"I'm just an ordinary girl.”
The Sharon Kinne Story
James C. Hays
Copyright 2011 by James C. Hays
SMASHWORDS EDITION
Thank you for purchasing "I'm just an ordinary girl.” The Sharon Kinne Story. This book, along with me has been featured on Unsolved Mysteries and Discovery I. D. Channel's Deadly Women series (Episode title: "Born Bad".
I hope you enjoy this book and invite you to keep your eyes open for her. By today's standards, she is not really that old. Her birthday is November 30, 1939.
Is she still alive? You be the judge. There are those that suggest that if she were alive, she'd still be surrendering the lives of people in her circle. To that I say this: How many unsolved murders have there been since 1969?
It's worth noting, however that her brother, Eugene, recently passed away. In his obituary it was listed that those preceding him in death were his parents and his sister, Sharon (no last name given). Regardless, the warrant remains active as of this writing.
If you like "I'm just an ordinary girl.” The Sharon Kinne Story, please email me at hannibal@kcnet.com. Of course, email me either way. I'm interested in your comments.
Sharon? If you have ordered this book, let me know. I have some news that might interest you.
Thanking you, the reader, I remain sincerely
James C. Hays- hannibal@kcnet.com--Facebook--James Hays
www.sharonkinne.com
Author: "I'm just an ordinary girl.” The Sharon Kinne Story
Father 27-Murder at the V. A. (Fiction)
The above titles are available on Kindle.
COPYRIGHT 2011 by JAMES C. HAYS
PROLOGUE
She sat quietly at the table and glanced furtively around the room at the others. She didn’t want to draw attention to herself although her very presence commanded it. Sharon Kinne had only been in this prison for a short time but long enough to know what could happen to a lost and frightened American girl. She’d seen how some of the others had been harassed and beaten by tough jailhouse gangs while the matrons in the yard turned the other way.
Sharon didn’t know the person requesting an audience. The stern voice on the public address system only announced a visitor. The kitchen supervisor ordered Sharon to leave her duties and report to the visitation room. She knew it wasn’t Alex Peebles, her attorney, because having just been there he was already back in Kansas City, hopefully arranging extradition for Sharon on her murder charge in Jackson County.
She wondered if her mother and brother had maybe come to see her but discounted it as unlikely since neither could afford to take a trip around the block, let alone travel the nearly fourteen hundred miles to Ixtapalapa, Mexico.
Maybe Frank Puglise, the miserable sleaze bag that’d abandoned her after the arrest had returned to arrange bail. No. He was probably still running after being deported back to the United States.
She watched the heavy-set prisoner with the two small children sitting on the dirty floor in the corner of the room, each one demanding the woman’s attention. Sharon thought of her own children. How she missed them! Her expression softened when the children came to visit her memory. She remembered the laughter and the silly little games they used to play. Suddenly her eyes narrowed.
“But now they are getting Jesus pounded into their brains by James’ Bible-thumping parents,” she whispered. I never should have married that jackass, she thought. “I’m glad he’s worm food now,” Sharon said aloud. “I wish his parents would join him.”
She contemplated the dingy, gray walls and the grime covered screens over the barred windows. It’s probably some rubbernecking tourists from Independence, she decided, just wanting to take a look at the small town girl gone bad. They came every once in a while. Silent and wide-eyed they would just sit and stare at her as though looking at some dangerous caged animal. Every so often one of them would slip her a pack of smokes or a few bucks. Most would just run back to Independence, Missouri and brag to their friends that they had seen Sharon Kinne in the hoosegow in Ixtapalapa.
The guard unlocked the thick steel door and it opened with a loud groan. A well-dressed man entered and looked around the dimly lit room. Once his eyes adjusted, he strode confidently to the far table and sat opposite Mrs. Sharon Kinne.
He introduced himself as a reporter for Life magazine and had picked up on her story over the news wires. Taking a gamble, he decided to fly to Mexico City and see if he could obtain an exclusive interview.
“Your story has a national flavor,” he began. “With your permission, I can enhance your celebrity with an article in Life and maybe forward your cause for freedom.” He looked hopefully into Sharon’s steel-gray eyes.
“How do you propose to do that?” she asked, tilting her head seductively. It was time to put on her usual display for the visitors. Sharon was scared and felt weak and helpless in this prison environment. But, she’d never let it be shown to the public. Sharon Kinne had a reputation to cultivate.
“I think we can elicit public sentiment in your favor,” the reporter continued. ‘You’re not even 25-years-old yet and you already have three notches on your pistol. Some might see you as cold and calloused, but maybe we can put a reason behind your actions.” The lies he fabricated for the sake of getting an interview did not roll gently off his tongue. The words turned sour in his mouth.
Sharon wasn’t buying into it either. She had learned to never trust a man. Oh, she needed what they had, but she never purchased the bullshit they’d come up with. She decided to play this guy for what she could get—a couple of packs of smokes, maybe a few sympathy pesos and possibly a quickie on the side, if she could pay off the matron.
She looked innocently at the young man sitting across the table and lit a cigarette. “I don’t know why everyone is making such a big deal out of me,” she finally cooed, blowing a smoke ring in his direction. “After all, I am just an ordinary girl.”
CHAPTER I
The Marriage
Sharon Elizabeth Hall met James Arthur Kinne at a function of the Mormon Church in the early summer of 1956. James, a shy, backwards college student home for the summer from Brigham Young University, attended the social only at the insistence of his parents. At 22, he knew that the pretty girl on the other side of the room would probably be too young for him but maybe he’d just walk on over and introduce himself anyway. If he got to know her it’d make for a more pleasant evening but, standing against the wall, he couldn’t muster up the courage to attract her attention.
