but within mere days of the late major david shannon s sudden passing, the shocks resumed. by the time they laid the major in the ground, the question of who did this dreadful thing seemed to be heading toward an early answer. it was elizabeth. david s family was convinced that rebellious elizabeth was so full of hate, she actually shot and killed her own stepfather. an opinion supported by several anonymous calls to the fayetteville pd. we had crimestoppers tips coming in, saying that elizabeth shannon was actually bragging about the homicide. vera thompson was telling people about the homicide, that elizabeth shannon might be involved. vera thompson, remember her? she was elizabeth s best friend who was staying at the house the night of the murder. police brought her in again for
representing her, dropped her bombshell. vera eventually became aware of, through elizabeth, that joan and elizabeth had had some discussions about killing david shannon, that her mother had attempted to poison david shannon, that joan shannon and elizabeth shannon had conspired to kill david shannon and it actually was elizabeth that had shot him that night. a conspiracy? joan the brains, and elizabeth the brawn? given the tumultuous relationship between mother and daughter, who could have imagined they could agree on anything, let alone murder? but, said vera, that s the story elizabeth told her. and it implicated both her best friend and joan shannon in a homicide. the arrest warrants went out for both of them simultaneously. joan shannon was arrested actually before elizabeth was
questioning. and this time they grilled her. she was extremely emotional. she didn t want to tell on anybody. at that point in time she began to lay the facts on the table. and oh, what facts they were. vera was elizabeth s buddy, her bff. they talked about everything, went everywhere together. when she started bringing up facts, we were able to corroborate some of the information. vera provided plenty of supporting details. how just days before the shooting, she went with elizabeth to a field and test fired the murder weapon. cops later found matching shells there. and how elizabeth dumped the gun that night with a guy from the neighborhood named dee humphrey who was waiting near the house. humphrey was interviewed. he admitted it was true. vera s story added up. so everything was believable. then vera, just 15 years old, naive, frightened, no attorney
but i form it as a shadow. did you actually see a shadow or did you tell the police it was like a shadow. there was just some movement, a shadow that had left. she tried to follow the intruder down the hallway, she was worried about the safety of her children, so she returned back to her bedroom. that s where she made the 911 call. the children, joan and david s eldest daughter daisy was out of town. their two young boys, just 7 and 10 slept through it all. unaware of what happened. down the hall was shannon s 15-year-old daughter elizabeth, who told the cops she was also in bed. and spending the night with elizabeth was her best friend vera thompson, also just 15. both of their statements were similar, they were listening to music, watching tv and they fell asleep. five people in the house, and not one saw or heard any useful thing that might help determined who committed this horrible
shannon was actually bragging about the homicide. vera thompson was telling people about the homicide. remember her, she was elizabeth s best friend that was staying at the house the night of the murder. police braut her in for questioning. and this time they grilled her. she was extremely emotional. she didn t want to tell on anybody, and at that point in time, she began to lay the facts on the table. and oh, what facts they were. vera was elizabeth s buddy, her bff, they talked about everything. went everywhere together. and when she started bringing up facts that we were able to corroborate some of the information. vera provided plenty of supporting details, how just days before the shooting she went with elizabeth to a field and test fired the murder weapon. cops later found matching shells there. and how elizabeth dumped the gun