Posted: 5/30/03
Bernice Edwards dies in an Illinois prison
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (RNS)–The woman whose wild spending and close relationship with a Baptist minister landed them both in prison has died.
Bernice Vernell Edwards was 46. She was serving a nine-month prison sentence in Illinois and suffered from a “chronic pulmonary condition,” the St. Petersburg Times reported. An autopsy was scheduled to determine the exact cause of death.
Edwards was a close associate of Henry Lyons, former president of the National Baptist Convention USA. When Lyons' wife suspected the two of having an affair, she set fire to a waterfront mansion co-owned by Lyons and Edwards. Both denied a romantic affair.
That fire led to an investigation that resulted in charges against both Edwards and Lyons for embezzling millions from the church. In 1999, Edwards was acquitted on all charges, while Lyons was convicted of racketeering and grand theft and sentenced to more than five years in prison.
One month later, Edwards pleaded guilty to tax evasion and served 13 months of a 21-month sentence. Last year, while on probation, Edwards was accused again of financial improprieties and sentenced to nine more months in prison.
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