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Thread: Bitter Blood Murders - Susie Newsom Lynch

  1. #51
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    I saw Tom Lynch on the "Behind Mansion Walls" episode. It was heartbreaking to see him looking through a photo album with the boys' pictures in it. Appearing with Lynch was Dan Davidson and Alan Gentry.
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  2. #52
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    Period newspaper story about murders



    Child-custody struggle sparked a bloody trail of bodies

    United Press International

    WED 06/05/1985 HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Section 1, Page 10, NO STAR Edition


    GREENSBORO, N.C. - A fight for custody of two children triggering a reign of terror that killed nine members of two prominent families - including the youngsters - was ended when a van blew up in a police chase, authorities said. "A lot of people do a lot of things that don't make sense, but what happened to those kids is a really tragic ending," Greensboro police Officer R.L. Bunton said Tuesday. Police said Frederick "Fritz" Klenner, 32, was wanted for killing five people in two states to prevent them from testifying in an impending custody case over the children of his first cousin, Susie Newsom Lynch, 39. Monday, when police surprised the couple at their apartment, Klenner sprayed officers with machine-gun fire and sped away in his explosives-packed van with Lynch and her children, John 10, and Jim, 9. All four were killed when Klenner blew up the van while authorities said he was trying to rig a bomb to lob at police. The explosion ripped apart the van, hurling body parts and shards of metal as far as 100 yards. "The tragedy of the whole thing is they were just two innocent little children who didn't have a choice. They had to be there," Forsyth County sheriff's spokeswoman Chrystal Crosby said. Klenner, a medical school dropout and son of a Reidsville, N.C., physician, was wanted for the "cold executions" of Lynch's parents, grandmother and two former in-laws. Kentucky police said Lynch feared she would lose custody of her children because she lived with Klenner, even though he was her first cousin. Police acted on a tip when they went to Klenner's apartment. Spraying machine-gun fire from the van, Klenner led officers on a four-mile chase into neighboring Summerfield before the van exploded. Police said Klenner gunned down Thomas Lynch's sister, Dr. Jane Lynch, 39, in the driveway of her home in July 1984 in Prospect, Ky., an affluent Louisville suburb. His mother, Delores, 68, was found shot twice in a second-floor room. Klenner also was wanted in the slayings last month of Susie Lynch's parents, Robert Newsom, 65, and Florence, 63, and grandmother Hattie Newsom, 85, at their home in a Winston-Salem suburb. The family was well-known, and Lynch's aunt, Susie Sharp, was the first woman justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court. All the victims were scheduled to testify in the custody case, and authorities said another possible motive in the Newsom slayings was that Lynch stood to inherit $100,000 from her grandmother
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  3. #53
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    Florence Newsom

    Attachment 43704 Susie's mother put up a ferocious fight when Fritz broke into her mother-in-law's home to kill her, her mother-in-law Hattie Newsom and Florence's husband, Bob Newsom. Fritz Klenner slashed Florence's throat with a bayonette attachment on his rifle, drove the bayonette's point into her right shoulder and shot her in the head before she died. Florence had tried, according to evidence, to grasp a brass poker by a fireplace to defend herself. After Florence was dead, Fritz stood on her lifeless body and repeatedly stabbed her back.
    A former teacher, Florence Newsom was described as a dignified woman who had a wonderful sense of humor. After learning of her daughter's affair with her first cousin Fritz, relatives said that Florence's hair "seemed to turn white overnight." She was close to having a nervous breakdown from the stress. She and her husband weren't allowed to see their grandsons after Susie moved in with Fritz. It was believed that Florence's and Bob's willingness to testify for Susie's ex-husband Tom Lynch in a custody battle marked them for death by Susie and Fritz. Hattie Newsom was shot while lying on a sofa in her living room. She was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
    When Fritz got the uber innocent college student Ian Perkins to drive him to the upper crust Winston Salem neighborhood the night of the murders, he had convinced the young man that he (Fritz) worked for the CIA and that he was assassinating drug dealers.
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  4. #54
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    Supposedly, Florence had made disparaging remarks about Fritz's father, Dr. Fred Klenner. Klenner got the information from a young man who worked for the Newsoms. Since he married Florence's sister, he was part of the family and was the family's physician. He reportedly bragged about paying Florence back for her remarks the night Susie was born. Dr. Klenner purposely performed an un-needed episiotomy on Florence without a local anesthetic.
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  5. #55
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    Dr. Fred Klenner, father of Fritz