Sharon maintained ambitious dreams. She wanted to find a prince who’d spirit her off to anywhere that wasn’t Independence, Missouri. She wanted to be a woman of glamour and wealth—the globetrotting wife of a successful executive. However, tonight did not seem to be the night. Sharon found herself surrounded by pubescent males jockeying for her attentions and she didn’t see any dream-weavers among the lean pickings. Then she spied the James slumped against the far wall in the dark suit. As the youthful suitors orbited, she fixed her gaze upon James
Sharon caught him staring back and his face reddened so she eased his embarrassment with a warm, inviting smile. Tilting her head to the side, she beckoned him with her eyes. Sharon’s well-developed body belied her young age and she knew all too well how to use the ample endowments to her advantage. She excused herself from the entourage and walked seductively across the room to where James stood.
"I'm Sharon Hall," she purred, and held out a delicate hand for James' acceptance. “I don't think I've ever met you before.”
James took her hand and nodded courteously. “My name is James. James Kinne. “A lump as large as a hot-air balloon rose in his throat. He never expected a girl could be so forward as to approach a man. The cautious women of the religious campus in Provo would never think of doing that and this boldness perplexed him
"Are you new around here, Jim?” She asked, sensing his nervousness. His innocence gave her a charge and the upper hand.
"It’s James, not Jim,” he responded. “And I grew up in Independence. As a matter of fact, I graduated from William Chrisman High School in '53 but now I’m at BYU. I'm just home on summer break.”
"Ooh, you’re a college boy, huh?” Sharon cooed and pretended to pick a piece of lint from his jacket. “I bet you have some stories to tell about wild parties and such. And, you graduated from Chrisman? That's where I'm going now. I'm a senior, even though I'm a little bit old for the high school crowd; I mean I'm almost 20.” Sharon paused to let the age register. “But, my father moved us to Washington after junior high and I missed about a year-and-a-half. When we came back here last year, I decided to finish up and get my diploma. “As she rambled on, Sharon fumbled with a button on her blouse. “I wouldn't mind going to college myself, but I don’t think I'd pick a school like Brigham Young. I need more excitement than a weekly bible bee.”
James shuffled, pretending not to notice Sharon’s sensuous fingers massaging the button, allowing him to catch a glimpse of the lacy bra underneath. “Well, BYU isn't as stuffy as you might think,” he stumbled. “I mean, there are clubs and things like that to join. Besides, I'm not much of a partier anyway. I mean, my parents worked hard to send me to the finest school in the nation and I don't intend to disappoint them. Anyway, there’s not much partying at BYU. It's not accepted, you know. “She stared into his eyes as he spoke and the balloon in his throat began to deflate. Thinking his college status impressed her did not prepare him for the biting comeback.
"Well, we wouldn't want to disappoint Mommy and Daddy, would we?” she snapped. The sarcasm hit him like an uppercut and he staggered on the ropes. Sharon finished with a one-two combination. “If Mommy ever lets you out to play, give me call. I think you're cute and I’d like nothing better than removing some of the stiffness from your personality and putting it where it really belongs," she purred, staring down at his crotch. James blushed as Sharon turned abruptly, flipping her blond hair in the process. She felt his eyes chasing her as she crossed the room.
Sharon's attitude dumbfounded James but he couldn’t get her out of his mind. She carried herself like a debutante, yet possessed the manners of a slut. He decided to get to know her better.
Sharon wouldn't allow him to see that her interest extended beyond the sassy parting shot. Unlike the immature gropers in her circle, his naiveté lent itself to sweetness. He could possibly be the one to deliver her from this cow town. She could ride along, as he became "somebody.” He might be the ticket she'd been trying to purchase since her family returned from Washington. She shouldn't have been so sarcastic, but at least she'd made an impression.
Sharon believed that James fell for the pack of lies she delivered about being an ambitious 20-year-old trying to finish high school and examining college prospects. In reality, Sharon Hall’s physical maturity and sophistication contradicted her true age of sixteen. She knew she’d see him again before summer’s end.
When James got home from the gathering, he told his parents about the mysterious, young woman. They seemed pleased that he’d met and liked a local girl.
“She’s obviously a girl of religious upbringing,” his mother said, “otherwise why would she be at the church social?”
“I think so,” James nodded. “I’m going to try to call her tomorrow.”
The multiple listings for 'Hall' in the Independence, Missouri phone book didn’t dampen James' spirit. He could think only about how he felt as he talked with Sharon and how her suggestive comments lit the fuse on his libido. Sure she shocked him, but that just added to the allure and after the fifth attempt, he found himself talking to the residence of Eugene and Doris Hall.
"Hello," a stern voice answered.
"Yes. My name is James Kinne and I'm trying to locate a girl I met last night by the name of Sharon Hall.”
"Sharon's my daughter,” the voice said. “What do you want with her?” Doris looked at her watch. “It's 8:15 in the Goddamn morning,” she coughed. Her throat felt as rough as an abandoned alley.
"Well, Mrs. Hall, Sharon invited me to call her while I’m home from college. I hope I didn't wake you up? I met her last night at the...”
"SHARON! SHARON ELIZABETH!" James held the receiver at arm’s length away from his ear. “Sharon, you’re wanted on the Goddamn phone.”
Thus the romance between Sharon Hall and James Kinne began. They saw each other frequently and exclusively, or so James believed, throughout the warm days of summer. They went for long drives in the country and talked of their futures. James’ love, or lust, commanded him to spend every waking moment with Sharon. He invited her for lunch every day at the print shop where he worked with his father, just so they could be together. He enjoyed her company.
She surprised him by picking up the printing business so easily, mastering the complexities of setting type with remarkable aplomb. Sharon became a fixture around the shop, her lunchtime visits growing longer as his summer vacation grew shorter.
