Mr & Mrs. Shortman

> Some marriages are a match made in Heaven, but this was not the case for Mitchell and Shortman, who's marriage was doomed the moment they adopted.
>
> T.J Williams describing his character 2019

Joseph Shortman and Dora Mitchell were a married couple, who became married in 1977, in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. Although they never had any biological children, they adopted three children named Sean, James and Harry, all of whom were treated differently by Dora. Even though their marriage lasted the longest out of Dora's other two marriages, it only remained successful for one year. Upon the adoption of Sean, who was meant to bring them closer together, their marriage had a downfall and began to fail miserably. In 1984, they were going through a touch patch and one of Shortman's relatives suggested they should try to adopt their second child, which they did. They adopted another child named James, who was meant to solve the issues they were having, but torn them further apart. During James' childhood, he was treated differently by both Joseph and Dora, who saw him as a blessing and a curse. Joseph always used to take him to events and buy him gifts, whilst leaving Sean out and Dora always made it clear that she was not his biological mother. Joseph and Dora would compete in who had the better adopted child, which casted a shadow over their marriage. In 1988, they adopted their third and final child, a four year old boy named Henry, who's name they changed to Harry. He somewhat saved their marriage, but they still continued to have problems. Dora was a better mother to Harry, although she would send him out to steal from their neighbours and from local shops, whilst Joseph still remained to leave Sean out, when he treated James and Harry. By 1993, their marriage was over. Joseph admitted to Dora that he no longer loved her and wanted to leave, but in order to stop him, she brutally attacked him with a hammer and with the help of Sean, dumped his body in the local river.

## Background

Joseph and Dora met upon him becoming the new manager of the Elephant café, which she worked as a waitress at. Initially, he lied about having a wife and children and kept a photo of a woman and children on his desk in his office. However, upon becoming closer to Dora, he admitted that he was not married and in fact divorced and that he was no longer allowed access to his children. When he went on a date with Dora, after she told him she liked him, he admitted that he lied about having a wife and children and that he had never been married or had any children. Which caused Dora to feel somewhat stupid, as she felt sorry for him, but decided to give him a second chance. Upon Joseph wondering whether Dora had ever been married, she also lied when she told him that her husband left her for another woman but told the truth when she said that she used to have a daughter, who died.

## 1977-1985

On May 18 1977, two years after the death of Stephen Thompson, Joseph and Dora married at St. Michael's Church in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Their guests were mainly the family and friends of Joseph, however, Dora's siblings Martin and Carol attended. They spent their honeymoon in Blackpool. For the first year or so of their marriage, they were happy and everything was a success. Joseph used to visit the grave of Dora's daughter Emily at Stafford Cemetery, where he once suggested that they should think about adoption, an idea which Dora agreed to. That December, they adopted a one year old boy named Sean, whose birth parents were recently killed in a car crash. Sean was supposed to bring them closer than ever, but actually he was the main cause for the downfall in their marriage. Joseph and Dora used to holiday in New York and Paris, along with Sean and each year on their anniversary, they would hire a babysitter and go out to restaurants. This soon stopped when Joseph suggested that they should put Sean back up for adoption, which upset Dora, as she was dependent on him. She never used to allow Joseph to spend time alone with Sean, as she feared that something terrible may happen and she could not face the trauma of losing a second child. Many of their friends and family knew they were having marital difficulties and one of Joseph's relatives suggested that they should try to adopt their second child, which they did. However, when they adopted three year old James, who was put up for adoption by his biological father, after the murder of his mother, he casted a shadow over their marriage and things worsened. Joseph became close to James and acted as a father figure, whilst Dora remained to be over protective of Sean and treat James unfairly, always making it clear that she was not his mother.

## 1986 - 1993

Now that Joseph and Dora were competing against each other in who had the best adopted child, their marriage problems worsened. Joseph used to take James to special events and buy him gifts and would always leave Sean out, because he was never allowed to take him out on his own. However, Dora used to get annoyed when Joseph made Sean feel left out, as she hated seeing him sad. Eventually Joseph and Dora realised that they did not want their marriage to fail further and adopted their third and final child, a four year old boy named Henry, whose biological parents were too young to raise a child and the fact that they were not married caused his biological maternal grandfather to put him up for adoption. They changed his name to Harry and whilst he did somewhat save their marriage, they still continued to have problems. Dora was a better mother to Harry and treated him better than she ever could treat James, but still remained dependent on Sean. She used to send Harry out to steal from neighbours and local shops and once he was caught by a police officer whilst Joseph was at work. Dora lied to the officer who brought Harry home, when she promised she would punish him, but never did. Joseph used to take James and Harry on days out and pursued to leave Sean out. By the early nineties, Joseph could not fight his feelings, as he was falling out of love with Dora and planned on leaving her. On August 23 1993, Joseph told Dora that he wanted to leave her, as he felt their marriage could not be saved, which only angered her and therefore they began arguing. They were watched by their eleven year old adopted son James. Just as they stopped arguing, Shortman was about to walk past Dora, she picked up a hammer from the nearby table and struck him over the head with it, which caused him to faint. Whilst he laid on the floor, she hit him once again and killed him, after which she saw her terrified adopted son, who she got Sean to silence. She hid Shortman's corpse in a sack and dumped it in the local river, with the help of Sean. Eight years after his death, Dora confirmed at her trial in 2001, that she had murdered Shortman and dumped his body in the river and also lied when she claimed there was no one else involved. However, her adopted son James, who was now a police officer, confirmed that he was a witness to the murder and told the court room what he had saw. When the police searched the river for the body, all that was found were the bones belonging to Shortman.