    Attachment 43705 Dr. Klenner received recognition for his work using vitamins for various ailments. Since he was from Pennsylvania (a Yankee) and a Catholic, he was the object of derision from the Sharp and Newsom families. Fred Klenner was a strict Prussian-type of father, who was described as being a controlling tyrant at home. He graduated from Duke University in the late 1930s.
    Klenner amassed hordes of guns, antiques, tons of literature about the evils of Communism and various bric a brac that was stuffed into the family's home. His children were never allowed to play in the front yard due to Klenner's belief that the children could be kidnapped from such a handy location. He believed that a "Wampus Cat," a sort of Bigfoot-type creature, existed on property that he owned in the country. He and Fritz spent hours making plaster molds and on once occasion collected what they believed to be a fecal sample from the creature. He sent the sample to the Smithsonian and had a less than warm response from the scientists. Dr. Klenner also spent hours setting off dynamite charges on the country property, believing that caves were hidden beneath the ground. Nothing was found.
    As early as 1979, Klenner and his wife were informed of the ruse his son was playing. Fritz wore a white coat, carried a medical bag and treated patients in his father's clinic, but he wasn't a doctor and had no formal training. Fritz led his parents, a mistress and an ex-wife to believe that he was a student at his father's alma mater, Duke University. When the disgruntled husband of his mistress checked the records at Duke, the only Klenner who had attended was Fred. Fritz's parents still held to the belief that Fritz was a student at Duke.
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    Fred Klenner, Jr. Fritz, a.k.a. "Doctor Crazy"

    Attachment 43706 Fritz has been described as being molded into his father's vision of the ideal son. Klenner never had the nerve to stand up to his father. He wanted to be a soldier or spy but Fred Klenner wanted a son to follow in his footsteps of vitamin research and therapy. A man who was a casual acquaintance of Fritz called the faux physician "Dr. Crazy," but knew enough to never chide Fritz. He was a known "gun freak" who had an arsenal of weapons and explosives that was more extensive and better stocked than the local law enforcement.
    It's important to remember that Fritz could be a very convincing con artist. He wasn't just another thug. He convinced his parents, a former mistress and his ex-wife that he attended Duke University. During his trips to a local gun shop, Fritz was known to ramble on in excess about his missions in the Secret Service or CIA. The folks in the shop knew it was bullshit, but they ignored it. He spent a bundle of money there and they didn't want to lose their best customer.
    While some saw Fritz as an extremely devoted son, others (detectives and people who knew Fritz well) suggested the opposite. Fritz would often tell tales about people attacking his father, but he would always save him in time. Psychological experts theorized that Fritz was projecting his immense, stifled rage at his controlling father. It was thought (by one of the law enforcement officials on the case) that Fritz ideally wanted to shoot his father, then kill himself in a dramatic fashion.
    The Klenner family members and extended family occasionally voiced the shared belief that Dr. Klenner was the stabilizing force in his son's life. When the doctor died in 1983, family members feared that Fritz would make real his vision about armageddon and continue unchecked his spiral into insanity. As we now know, they were right.
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    Picture of John and Jim Lynch

    Attachment 43707 From left: Jim Lynch and John Lynch. This picture was shown on "Behind Mansion Walls."
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    Klenner Clinic remodeled-now a "Haunted House."

    Attachment 43718 An enterprising man decided to remodel the former Klenner Clinic into a local haunted house attraction, with some of the haunting allegedly done by the doctor.
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    After Fritz's Blazer exploded

    Attachment 43719Debris litters the road after Susie detonated the bomb under her seat.
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    Updates and new pics on "Bitter Blood" murders

    I once noticed that someone mentioned that there wasn't a great deal of info. on the internet about the Klenner-Lynch murders and I apologize for not updating sooner. More details about Fritz, his father and Susie's mother are now up along with pictures of Dr. Fred Klenner, Susie's mother, Florence Newsom and some pics of the boys.
    "What if the Hokey Pokey is what it's really all about?" Jimmy Buffett

  11. #61
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    Where are they?

