Murfreesboro Madam: 'I Wasn't The Only Mom Who Did This'

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Two years ago, a Murfreesboro mother of three ran an escort service out of her home.

By day, she was a housewife and mother and a call girl at night.

Lisa Burris said she regrets what she did, but turned to prostitution only as a last resort -- a desperate act.

Her legal troubles are behind her.

In an exclusive interview with NewsChannel 5, she talked about the sex trade, the names in her notorious black book and her effort to reunite with her children.

The so-called "Murfreesboro madam" learned some surprising things working as a call girl.

"I wasn't the only mom who did this," she said.

"I learned there were moms out there just like me. I learned that there were professionals that did this and had a professional job also," she said.

As a wife and mother of three small children, she started an escort service. She booked dozens of clients at upscale hotels for sex.

"I'll be honest with you. I never kept count," she said.

After her arrest, police confiscated her date book. The notes included date package ideas such as a "sex spa" and "den of sin" and "erotic picnic." Under the notes, there were 10 names of men along with phone numbers.

"Lots of names in your black book?" asked NewsChannel 5 reporter Nick Beres.

"Are there people on there who have money? Yeah," she said. "There are some people on there who are well-known in the communities," she said.

Murfreesboro police have the date book and never released the names. Neither will Burris.

The 43-year-old wants to put that sad part of her life behind her.

"I am a survivor. I'm coming out of this and life is good," she said.

Burris regrets turning to prostitution, but said she felt she had no choice.

"You don't wake up one morning and say, ‘I think I'm going to be a prostitute,'" she said.

Burris said she was in an unhappy marriage with a controlling husband.

"I was stripped of any type of decision making on any level," she said.

She turned to prostitution to make money, not for drugs, but to buy things such as gifts for her children.

Once she scrambled to wrap toys while waiting for clients.

"It was my son's birthday. So I had money and I hadn't had time to get them wrapped. So in between appointments I wrapped his presents," she said.

Burris told people she made her money working for a greeting card company and her family never suspected a thing.

"And I know that sounds crazy," she said.

Her family now knows and she finds herself in a custody battle with her ex-husband over the children. They live with him.

She has only limited access but doesn't understand why.

Burris points to the Mary Winkler case. Winkler was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of her minister husband, Matthew Winkler.

"I see that Mary is living her life and she has her children," she said.

Winkler later regained full custody of her kids from their grandparents.

"I think it's pretty ironic that she killed her husband. And I did nothing of that sort," she said.

Using the Winkler example, Burris hopes to win at least shared custody of her children.

One point in her favor, the Court of Appeals recently granted her judicial diversion. If she stays out of trouble for two years the felony will be stricken from her record.

Burris said she's now very involved with her church and draws strength from her faith. She also reaches out to other women at seminars and shares her story in hopes of helping them to make better choices.