PARIS — A Norway woman who admitted to burying her best friend in her backyard is set to plead guilty Friday in Oxford County Superior Court to the abuse of a corpse and other charges involving theft and forgery.
Vernelle Jackson, 87, is scheduled to plead guilty Friday to two counts of theft, two counts of theft by deception, one count of forgery and one count of abuse of a corpse.
Jackson was indicted May 13, 2022, on two counts of theft and one count each of theft by deception, forgery and abuse of a corpse, according to court documents.
The charges stem from the 2019 discovery of human remains in the backyard of Jackson’s mobile home at 239 Harrison Road. Investigators identified the remains as Mae Shelton, a friend for whom Jackson had been a caretaker, and that they had been buried in a shallow grave about 18 months before.
Jackson’s abuse of a corpse charge was for intentionally hiding Shelton’s remains from about October 2017 through Sept. 16, 2019. Her theft charges are for taking over $10,000 in Shelton’s Supplemental Security Income from the same timeframe, and over $10,000 from the Virginia Retirement System from December 2017 through October 2019. The third theft charge was for taking over $10,000 in Shelton’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits from January 2012 through May 2021.
Jackson’s forgery charge is for issuing nine checks and two withdrawals from Shelton’s Oxford Federal Credit Union account valued at between $1,000 and $10,000.
The two women’s friendship stretched back decades, beginning with a meeting at church when both were living in the South. When Jackson later moved to Maine, Shelton offered Jackson a place to stay. Years later, Jackson returned the favor by taking Shelton in at her Norway home.
In interviews with the Portland Press Herald and WMTW, Jackson said she and Shelton shared company fishing, taking trips around the state and sharing meals.
In those interviews, Jackson said she had no regrets about burying her best friend. She described it as an expression of love and respect to fulfill her friend’s dying wishes.
“She told me, ‘I want you to promise me and don’t let me down. I want to be buried in your backyard so I can be close to you,” Jackson told WMTW-TV. “If I go to jail for it, I just have to go.”
According to town tax records, Jackson is listed as the owner of the property but it was unclear if she resides there, an official said Thursday.