But if she endeared herself to James, she distanced herself from his father. Haggard Kinne felt very uneasy around his son's girlfriend. He could sense that she played James like a marionette. He tried relay his fears but James would shut him out. James Kinne, although confused about the concept of love, fiercely protected his relationship with Sharon.
Away from the print shop, she showed him the other side of life. Their rides often ended up in marathon petting sessions at the abandoned rock quarry.
Innocently, she told him about some of the wilder girls at school and an abandoned farm house on Phelps Road where young people could "park" without fear of police interruption. James and Sharon became regular visitors to the "lovers’ lane.” She offered experiences that he’d spent a lifetime of prayer fighting and surrendered her body selflessly, albeit to satisfy her own sexual desires. James willingly accepted to exorcise his innocence.
The summer soon came to an end and James prepared his return to Utah. But the summer of 1956 would be a memory he carried until the day he died. He bid farewell to his parents and gave an especially emotional and generous good-bye to Sharon. Reluctantly, he headed west.
The torrid summer weighed heavily on Sharon. What if he found someone in Utah to take her place? After all, now that James experienced sex for the first time, he may be too eager to show the world what he’s discovered. She feared that co-eds with sexual curiosity and incarcerated by religious upbringing, might freely avail themselves to him. Sharon decided, even before his car crested the hill, to keep James as her own.
She could not forget her dream that he’d deliver her from a life of ho-hum domesticity and take her to exotic places and wonderful adventures. She believed that she could ride this comet to the end.
As a child her favorite readings encompassed tales of Greek and Roman mythology. She fantasized about being part of those stories. The goddesses in her books went to breathtaking and romantic places in the draft of their selected lovers. With James, she could become the heroine of that mythology. She saw him taking her places that other people only visit on television travelogues or read about in books. Places where she could be somebody. She needed Sir James in her future.
Scarcely back at college, James received a startling letter from Sharon. The time they spent together meant everything, the letter began, and how in the throes of passion, she gave of herself for the first time. He felt titillated and read on.
“Yes,” she assured him, “you were the first man I'd ever given myself to totally, completely, and without reservation. Maybe it’s wrong, but I feel no shame. “The letter spoke of the special love a woman has for her first partner and how she never felt so close to anyone before.
“But now,” she continued, “the sins of summer have produced a child in my womb. But don't worry, I don’t expect you to sacrifice your education and return to Independence. I’ll handle the situation. At the very least, I’ll look upon the child and be reminded of the only man I ever truly loved.”
Agitation replaced titillation. Indeed, Sharon meant something special, but he didn’t know if he loved her. He remembered times when she could be affectionate, desirous and romantic, but other times when she’d be contradictory, aloof and angry. His initial observations about her being enigmatic were correct. But, now she carried his child and he felt morally required to quit school, marry her, and support their new and accidental family.
Confused, James confided his dilemma to a female college friend and showed her the letter. The friend suggested that it could be a ruse, but he argued the letter’s sincerity. Realizing his gullibility, the she tried to convince him about the wiles of a woman in love, but James wouldn't hear of it. He believed that women did not lie about being pregnant, especially Sharon.
"The only thing I can do," he suggested to her, "is go back to Independence and get married. I don't think I love Sharon, but it's the right and moral thing to do.”
In early October 1956, James Kinne took a leave from BYU, packed a few of his belongings and headed back to Missouri. Back to a marriage he didn't want.
He bade farewell to college chums and headed east in his old Nash. As he motored across mountains and plains, he considered the sins of summer. James steered the Nash Rambler down the highway and into the final chapter of his life.
On October 17, James, his father, and Sharon entered the Jackson County courthouse to apply for the marriage license. Sharon's attitude changed since James' return from Utah. She no longer shared complicity in the pregnancy but blamed the child on him alone. She angrily reminded him that his lust interrupted her plans for college and shamed him into believing her situation bore his signature alone. And, she hinted at having been through this before with another man.
As they walked the courthouse corridor, Sharon told James, “When I lived in Washington, I married a fellow by the name of ‘Big Jim. ’ He loved camping, hiking, and anything to do with the open spaces. He was a good man and I loved him very much. “She paused to register his reaction. “So, this shit’s nothing new to me.”
She didn't apologize for deceiving him about being her first and instead ridiculed him for not knowing the difference. “If you weren’t such a rube, you’d know that I’ve been with someone before you. God, you’re an idiot!”
The trio arrived at the applications desk where a middle-aged woman catered to a giddy young couple. They glowed as they told Mrs. Kennedy their honeymoon plans.
“We’re going to get a cabin at Bennett Springs State Park. Tom wants to do some trout fishing,” the woman blushed. “But I don’t think he’ll be up to answer the morning fishing bell.” They laughed and continued with the application.
“Of course, you don’t have to write that down,” the bride-to-be suggested. “Tom doesn’t know that yet.” She put her hand in front of her mouth and sniggered.
“Well, you’ll have to do something pretty special to keep me from my fishing,” her beau laughed.
Sharon scoffed and derided the young couple as being immature. “I think it’s nauseating to see people act like that,” she sneered. Haggard and James ignored Sharon’s observations and took seats in the waiting area.
While the other people finished their application, James asked about Big Jim. Sharon answered mockingly.
"It’s really none of your God-damn business,” she snorted, “but since you nosed in I’ll tell you. We were out one night with a friend drinking beer and driving around out in the country. Big Jim always chased his beer with Jack Daniels and it made for great fun. We always had fun!
"The friend drove," she went on, "I sat in the middle and Jim hung out the window shouting obscenities and flipping off the wildlife. The car made a curve too fast and Big Jim fell out. He bounced and splattered down the asphalt like 250-pounds of fresh whale blubber. By the time we got the car stopped and ran back, we found him on the median strip bloodied, fucked up, and dead. And, that’s all I’m going to say about it.”
