Mikita Brottman: "A Double Life"

Teresa and Mark Sievers led an enviable life in Bonita Springs, Florida. Teresa ran a thriving medical practice specializing in anti-aging and holistic care. Mark, a former nurse, managed the business while home-schooling their two daughters. Then, in June 2015, the unimaginable happened: Teresa was found murdered in their kitchen.

Mark’s alibi was airtight. He and the girls were in New York on a family vacation. Initial signs pointed to a burglary gone wrong, but it soon became clear that the attack was targeted. The Sievers’ friends and relatives were shocked. Teresa was a respected, charismatic physician, nicknamed a “modern-day Mother Teresa.” Yet someone hated her enough to bludgeon her to death.

Cracks appeared beneath the glossy surface of the Sievers’ lives. Teresa’s quest for fame had led her to make some questionable decisions. The couple’s marriage was passionate but volatile. Then there was Mark’s childhood best friend, who looked so much like him that the two were often mistaken for twins. The bond between the two men was intense and intimate.

In a compelling narrative that goes beyond conventional true crime tropes, acclaimed author and psychoanalyst Mikita Brottman delves into a case that encompasses both obsessive love and deep hatred, probing the corrosive, sometimes deadly nature of both.

Mikita Brottman will be joined in conversation by poet and MICA professor Jane Lewty.

About the Author:

Mikita Brottman is a writer and psychoanalyst living in Baltimore, Maryland. Her book, An Unexplained Death, was shortlisted for the Gold Dagger Award for nonfiction by the Crime Writers Association of the UK. She has a DPhil from Oxford University and is a professor of literature at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

About the Moderator:
Jane Lewty is the author of Bravura Cool (1913 Press) In One Form To Find Another (Cleveland State University Poetry Center). Her third book of poetry, Vespers, is forthcoming from the University of Iowa Press in November, 2026. She lives in Baltimore, and teaches at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).

About the Program:

• Doors will open to registered attendees at 6 pm.
• A local bookseller will be on-site and have books available for purchase.
• Free parking vouchers are available to program attendees who park at the Franklin Street Garage (15 W. Franklin Street) after 4pm. Ask Pratt event staff for your parking voucher prior to or after the program.
• There is no registration required for virtual attendance, simply visit the Enoch Pratt Free Library's Facebook or Youtube page.
• This is a seated event with spaces reserved for individuals with accessibility needs. ASL interpretation will also be available for attendees throughout the event. If you need additional accommodations to successfully participate, please let us know at [email protected] or 443-768-0762.