vip mail delete

I have a few people that I have "starred" as VIP contacts, so their mail automatically goes into a VIP Smart Mailbox. I've found online how to delete contacts but I just want to delete old VIP mail. I have mail from my VIP contacts going back to 2009. I don't need it.

When I go into the VIP mailbox, I find the mail I don't want and hit delete. It goes away and 2 seconds later it's back. I have over 500 old VIP emails that I'm totally unable to delete, no matter how I do the deleting (hit delete key, hit delete in menu or right click) they pop back up 2 seconds later.

What am I missing here? I don't need 500 emails from 2009.

Please help!!!

Susan