Sharon’s story didn’t carry the melody of remorse and she told it to them now for the first time as they sat dumbstruck beside her. The couple at the desk quit giggling and turned to Sharon. The festive mood of the room became as dead and cold as Big Jim.
It surprised Haggard that she'd talk of such an intimate period in her life so openly and coldly, and with him present. He didn’t like her insensitivity or the way she’d embarrassed them in public and decided to challenge her on the tale.
"How come you never said anything about this before? I think it’s something that we should have known before now, don’t you? I mean, my son is…”
"Shhh! I told you, I'm not speaking about this anymore," she interrupted sharply. “Besides, it doesn't concern you anyway.” She turned to watch the other couple leave the room. “C’mon, it’s our turn.” She moved up to the applications desk.
James sat embarrassed as Mrs. Kennedy handed him the application. He knew she’d heard Sharon's angry spout. He also felt uneasy with the way Sharon talked to Haggard. He reluctantly filled out the top section of the application and handed the form to Sharon, wondering if he should follow through with the marriage. His thoughts went back to a conversation they had during the summer.
“I just don’t understand church people,” Sharon said, as they sat staring up at the stars. “They seem to live such boring lives with their whole world revolving around church and religion. I mean you guys believe that if it doesn’t have something to do with the church, it’s not worth doing.”
“Well, it’s called faith,” James tried to explain. “Faith provides stability. I don’t know where I’d be if it wasn’t for my parents, the church and my faith in God.”
“Well, I don’t buy it,” she responded. “What do you do? Slip God a quarter for the movies while you and I climb into the back seat?”
James remembered the ride home that night as being a drive of shame.
He watched as Sharon filled out her section of the application.
“You know, when a girl gets married she wants it to be memorable,” she mumble to Mrs. Kennedy as she wrote. “But Haggard says God wants me to get married in a house on Walnut Avenue instead of a church.” She stopped writing and looked over at Haggard. “Sometimes I think God and Haggard are one-in-the-same.”
Sharon couldn't understand the Kinne family and their relationship with the Mormon Church. She knew that Haggard carried the title of bishop and religious overseer of a large area in Independence and the surrounding county. He carried the responsibility of making holy decisions concerning the welfare of his people and yet he’d determined that his only son could not marry in the Mormon Church. Bishop Kinne made the decision that James would be married in the living room of their home on Walnut Avenue. She perceived Haggard's denial of a church wedding as a slam against her and she wanted Mrs. Kennedy to know about it.
James didn’t have trouble understanding and accepting his father's decision. He knew intimately the workings of their religion. Sharon carried his child out of wedlock and to have a righteous Mormon service would be an affront to all that Haggard believed. It would be a discredit to his position.
Sharon took the application and studied it for a long while. The fingers on her left hand tapped on the tabletop as she calculated the year of her birth. If Sharon honed her skills as an accomplished liar, her arithmetic talents needed to be polished.
She stuck to the story she’d told James in the beginning about being nearly 20-years-old, which made her birth year 1936. However, in the section of the form reserved for age, she wrote "18.” Her true birthday was November 30, 1939.
On October 17, 1956, Sharon Hall sat at the marriage license bureau, lying on her application. She knew she’d only be seventeen on her next birthday. The 22-year-old James unwittingly applied to marry 16-year-old minor.
The lower section of the form required that a parent or legal guardian of the minor grant consent of the marriage. The lower section allowed for the Recorder of Deeds to imprint a notarized seal as legal witness to the approval and truth of the entries. It allowed for the couple to enter into a legal marriage in the State of Missouri. The lower section remained blank.
In the area of the form reserved for marital status, Sharon placed a large "X" through the box marked "Widowed.” She held it out in front of her, at arm’s length to examine its completeness and glanced at James and Haggard to make certain they saw the “X” before handing it back to Mrs. Kennedy. The older woman reviewed the entries and notarized the application.
On Tuesday, October 18, 1956, Sharon Elizabeth Hall became Mrs. James Arthur Kenneth Rev. Glaude A. Smith; Pastor of the Stone Church on Lexington Avenue presided over the sparsely attended ceremony. The Kinne's prepared their house for the wedding and surprisingly, it went off without any problems.
After the nuptials and a brief stay at the Kinne home, James packed up his new bride and headed back to Provo. He put a lot of effort into his education and felt even more compelled now to get his degree, with the added responsibility of a family. The plan didn't last long.
Back at Provo, they moved in with a friend. The small one-bedroom apartment made for cramped living—with a premium placed on privacy. Sharon complained constantly about the situation. She enjoyed being in the mountains, but James never found time to take her anywhere. He always seemed too busy studying or attending religious functions. Her persistent carping made it difficult for him to continue school. After the semester ended James decided to put his education on hold and move the family back to Missouri. Sharon didn’t like the idea of returning, but said nothing.
In December 1956, the newlyweds moved back to Independence, Missouri. Haggard offered them the small bungalow he owned next door. James thought it would be ideal living next door to his parents. Sharon thought the idea smelled like a Limburger cheese and onion sandwich.
If simplicity defined the wedding of James and Sharon, it certainly didn’t describe their marriage. From the very beginning, Sharon made demands on James. She believed that the husband’s main responsibility entailed making money for the wife to spend and she despised living in the small rental house next door to her in-laws.
“Yeah, it’s convenient for you,” she argued. “You’re over there most of the time drying your tears on your Mommy’s apron and the only things we do for relaxation always revolves around them or the Goddamn church. I want to go out to dance or for a few drinks. You never think of what I want.”
