the primary beneficiary, and Teresa was the secondary.
In autumn of 2002, Teresa met Matthew Jessee Shallenberger, 21, and Rodney Lamont…
