that night on, the word housekeeper has been used as shorthand for shirlee as if her job defined her. they re always calling her the housekeeper, and it s she was only there for a couple hours every couple weeks or a week, you know. reporter: to her brothers dan and brad, shirlee was big sis. the family glue after their parents divorced when they were young. she was the one that organized everything. she would call you before somebody s birthday and she would say you know it someone s birthday thursday, or she would get everybody to go in on gifts or she would help with the shopping and that aspect of it is you just don t realize it until it s gone. reporter: for shirlee s children, kelly and jeff, she was the single mom who often worked two jobs and stretched every dollar to make ends meet. we were one of the poorest families in the neighborhood. my mom worked bartending in the evening, cleaned houses during the day. gardening was her specialty. what d she grow?
reporter: as a building contractor brad waite spends a lot of time in his truck. reporter: he s haunted by the possibility that at the very moment his sister, shirlee sherman, was being murdered in march 2008, he was driving by, close enough, perhaps, to have heard her scream. i basically almost drove by hunter s house, and so it would have been at 4:00 that afternoon. i d had no idea shirlee was working there that day. reporter: later that night, brad says he heard about the two murders in dundee on the 10:00 news. even then he says he didn t know his sister was a victim. that news came later, in a phone call from his brother, dan. danny called me. it was at 11 at 11:30 that night and told me what happened. reporter: dan waite says from that night on, the word housekeeper has been used as shorthand for shirlee as if her job defined her. they re always calling her the housekeeper, and it s she
meaning things got broke. reporter: kelly says that relationship became so tempestuous, so difficult that shirlee got involved and actively tried to keep the boyfriend away. at one point in time she was thinking about getting a restraining order, mainly for my daughter s sake. she would tell me, he can t come over. and i would sneak him in. one time she come walkin around my house with a hammer in her hand and saying, i want his blood on this hammer. she hated him that bad because of what he had been doing to me. reporter: in spite of that, kelly stuck with the man, got pregnant and had a baby with him. and it got uglier from there. she actually started the process of getting my house out of my name. so that she could keep him out of the house? right. reporter: after shirlee died, what had been a very private and embarassing family feud became fodder for public speculation.
let me guess. your mom didn t approve. no, not at all. we had an explosive relationship. meaning? meaning things got broke. reporter: kelly says that relationship became so tempestuous, so difficult that shirlee got involved and actively tried to keep the boyfriend away. at one point in time she was thinking about getting a restraining order, mainly for my daughter s sake. she would tell me, he can t come over. and i would sneak him in. one time she come walkin around my house with a hammer in her hand and saying, i want his blood on this hammer. she hated him that bad because of what he had been doing to me. reporter: in spite of that, kelly stuck with the man, got pregnant and had a baby with him. and it got uglier from there. she actually started the process of getting my house out of my name. so that she could keep him out of the house? right.
housekeeper has been used as shorthand for shirlee as if her job defined her. they re always calling her the housekeeper, and it s she was only there for a couple hours every couple weeks or a week, you know. reporter: to her brothers dan and brad, shirlee was big sis. the family glue after their parents divorced when they were young. she was the one that organized everything. she would call you before somebody s birthday and she would say you know it someone s birthday thursday, or she would get everybody to go in on gifts or she would help with the shopping and that aspect of it is you just don t realize it until it s gone. reporter: for shirlee s children, kelly and jeff, she was the single mom who often worked two jobs and stretched every dollar to make ends meet. we were one of the poorest families in the neighborhood. my mom worked bartending in the evening, cleaned houses during the day. gardening was her specialty. what d she grow? everything.