In the same way that Haggard became wise to the personality of his new daughter-in-law, Kattie remained naive. She believed in storybook relationships. She believed that a mother and her son's wife should be close. She'd invite Sharon on shopping trips to Kansas City or bake pastries and take them next door. She'd offer to slip the struggling new family a few dollars if they ran low, or to pay the utility bills if they got behind. Kattie, a generous and loving woman always sought out the good in a person and overlooked their weaknesses. She showed kindness to everyone and carried her religious beliefs proudly. Sharon couldn’t stand her.
Sharon's own mother didn’t concern herself with generosity or culinary deeds. She had no extra money and only spent time in the kitchen to freshen up a drink. But she reserved one day a week for her daughter. They went to the Independence Square for shopping and lunch, usually at Sharon’s treat. Their day passed with Doris talking about her job as a legal secretary with the law firm of Quinn and Peebles and how Eugene Sr., Sharon's father, remained unemployed. Eugene Hall, a steelworker, collected a small stipend from the government for an on-the-job injury. He fell into his cups after the accident and never climbed out.
Sharon told Doris that she considered James a rube. “He’s a mama's boy and always goes running home after an argument. His naiveté no longer amuses me.”
Sitting at a crowded lunch counter, Sharon discussed her sex life. “It’s straight and boring—and seldom,” she complained. “Being raised in a home of male dominance and female subservience, he doesn’t care one Goddamn whit about my needs or desires. As soon as he gets off—he gets off, if you know what I mean.”
Doris would sympathize, as she passed along the meal check to her daughter. “Well, Sharon, at least he has a good job and doesn’t spend his time and money at the bars. And, he is mild mannered and a good provider.”
Sharon worked. Her intelligence and talent could be measured by all the careers she began, but never finished. She worked at a printing shop and a photo shop. She also baby-sat for the Mormon day care center. By the accounts of her employer and the children she tended, Sharon made a good babysitter. She showed warm and loving attentions around the kids and played with them constantly.
She tried her hand at being a legal secretary and succeeded and left that to become a receptionist at a hotel. Whatever she did, she did well, especially the manipulation of everyone and everything in her environment. A prosperous and successful future opened its doors before her. Sharon Kinne could have been somebody, save her mental unrest.
She kept James in constant financial duress. When between jobs, Sharon spent her idle time shopping. Extra money didn’t fall from the heavens like manna in the desert but that carried no consequence to her. She kept herself neatly coifed and fashionably dressed and put it on her husband's tab. She became a frequent visitor to the Independence Square boutiques and the shop owners loved her. If she found something she liked, she charged it and asked that the bill be sent to her house in care of James.
When she worked, she demanded that her money not be considered as "family income.” What he earned belonged to them, and what she earned belonged to her. Sharon needed her own money for more important things such as illicit, extra-marital dalliances on the side. She found different ways, during off hours, to supplement the boring sex life that she carped about at home.
Shortly after they returned from Utah, Kattie suggested that James apply at the Bendix Aviation Corporation in Kansas City. In college, he studied electrical engineering and Bendix would be the ideal place for him. It paid well and gave an opportunity for plenty of overtime. Maybe with the extra money he could satiate the spending habits of his irresponsible wife.
After World War II, Bendix became a prime contractor for the Atomic Energy Commission. It manufactured non-nuclear, mechanical, and electrical components for nuclear weapons. As a government contractor it demanded good fiscal responsibility and unblemished character of its employees. The highly classified work required that each person maintain a secret security clearance. Kattie worked at Bendix, as did Haggard's brother, Jessie. With very little problem, James started work there also. The new job gave him a more stable financial setting in which to raise his new child. But, the baby in Sharon’s womb never came.
One morning, after James left for work, Sharon decided to end the pregnancy charade. She tired of all the doting attention and advice Kattie gave her, and besides, the baby story served its purpose—it got her a husband.
When James came home that day, he found his wife in a frantic, emotional state. Sharon told him that shortly after he left for work she suffered a miscarriage.
“I tried to call,” she wept, “but couldn’t get past the Bendix operator.” Because of the classified work being done at the plant, personal calls were not accepted.
“Why didn’t you call the Bendix Security emergency number? They could’ve gotten in touch with me.” They sat on the sofa holding each other in tight embrace. “Or, at least you should’ve called my parents.”
Playing on James' sympathies, Sharon responded. “I’m sorry, James. I didn’t think to call Security. Instead, I just kept trying to call the Bendix switchboard operator but the lady wouldn’t help me. She kept saying that employees couldn’t receive personal calls, so I just hung up.” Sharon’s face lay deep in James’ shoulder. “And, I couldn’t call your parents because of the humiliation of the situation.
“Everything happened so fast,” she continued. “I sat down on the sofa after cleaning the kitchen, when I suddenly felt very nauseous. I got up and ran to the bathroom and knelt down beside the toilet to throw up. I thought it was just another round of morning sickness, but it felt different," she managed to say through sobs. “My legs felt wobbly and I started getting a strange, damp feeling down there. It felt warm. When I looked, my pajama bottoms were wet and red with blood. “She pulled from James’ shoulder and buried her head in her hands, whimpering noisily. She only wanted James to hear her shame and guilt. She didn't want him to see her dry, cold eyes.
He put his arms around her and pulled her close. Sharon buried her face in his shoulder again and forced her body to quiver. She could not only win awards as a world-class liar but also garner rave revues as an actress extraordinaire.
"I sat on the toilet and let our child go," she whispered. “I’m sorry. I've failed as a mother. I spent the afternoon crying and cleaning up the bathroom. I wrapped my pajamas in a sack and threw them out with the garbage. I didn't want any reminder of what might have been. “Sharon pulled from James' embrace and ran from the room.
