Vanessa Richardson

Well, Everson was a kind, lonely man who believed Dorothea had only committed some financial crimes out of desperation.

The more they wrote to each other, the more they bonded.

And soon, Everson was regularly depositing money into Dorothea's commissary account.

From there, they started planning their life together.

Dorothea was released in late 1985 after serving just three years of her five-year sentence.

When the 56-year-old walked out of the prison gates, her lover was there waiting for her in his red pickup truck.

The terms of her parole forbade her from running a boarding home or working with any vulnerable populations like the disabled or mentally ill ever again.

But within weeks, Dorothea secured a lease on a house just a few doors down from her former boarding home on F Street in Sacramento.

She also opened a joint checking account with him and used the money to reopen her business.

It's not clear whether Everson knew Dorothea was violating her parole.

He was just enamored with her determination to help others less fortunate than her.

Everson wasn't the only one who admired Dorothea.

The city's social workers also continued to support her.

They knew that she was violating her parole, and they also knew that the system didn't provide enough housing to the kinds of populations she served.

And remember, Dorothea had never been charged for killing Ruth Monroe, so they kept sending people to live with her.

Meanwhile, Dorothea was hatching a plan.

She had every intention of returning to her murderous ways, but knew she couldn't keep faking people's suicides.

So one day when Everson wasn't around, Dorothea put a plastic tarp underneath their bed sheets.

Then for the next few weeks, she started slipping sleeping pills into his food and drinks.

Everson started sleeping throughout the day, until finally, one day in December 1985, he laid his head down on the pillow and never woke up.