Suff’s First Wife Not Surprised by Charges

The first wife of a man under investigation in serial slayings in Riverside County says their marriage was filled with violence, hatred and murder.

The former Teryl Rose Suff said she was not surprised when she read last week that William Lester Suff, 41, had been charged with murder in the deaths of two prostitutes and would be questioned in the deaths of 17 other female prostitutes or drug users in Riverside County.

“I think he’s capable of it,” she said. “When we were married, he did have an explosive temper.”

She was beaten twice by Suff during their marriage, she said. One beating occurred when she threatened in a fit of anger to become a prostitute, and another in an argument over her hair.

In 1973, their 2-month-old daughter, Dijianet, died after suffering broken bones and a ruptured liver caused by a blow to her stomach. Both Suffs were convicted of murder and sentenced to 70 years in prison. An appeals court, saying there was not a “scintilla of evidence” against Teryl Suff, overturned her conviction in 1976.