James watched as she went stoop-shouldered into the bedroom and closed the door. His eyes ached and he wanted to cry for the loss of his child and the pain of his wife, but he couldn't. Maybe the shock of her story wouldn't allow tears to flow and his emotions refused to accept the trauma. Or, maybe he felt for the first time that his forced marriage to Sharon qualified him for the Sucker-of-the-World trophy.
The simple, non-church wedding always bothered James. He urged Sharon to take classes in the Mormon faith and promised that after she became baptized, he’d marry her again in a proper ceremony. She agreed. This would be her chance to have the big wedding she'd always wanted. She envisioned all the pomp and circumstance surrounding such an event; but James didn’t purchase the same dream.
After Sharon completed the religious lessons and waited through the required one-year contemplative period, she and James went on a trip to Salt Lake City, Utah for a combination wedding, vacation, and honeymoon. James arranged to have the wedding in the great Mormon Tabernacle. From there, the couple would travel to Provo where he’d introduce her to his old college friends and show her around the campus. Maybe, he thought, Sharon might want to enroll in classes and he could also finish his own education. Not on this trip, of course, but maybe someday.
Other things needed to be considered before James moved back to Utah and picked up on the dream. His main concern being the daughter he and Sharon shared. She became pregnant, for real, early in 1957, shortly after the miscarriage scam. By fall, Danna joined their household and James happily took on the role of proud doting, father. Pictures filled his wallet and baby stories ruled the conversations at work.
Sharon became the picture of devotion and couldn’t leave the child alone. She made clothes for Danna, played with her and sang her songs. She fidgeted with the baby constantly and kept a running dialogue going with her. For a while, Sharon decided that domestic life came with its own merits. This soon would change.
For the trip to Utah, they left Danna with James’ parents. Haggard and Kattie adored her and insisted that she stay with them. Initially, James and Sharon wanted to take her but the persistence of his parents won out. The picture of a wedding being attended by the bride and groom's baby seemed awkward to James anyway, so they pulled away from Independence leaving Danna behind. Sharon wept as they drove down the highway. Not because of Danna’s absence, but in whose care they’d left her.
Sharon didn’t like the idea of leaving Danna with James' parents. Even with her "new-found" religion, she still could not stand Haggard and Katie's feared that when they returned from the trip, the little girl would be thumping a Book of Mormon and spouting quotes from Joseph Smith. Besides, her resentment for the elder Kinnes made it difficult to handle the enjoyment provided them by Danna’s presence.
Sharon wanted, if anything, to leave Danna with her parents. After all, she argued, they didn't get to see their granddaughter as much as his family did. James steadfastly refused. He knew the circumstances of the Hall household and didn’t want to subject his daughter to an environment of cigarettes and booze. Sharon's parents were bad enough, with their separate lifestyles and questionable behaviors, but above all else, James didn’t like or trust her brother. James thought of him as abusive. He believed that to leave Danna with the Crazy Hall family would be placing her in harm’s way.
Sharon only half-heartedly argued the point since you couldn’t debate the truth. The men in her family drank to excess and easily surrendered to sudden impulses, despite the consequences. Besides, in order to maintain her own comfortable life, she’d have to sacrifice familial allegiance. And to her, family carried no emotional bindings.
She grew up in a house of individuals. Mother did her thing. Father did his thing. And the children were left alone to establish separate lifestyles. Sharon chose to find someone she could control for her own self-serving goals. The rest preferred to stay home and get snockered every night.
In Utah, the enormous church impressed Sharon. A feeling of royalty overwhelmed her as she entered its generous surroundings. The size of the temple dwarfed her imagination and the impressive surroundings made her anxious to repeat her vows. For the first time in a couple of years, she began to fall in love with James again—until he told her of the wedding plans.
His idea of a church wedding angered Sharon. “The only difference between the first wedding and the second,” she complained, “is the location. I read the Goddamn vows and they’re exactly the same as the ones in Missouri. And, look at you. You’re wearing the same sad jacket, pants and frown as you wore in the first. Some wedding!”
Sharon's family couldn’t afford to travel to Salt Lake City and James' parents stayed home watching Danna. What people did attend the wedding were either there by happenstance or James’ college friends who lived within driving distance. Sharon felt denied and robbed of her moment. She felt anger against the man who brought her here.
“I lived up to my end of the bargain and joined your foolish religion,” she whispered in his ear after the minister invited James to kiss the bride. “Now I’m stuck being a Goddamn Mormon and being married in front of a bunch of holy strangers. I’ll get even with you one way or the other,” she sneered. The whole scenario pissed Sharon off and she made sure that James knew it. He just cast it off and put on his happy face.
After the wedding, the couple rattled around the huge Mormon complex. James tried to explain the historic importance of the temple site to his disinterested wife. She shrugged at his comments or just responded with a "so-what's-the-big-deal" type answer. He gave up and headed the car south to Provo and the BYU campus.
Sharon cooled down on the ride to BYU, assuming after staying in a motel for a day in Provo she could talk James into going to Las Vegas for a real honeymoon.
“I’d really like to see the bright lights and excitement of Sin City,” she cooed. “Mormons sin too, you know.”
When they arrived in Provo, she saw her plans crumble like Jericho’s Walls. James called his old college roommate and the three of them met for dinner. His friend invited the re-newlyweds to bunk-up at his place for the remainder of their stay and James readily accepted. In Sharon's mind, James pulled the chain and sent the rest of the trip, their marriage, and her plans swirling down the commode.
The arrangements riled her even more. The small one-bedroom apartment off campus certainly didn’t make the spread of her honeymoon brochure. The friend slept on the sofa and relinquished the bedroom to his guests. James balked at not wanting to cause any inconvenience and Sharon kept insisting that they stay at a motel. He settled on the bedroom, without even considering Sharon's suggestion. The Kinne’s argued vociferously throughout most of the night, while James’ friend lay on the sofa feeling pity. How such a nice guy could be tied to such a raucous bitch, he thought.
