Exclusive interview: Maine woman who pleaded guilty to abuse of friend’s corpse tells new version of story
By Jim Keithley
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PARIS, Maine (WMTW) — A Maine woman who claimed she had buried the body of her deceased friend in her backyard years ago is now sharing a different version of events in an exclusive interview with Maine’s Total Coverage.
In September 2019, Vernelle Jackson told Maine’s Total Coverage that her friend, Mae Shelton, died of natural causes months earlier at the Norway home where they lived together. According to Jackson, Shelton’s dying wish was to be buried in the backyard.
“‘I want you to promise me, and don’t let me down, I want to be buried in your yard so I’ll be close to you,'” Jackson said Shelton told her.
Jackson told Maine’s Total Coverage that she put Shelton’s body in a tarp and dragged it to the backyard. She then spent about two days digging the hole.
“I have COPD. I couldn’t breathe that good,” Jackson said in September 2019.
On Monday, Jackson pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse, theft and forgery in Oxford County Court.
She spoke exclusively with Maine’s Total Coverage on Tuesday and admitted that she never moved Shelton’s body and did not even touch it. Jackson, however, would not name the person who did move the body.
“The saddest part about it is I love Mae Shelton with all my heart, and I hate what happened,” Jackson said Tuesday. “I thought I was doing the right thing, but it turns out it was the wrong thing.”
For years after Shelton’s death, government checks were being deposited into her bank accounts. Jackson, who had power of attorney, admitted she wrote checks out of Shelton’s checkbook and gave money to her granddaughter.
“The truth is I did write a couple, yes. I’ll admit it. But I didn’t write all those other checks, no. My granddaughter did,” Jackson said.
Court records show that Jackson’s granddaughter, Lacey Rudd, is a co-defendant in the case.
Rudd, 40, of Mexico, Maine, pleaded guilty to theft by deception in June, and she was placed on a two-year deferred disposition. If Rudd pays $3,500 in restitution within two years, the charges against her will be reduced to a misdemeanor.
“I didn’t know it would turn out this way. There was some deception going on under my nose,” Jackson said.
Jackson said she is glad the case is over. She has Shelton’s cremated remains and while it is not what she wished for, Jackson said her friend is still close by.
Maine’s Total Coverage contacted Rudd in an effort to get her reaction to the case. Rudd simply replied: “No comment.”
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