Member-only story
CRIME
I Went To School With A Murderer
Teresa Bickerstaff killed her mother and two brothers. But why?
I still remember her like it was yesterday.
She stalked the halls of our junior high school in a long, coat-like sweater with a belt that dangled down on both sides. I can’t picture her without the sweater.
A lot of girls wore sweaters like that in the ’70s, mostly stoners and “bad girls”. The rest of us were wearing polo shirts with vests and popped collars, and those weird scarves with the knotted ends.
Teresa’s hair was striking — long and black. She always had it styled in sausage-roll curls that framed her face. We all wore those same curls. We were hiding behind them.
But Teresa had more to hide than the rest of us.
Honestly, Teresa Bickerstaff scared me and I always gave her a wide berth. If I saw her coming down the stairs from the library towards the lockers, I’d circle around to avoid her.
She shouldn’t have even been in my school. Junior high was grades seven through nine, and she’s four years older than me. But she started running away from home when she was 14, so maybe she was held back, or maybe she was visiting her friends.