The next day, as they toured the BYU campus, James and his friend tried to include Sharon in their conversations. She'd have nothing of it and withdrew into her own world, only managing a grunt when required to answer. That night, she replayed the same scene in the bedroom.
Embarrassed, James told his friend over breakfast that he and Sharon would be leaving that morning. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “Sharon’s not usually liked this. I think she just misses our daughter and it has her felling cranky. “Like most married couples, James made excuses for his other half. He told Sharon to pack up. “We’re leaving,” he announced.
Sharon got excited. She gave their host a big hug and thanked him for the hospitality. The sounds of the slots beckoned her dreams and bright neon lit up her eyes.
They didn't stop in Las Vegas or anywhere else that wasn't important to the return trip. They drove straight through to the rental bungalow in Independence and, except to argue, conversation came at a premium. It trebled the length of the ride home.
James transferred to the second shift at Bendix. He worked from 3:30 p. m. until midnight, most of the time staying past midnight on overtime. He found a piece of property in a newly developed subdivision just outside of Independence and needed the extra money. Lately it seemed that not a day passed without Sharon complaining about their living arrangements. She griped about Kattie barging in all the time unannounced and him running over there several times a day. She grumbled about the neighborhood being populated with church people and this pile they called a marriage.
On October 31, 1958, James bought a lot in the Elswood Meadows subdivision. He purchased the property from Lester Haas, a local developer. Lester, a friend of Haggard's, gave James a pretty good deal. Haggard knew about real estate and accrued many good connections. He helped James arrange for a builder and soon a nice, ranch-style home began taking shape on the lot. It would be James' dream home. It’d be the home that Sharon nagged him about since they married and the home where they’d raise their family, which would soon include another child. It would be the home he’d live in for the rest of his life. It’d be the home he’d die in.
The new house didn’t come close to pacifying Sharon. She wanted to furnish it with the finest of appointments. They argued. James insisted that they just live with what they brought from the old house on Walnut Avenue, until they could afford better. Sharon wanted all new things for the all-new house. And, she wanted them right now.
She didn't want to save and buy one piece at a time. To that end, she went to Field's Furniture and shopped for new furnishings. The visits turned out to be so much window-shopping though, because, in the end, James won out. The cheap appointments and mismatched furniture from the Walnut house cluttered their spacious new home.
With James working the second shift, Sharon found ample time to renew old friendships and make new ones. In high school she dated a boy named John Boldizs. Not being one of the more popular kids in school, John always showed puppy-like devotion at her attentions. With her evenings now free, they picked up where they left off—in the back seat of his old Ford sedan.
Sharon thought John cute, in a pet-like way and knew him to be easily controlled—something she badly needed to boost her self-esteem. She found James becoming more difficult to dominate. They argued constantly and then afterward he’d run back to his mother. Sharon hated his dependency on Kattie. She knew she could never get full control as long as his mother’s apron strings remained attached. She needed a boost of self-confidence. Sharon picked up the telephone and called Boldizs.
James took their children, Danna and Troy, to a babysitter on his way to work in the afternoon. He adored the kids and felt bad every time he dropped them off. However, he knew it would only be for a few hours until Sharon picked them up on her way home. She worked at the Elko Camera shop in Kansas City and got off about 4:30 p. m. Sometimes she phoned the sitter and explained some problem at work that demanded overtime. “I’ll pick the kids up as soon I get this situation taken care of,” she’d apologize. Then, she’d hang up the phone and call John. He seldom turned her down.
For his part, John Boldizs knew that playing up to Sharon guaranteed a steady piece of ass. Inasmuch as she kept putting out, he could overlook her weird thinking and constant complaining about James. John didn't mind Sharon being married. He felt safe knowing there’d be no commitment since she already carried another man's name. But yet, as time went on, he couldn't resist falling under her charms and the relationship got increasingly bizarre.
She tired of the back seat romps and didn’t like to go to John's house because it didn’t meet with her standards. The cost of motels increased in direct proportion with her libido, so she devised an alternative.
After picking up the children, she went home and immediately fixed them supper, played for a bit and then shuffled them off to bed. Anna and Troy always went to bed by early evening. After they settled in, she called John. He became a regular visitor to the Kinne home. He and Sharon would make out in the living room. Sometimes they’d have sex on the cheap, Naugahyde sofa, or the floor, or James' chair. Often, they retired to the master bedroom and the comfort of the wedding bed. And her children slept peacefully in the next room, oblivious to their mother’s tawdry behavior.
Sharon Kinne controlled everything and everyone—except herself. She tired of John and only began considering him if she couldn't arrange anything else. Sometimes, "anything else" could be arranged and sometimes it satisfied her deviant side.
Sharon didn’t find meeting men difficult. James' work schedule and the availability of a babysitter left her virtually free to explore the whole dating scene. If she found it easy to meet men, they usually found her easy. She'd give her dates a tumble in the parking lot, or out on some deserted road and then head home to the kids.
One night after work she stopped at a local drinking establishment. There, she struck up a conversation with two out-of-town businessmen. The men were consultants for a major construction project in Jackson County. They were in town to oversee the building of Interstate 70 through this section of Missouri. With plenty of money, time and a room at the Holiday Inn they came special order for Sharon.