  12. #62
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jenivere2011 View Post
    Where are they?
    The updates and pics are in this section "Police Files" under the title "Bitter Blood". If all else fails, just type in 'Bitter Blood' or Susie Newsom Lynch into the search at the top "Advance Search" box.
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  13. #63
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    Search for the old thread instead of posting a new one to update an old case please.

    Merging in 5,4,3,2...
    .

  14. #64
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    Sorry about that, SomeChick.
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    Annie Sharp Klenner, Fritz's mother

    Attachment 43738 Annie was a devoted wife and mother. She called her husband, Fred, "Doctor" instead of using his given name. She was also in heavy denial about Fritz, insisting until her dying day that he was a good son and was a physician who graduated from Duke University, despite evidence proving otherwise. When the truth came out, Fritz went ballistic, pushing his mother down the stairs and shouting at his beloved father," I'll blow your fucking head off!" The Klenners claimed that Fritz had a vitamin deficiency and possibly a disease, but "Doctor" could cure it.
    "What if the Hokey Pokey is what it's really all about?" Jimmy Buffett

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    Quote Originally Posted by Meli View Post
    Okay this is one I have not read. But I do LOVE Anne Rule and have read damn near everything she has put out. Any of yall Anne Rule fan's?
    Big time! Even got to meet her and I have an autographed book.
    By my troth, I care not; a man can die but once; we owe God a death.... He that dies this year is quit for the next.
    --William Shakespeare!

  17. #67
    mommy2kknjj Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Alanwench View Post
    If you have the time, would you please take a pic of the road where Suzie detonated the bomb that killed her and Fritz? I have always wondered what that stretch of road looked like.
    I was recently made aware of this horrible tragedy & the book. I immediately bought the book & read it. It's a fantastic book! And the "story" behind it is just incredible. I live just a couple miles from where the explosion took place. On my way home this past weekend I just had to drive by & see if I could find where the explosion happened. Granted I'm sure much has changed since the explosion, but I found both roads (Bronco Ln. & Strader Rd.). There is a section in between the 2 roads (land & houses) that I'm presuming is where it happened. I'm also very familiar with the apartments Susie lived in. As well as the route that was taken during the police chase (in fact I drove the route home, the other night, when i went looking for the place of the explosion). I'd be happy to try & take a picture of the area. Getting it uploaded on here for everyone to see? Thats another story ) But I shall try!

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    Quote Originally Posted by mommy2kknjj View Post
    I was recently made aware of this horrible tragedy & the book. I immediately bought the book & read it. It's a fantastic book! And the "story" behind it is just incredible. I live just a couple miles from where the explosion took place. On my way home this past weekend I just had to drive by & see if I could find where the explosion happened. Granted I'm sure much has changed since the explosion, but I found both roads (Bronco Ln. & Strader Rd.). There is a section in between the 2 roads (land & houses) that I'm presuming is where it happened. I'm also very familiar with the apartments Susie lived in. As well as the route that was taken during the police chase (in fact I drove the route home, the other night, when i went looking for the place of the explosion). I'd be happy to try & take a picture of the area. Getting it uploaded on here for everyone to see? Thats another story ) But I shall try!
    Welcome to the forum! Nice first post - and we look forward to any photos you might be able to post! I'm sure you're right, in that much has changed in the area since the explosion, but it'd still be cool to check out.
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  19. #69
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    mmommy2kknjj, I'm really eager to see those pics! Thanks in advance.
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    I tuned in about three hours too late to see "Bitter Blood" on Lifetime. Does anyone know if this is available to watch on Amazon?
    "What if the Hokey Pokey is what it's really all about?" Jimmy Buffett

  21. #71
    steph81202 Guest
    Not one of these attachement links work for me... am I doing something wrong?

