He had failed her. That woman whose unemotional face appeared in a close-up as the camera zoomed in was his wife. Not only had he failed her, he’d deserted his family. And that’s how they’d ended up.
He’d left them in those rat-infested projects, and he hadn’t looked back. The St. Petersburg Times had a special section in the Weekender that held the entire story of the Byrts family. There would be a three-part series. He held the first part in his hands.
Behind These Walls of Pain: the Exposé of a Woman Gone Mad
St. Petersburg, FL – Bertha Byrts was ordered to serve the next fifteen years of her life in a mental facility. A jury of her peers convicted her. She’s accused of poisoning her own mother and six-year-old, twin sons. The two children have made a full recovery. Mrs. Mary C. Mitchell, affectionately known as Ma Violet didn’t fare so well.
What could have gone so wrong in this woman’s life? What could push someone over the edge to the extent of taking out a $100,000 insurance policy on each family member? Read the riveting story in this week’s special series, Behind These Walls of Pain: the Exposé of a Woman Gone Mad.
Jimmy couldn’t see the words on the paper through his blurred vision. Posted on the pages that followed were pictures of his wife and children. Something burned deep within his chest. He’d left them behind to live in poverty. His wife had struggled to raise those five children alone. He hadn’t even bothered to send one dime in child support.
But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
That verse from the Bible came to him and he sank to his knees, begging God for forgiveness. He cried and prayed for a long time. Eventually, he felt calmness, a sort of inner peace, and he got up from the floor.
Somehow, he’d make it up to his children. Bertha was lost to him now. But, he could still reach out to his sons and daughters. It was never too late to change.
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