She’d accompany the men to their motel to continue the drinking and soon found herself in a very exciting, very physically charged ménage a' trois. The two men, fueled sexually by the alcohol, unmercifully pounded away at every opening in her body, sometimes simultaneously. Sharon loved it. She never knew anything like this. In her mind, this perversion provided the ultimate in physical gratification. When the men tired, she went down on them until they were ready to go again. The room filled with the acrid stench of cigarettes, cheap booze and stale sex. She visited this room many times before the men finished their consulting contracts and returned home to their wives and families. With them gone, she went back to calling John Boldizs.
Things around the Kinne house deteriorated rapidly. James would come home to find the place a mess. The only meals cooked in the house now were the up-start TV dinners. Mr. Birdseye and Mr. Swanson made themselves rich by capitalizing on the American fascination with television and developed frozen dinners that only required a little warming. Mothers didn't need to slave away in a hot kitchen anymore. They didn't have to miss their favorite programs either. After the meal, they just tossed the aluminum trays in the trash and the dishes were finished. And, women like Sharon Kinne could plan sexual liaisons around quick and easy victuals.
Such dinners filled James' freezer. Home-cooked meals became rare. Dirty laundry began piling up in the hampers and soiled diapers spilled out of the diaper pail and onto the floor. His children wore the same clothes for days. When he complained to Sharon, it always caused another argument.
“What the hell do you expect from me? I work all day and come home to take care of your children. I can only do so much. I’m not superwoman, you know.”
“I don’t expect you to be superwoman. I expect a home cooked meal once in a while and clean shirts on my kids’ backs. Heck, you get home by 5:30 in the evening. What do you do the rest of the night? Watch television?”
“Look! If you don’t like it, find someone who can live up to your standards. Goddamn it, I’m doing the best I can and with no help from you, I might add.”
James began entertaining thoughts of divorcing Sharon, in part because of the massive bills she collected in his name. Even when he complained about the laundry, she made yet another bill by sending the whole stinking mess to a commercial facility for cleaning and delivery. When he carped about the frozen dinners, she sent out for pizza or Chinese. He just couldn't win.
And he suspected other men. The neighbors told him about time the laundry man stayed at his house and the different cars that pull in the drive early in the evening and left around midnight. Or, they wondered if Sharon worked second shift also, since she wouldn't return home until 11:30 or 12 at night.
Yes, James became fed up with this shit pile of a marriage. He complained to his parents and told them what he intended to do about it.
“Well, you can’t divorce her, James. She’s the mother of your children.” Haggard argued. “She may not be much, but she’s all the kids have right now.”
“James, dear,” Kattie offered. “I believe a family can iron out their problems and stay together, especially when it involves children. Maybe we should pray about it and see what the Lord suggests.”
After long hours of discussion, they convinced their son to return to Sharon and work things out. He went home to pray to Jesus about the shit pile marriage.
Kattie grew extremely concerned over the situation and decided it might help if she talked with Sharon. She planned to discuss the difficulties in keeping a marriage together and some of the problems she and Haggard faced throughout the years. She'd approach Sharon as a friend that could come to her if she needed to talk. She found out that Sharon didn’t have the desire to talk to her now or at any time in the future. Kattie found out that Sharon hated her guts.
"I guess it really doesn't matter what you think of me, Sharon,” Kattie said softly, “but what about James and the children? Don't you care about what you’re doing to them? Have you no shame at entertaining men in your husband's house while he's at work and the children in bed? Or running up huge bills that you can’t afford?”Kattie’s eyes ached with tears. “Can’t you see that the poor man worries about this marriage?”
"No, I'm not ashamed. You come over here and accuse me of all these things only because that pussy son of yours came crying to you as usual. Well, the way our marriage has become is not my fault. It's your fault," Sharon said, jabbing an accusing finger in the old woman's chest. “You just keep butting in where you don’t belong. If you’d let James grow up and quit trying to mother him all the time, he wouldn't be such a milquetoast. “She got on a roll, making the older woman shrink on the front stoop. Sharon loved it. “And, how dare you accuse me of screwing around on James,” she screamed.
"Whatever happens is your fault because you’re a meddling, interfering old bat, who doesn't know the first thing about life. You come to my house and tell me about the problems you and your jerk-ass husband have endured over the years, as though you think I care. Or, like it'll change anything. Maybe you think it'll make you and me closer, like sisters, or something. Well, to hell with you. I don't give a shit about you, your husband or your problems. And, I couldn't care less what you think of me.” Kattie shook at this tirade. She never knew such rudeness existed.
"Just get the fuck away from my house and stay the hell out of my life," Sharon screamed. “I can’t stand weak, sniveling bitches like you.” She slammed the door forcefully in her mother-in-law's face and smiled. It's been a good day.
Sharon worried, however. She knew Kattie would tell James what happened and she'd have to prepare for another blistering argument with him. She, too, grew tired of this shit pile and decided that the next time he talked divorce; she'd make her demands.
On Friday, March 18, 1960, James sat down to lunch at his parents’ house. Troy lay sleeping in the bassinet and little Danna sat on telephone books so she could see to eat a sandwich. James told them of the discussion with Sharon from the night before. He told them he suggested divorce and this time she agreed.
"Sharon said she’d grant the divorce if I gave her the house, Danna and $1,000 in cash," he told them. “She said I could keep Troy. I want a divorce but I don't want to split up the children, and I really don’t want to give her any cash. As far as I care, she can move her sorry ass out to the street by herself." Kattie gasped at James’ language.
“Well, I can’t condone divorce under any circumstances.” Haggard repeated. “Maybe your life seems in a mess, James, but what about the kids? Children need two parents. No, I can't advise you on this. I can't go along with a divorce. I mean you knew what you were getting when you married Sharon. People, including me, tried to warn you. But your heart wouldn't listen. I may have thought differently, if you'd come to me with this divorce idea after she pulled that fake pregnancy trick. But, now it's too late. There's Danna and Troy to think about.”