  22. #72
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    Just finished the book "Bitter Blood" Fritz & Susie were insane, those poor boys.

  23. #73
    danno Guest
    New to this site. NC born and bred. I have read the book many times (as well as Deadly Kin by Susie's brother). I have been to many of the NC sites and can point them out via Google Earth if anyone is interested. Went to the site of the explosion in the early 90's and you could see where a large portion of asphalt had been repaired.

    I helped open a restaurant in Eden NC way back then as well. I got the impression most folks did not want to talk about it. One of the managers was a former patient of Dr. Fred Sr. and held him in high regard. The son not so much.

    If you like old school alt-rock (Bob Mould, Replacements, Husker Du) there is an NC band called "the fritzklenners". While the name is, well, poor taste at best their tunes are pretty solid. Check them out on youtube or reverbnation.

  24. #74
    LilRedhead Guest

    Unhappy Bitter Blood Murders

    Susie Newsom was crazy to begin with. It's too bad that her ex-husband Tom didn't see it, because he was to blind to the fact that she was.. He saw a southern belle, who was very beautiful, came from a upscale rich family who was well-know..Aunt was a big shot judge. She met Tom's parrents, Tom's mother didn't like her to begin with, she knew something was wrong with the girl and she told her son that(( and his mom was right). Susie didn't like Tom's mom or sister either so thats when she plotted to have them murdered and she hooked up with her cousin Fritz...Come on, anyone in their right mind would not have an affair with their cousin, or even sleep with them to that matter. Fritz and Suzie were both crazy. After watching the movie several times, and wondering why she was as I could possibly label her as biopolar, it all stems back to her childhood. I don't think Susies mother was to nice to her, and I know Fritz's dad was real hard on him also, so then people wonder why these two were all screwed up in the head?? Blame it on the way they were raised. Children learn what they live. Also Susie did all of this to get back @ her ex-husband as he was having an affair with his dental hygeniest, or so Susie thought......but he might not have been right away..It just showed this in the movie. Another thing is Susie didn't want her hubby to have custody of her children and that is why she had her father, mother & grandmother killed. Her father was going to testify against Susie @ a child custody hearing, and this would have destroyed Susie. She would have probably lost all rights to her two boys. I think also greed was involved in this.. I don't know why she would be so greedy as her family had lots of money and I think her ex-hubby's family was also very well-to-do. The fact is that she wanted to hurt her husband and she did. In the final aftermath it was Susie that denotated the bomb that was underneath her seat. The thing is did she know it was under there?? In the movie the boys were not drugged and were still alive @ the time of the police chase, but in the book and what I read online about it is that the two boys were unconcious @ the time of the police chase, there bodies had cynide poisoning in their blood streams, and either Fritz or Susie on of the two shot the boys in the head point blank............The thing is that Susie was greedy, was crazy-biopolar-depressed, and she wanted to be in control of things, she wanted to hurt Tom and it's a sad thing but in the end she took it to her grave that Tom was left without his mother or sister, and his two boys. Susie had her own family killed, parents and grandma ...It's a sad shame this had to happen, nine lives were destroyed because of her greed and selfishness, and having Fritz her cousin in her life was the worst possible thing that she could have done, because maybe her and her two boys and her family and Toms mom and sister would still be alive today..

  25. #75
    will Guest
    What was the address to the house in Winston-Salem where Robert, Florence and Hattie Newsom lived?

  26. #76
    TrueCrime101 Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Alanwench View Post
    I tuned in about three hours too late to see "Bitter Blood" on Lifetime. Does anyone know if this is available to watch on Amazon?
    Might be a little late but I know the full movie is currently available to watch on YouTube.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ie_KJXRHWo

    That's the first part, but the same user has the full-length movie uploaded into 3 parts.

  27. #77
    WinstonSalem Guest
    The Newsome/Bitter Blood house sits on a large lot, and includes a guest house in the rear. Both the addresses 3229 and 3239 are associated with the Valley Road residence in Winston-Salem. I know, because I grew up in this neighborhood. Any idea what the address for the Lynch Family in Louisville is?

