Probation officer gives office BJ to boot-camp teen 1
Her Diary Is Even Scarier 2
Jury Seeks Death for Slasher 3

Donald Eugene Borders Charged With Rape And Murder of Elderly Woman; May be Other Victims

Friday, January 8, 2010 at 9:00 am
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​The fall of 2003 was a particularly strange time for the residents of Shelby, North Carolina. First, there was 85-year-old Lottie Mae Ledford, who was found dead in her house, where the phone lines had been cut and the front door was unlocked... 

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Donald Eugene Borders may be responsible for killing three elderly women within four months of each other.
​An autopsy showed that Ledford died of a heart attack, despite the strange bruises on her arms and face. No one thought much of it until less than a month later, when 79-year-old Margaret Tessneer turned up dead under similarly strange conditions.

Tessneer's autopsy was unable to prove her cause of death. However, 25 bruises were found all over her body. There were also clear signs that she'd been raped. Like Ledford, Tessneer's phone lines had also been cut, her front door was mysteriously unlocked, and nothing had been stolen.

Then, on November 10 -- two months after Tessneer's murder -- 87-year-old Lillian Mullinax also suffered an eerily similar fate. Her autopsy was equally as inconclusive as the others. The coroner's office said they'd guess her death was natural if it weren't for the cut phone lines in her home.

Now police had three elderly women dead under the same circumstances in less than four months and not a clue as to who could have been responsible.

Then, in March 2004, authorities claimed they found a witness: Donald Eugene Borders. At the time, Borders was living in a homeless shelter in Charlotte. The police were clear that Borders was not a suspect. He agreed to be interviewed and apparently police were happy with the information they received from him.  

However, no arrests were made and for the next five years it almost seemed as if investigators would never close the cases.

Then, on December 28, the Shelby Police Department announced that it had arrested none other than the 50-year-old Borders for the rape and murder of Tessneer. 

Police are being extremely tightlipped about the case. They won't explain why it took them five years to realize that Borders was a suspect and not a witness, nor will they reveal what new information they received that connects Borders to Tessneer. They also won't say if Borders is also a suspect in the deaths of the other two women.

All we know right now is that evidence for a rape kit was collected from Tessneer's body. That DNA evidence may be what's linked Borders to the crime. It's also been revealed that Borders was released from prison after serving time for breaking and entering and larceny the same year that all three women were murdered. 

Tags: North Carolina

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