Linda Ann Weston: The Basement of Horrors

In October 2011 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the landlord of an apartment complex in the Tacony neighborhood went to inspect the apartment owned by then 51-year-old Linda Ann Weston after receiving reports of suspicious activity. The landlord went into the apartment and discovered four mentally disabled adults locked in the basement in deplorable conditions as part of a Social Security benefit fraud scheme. They were all huddled under a stained, urine-soaked blanket in the cold, dark boiler room that was 6 feet tall by 15 feet wide. One of the men was even chained to the boiler. Linda and four others, including her own daughter, were arrested and charged. But a look at Linda’s background showed an extremely sinister past.