  28. #78
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    Quote Originally Posted by WinstonSalem View Post
    The Newsome/Bitter Blood house sits on a large lot, and includes a guest house in the rear. Both the addresses 3229 and 3239 are associated with the Valley Road residence in Winston-Salem. I know, because I grew up in this neighborhood. Any idea what the address for the Lynch Family in Louisville is?
    I am about 2 hours from you. This might make a fun death hag trip.

    ETA: You should post some pics

  29. #79
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    "Bitter Blood" will begin at 8 p.m.( tonight) on Lifetime Movie Network (LMN ).
    "What if the Hokey Pokey is what it's really all about?" Jimmy Buffett

  30. #80
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alanwench View Post
    "Bitter Blood" will begin at 8 p.m.( tonight) on Lifetime Movie Network (LMN ).
    Thanks for the heads up. Watching it now.

  31. #81
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    Quote Originally Posted by findadeathaddict View Post
    Thanks for the heads up. Watching it now.
    You're welcome, findadeathaddict.
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  32. #82
    Ryan_78 Guest
    Hey I am a local realtor in ws and I drive by the house a lot. It was listed a few times with no luck selling it. It was very interesting to see, after reading the history

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    30th anniversary article from the Greensboro News and Record

    http://www.greensboro.com/news/speci...3729c4a3c.html

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    Thanks SO much for the article, VeuveClicquotNJ. I was happy to see that Tom Lynch has a daughter.

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    http://www.greensboro.com/search/?ns...=Klenner-Lynch

    This is a treasure trove of articles and pictures about the whole Klenner-Lynch story from the Greensboro News and Record. There are at least five pages. I have waited a very LONG time to see this stuff!
    "What if the Hokey Pokey is what it's really all about?" Jimmy Buffett

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    Aftermath of Blazer Explosion

    Fritz's body is at the bottom right of the picture, covered with a white sheet. I you click on the black and white pic, Fritz is directly behind a man in dark pants ad a light colored suit jacket. His back is to Fritz. I got the information from the newspaper's photo. The link I mentioned earlier has all of the original articles by Jerry Bledsoe, complete with diagrams of Delores Lynch's home and the house where Susie's parents and grandmother were murdered.
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    Last edited by Alanwench; 06-19-2015 at 05:38 PM.
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    When someone bought the house that was Hattie Newsom' s and was getting settled in, Gertrude Klenner (Fritz' s sister) dropped in to cleanse the home of evil spirits as a gesture of good will for the new homeowners. She insisted on going room to room, even after she was asked to leave. The new homeowners had to call the police and get her escorted off of the property. I saw this blurb in one of the articles in the Greesnboro newspaper links I posted earlier.

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    I found a great article, good photos at: http://www.greensboro.com/news/crime...3729c4a3c.html

  39. #89
    danno Guest
    Just watch the crazy couples video on youtube (costs 1.99...). Crime scene pictures and interviews with Robert Newsome Jr, Jerry Bledsoe, Nancy Dunn, and officers involved. The actress playing Susie is gorgeous. I wish I knew her name. What a cutie playing someone who, well, was described as a "harpy".

    The actor playing Fritz is a total hipster - way too young. He gets to kiss all over the Susie actress though! Leaving the incest part out of my mind...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ghoulie Girl View Post
    this sounds like a great read.
    I would like to read the book also, books usually have more details than movies. I just watched the movie, what a mentally, unstable woman and those poor kids, such a tragedy. I feel sorry for their father who wanted them, followed the system and now he has to live with losing his boys, poor bugger. I struggle to think that a mother could do this to her own children but I guess it happens more often than not nowadays. RIP boys.
    Last edited by BuzzyChick; 01-26-2018 at 02:54 AM.

  41. #91
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    https://youtu.be/WOC7xxz_PQE
    Here is the link to the Bitter Blood episode of "Behind Mansion Walls." I just read that the former Lt. of the Kentucky State Police Dan Davidson died in 2012. He was interviewed for the "Behind Mansion Walls" program. I had always wanted to meet him and talk about Susie and Fritz.
    "What if the Hokey Pokey is what it's really all about?" Jimmy Buffett

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