For The Love of Ellen

By Carla Shaffer Evans

What could possibly drive two elderly widows to commit, as the Prosecution stated, "the most brutal act this town has seen?"

Was it the horror of what they discovered in their dear friend's home that motivated their actions, or was it the Texas stranger's sadistic behavior that made them spin out of control and commit this heinous crime? Perhaps it was simply an act of "self-defense."

The trial rivals those of O. J. Simpson, Casey Anthony, and Jodi Arias, and even after the story ends, the reader may still question whether justice had actually been served. You be the judge!

As you learn about the decades-long friendship between the beloved characters, Blanche, Nellie, and Ellen, and how the evil greediness of a stranger disrupted their quiet contentedness, you will be drawn into the insanity of the events that leads to the unimaginable conclusion of this story.

The story reveals how, in a dire situation, the bond between life-long friends can sometimes override one's moral integrity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Apr 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483525198

Book preview

encouragement.

Chapter 1

Inside Courtroom 4 of the Cumberland County Courthouse in Cameron, Pennsylvania, two little old ladies sat at the defendant’s table with their attorney, Edward Dalton, nervously awaiting their fate. A jury of six men and six women would soon hand down a verdict for their part in, as the prosecution puts it, the most brutal act this town has seen in its 230 years.

Some 250 people inside the massive courtroom sat quietly once the Honorable Judge Clarence Harding took his seat behind the bench. The silence was almost palpable.

Addressing the two 70-year-old female defendants, the Judge asked them to stand and face the jury. The two women, so overwhelmed by the intensity of this eight-day trial, both needed assistance from Mr. Dalton just to rise to their feet. With hearts racing and the feeling of faintness washing over them, they turned toward the twelve people who would determine their fate. Would they spend the rest of their natural lives in prison, face the death penalty, or be set free?

All eyes were fixed on the jurors as Judge Harding asked, Mister Foreman, has the jury reached its verdict in the death of Mr. Miles Burnett?

The Foreman stood and replied, Yes, your Honor, we have. We the jury, find the defendants, Blanche Miller and Nellie James ...

As the Foreman read the verdict to the Judge, time seemed to stand still for Nellie. Her mind drifted back to the time before the horrible Miles Burnett entered their lives and destroyed a beautiful friendship shared by three lifelong friends.

Chapter 2

Blanche and Nellie had been best friends with Ellen Shaffer for many decades. Over the years, they had seen each other through some of life’s most difficult times, providing the type of love, support, and comfort only true girlfriends can give to one another. They were bridesmaids in each other’s wedding and godmothers to each other’s children. They played Canasta every Saturday and Thursday evening, and they shared many long conversations over a pot of tea or a bottle of wine. Yes, these ladies were inseparable—Closer than any sisters ever could be. In fact, when they married, they made a pact never to move farther away than a few miles from each other, and by God, they stuck to that pact. For even after all these years, the women never lived more than a few blocks apart in this sleepy, close-knit town.

Blanche, Nellie, and Ellen grew up in Cameron and were together from elementary through high school. They were good Christian girls who grew into wonderful women, loved and admired by everyone in the town. You could stop anyone on the street and ask if they knew these three ladies, and you would get some story about the many kindnesses the women had shown to the townspeople of Cameron during their lifetimes. You would never hear an unkind word about any one of them.

Blanche Miller, a homemaker all her adult life, was widowed seventeen years ago when David, her loving husband and father of her five sons, died suddenly of a massive heart attack while sitting at his editor’s desk of the Cameron Daily Sentinel newspaper. She was devastated. Even though two of Blanches’ grown children were still living in the area and were at her house every day for weeks after the funeral, Blanche still depended on her two best friends to help her cope with her loss. It was Nellie and Ellen who were by her side constantly helping her through the grieving process. They were her strength. The death of their father was extremely rough on Blanche’s sons, and they were having a hard time dealing with their own grief, let alone helping their mother cope, so they were thankful for