She Was A Serial Killer Who Reinvented Herself As A Real Estate Agent

pictured above is Sharon in her mugshot
Kansas City Missouri Police Department - pictured above is Sharon in her mugshot

Over 50 years ago, Sharon Kinne, an American woman linked to three different murders in two countries, managed to escape from a Mexican prison.

Now, authorities have confirmed that she fled to a small town in Canada, where she assumed an alias and spent the second half of her life as a local realtor and volunteer.

Sharon, who lived in Independence, Missouri, and tied the knot at just 16 years old, was a 20-year-old mother of two when her husband, 25-year-old James Kinne, died in 1960.

He was shot in the back of the head while lying in bed, and Sharon tried to pin the killing on her own 2-year-old daughter.

At the time, Sharon told police that she’d overheard her toddler asking, “How does this thing work, Daddy?” Afterward, a gunshot was fired, and Sharon claimed to have found her daughter holding a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol in the bedroom.

“She said that the little daughter had shot him, two and a half years [old]… we bought it at that time,” previously recalled now-deceased Col. William Morton.

James’ cause of death was ruled accidental, yet court testimony later showed that the pair were dealing with marriage issues. Additionally, Sharon had been seeing other men.

She went on to meet Walter Jones, a car salesman. Sharon bought a Ford Thunderbird convertible using the funds from the sale of her and James’ home, as well as James’ life insurance.

Walter was already married, but he and Sharon started having an affair. She soon urged him to leave his wife, Patricia Jones, and Walter said no. At that point, Sharon seemingly took matters into her own hands.

pictured above is Sharon in her mugshot
Kansas City Missouri Police Department – pictured above is Sharon in her mugshot

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In May 1960, she tricked Patricia into meeting up with her. Following the encounter, Patricia went missing, and despite a massive search being conducted, Sharon was the one who discovered her body outside of Independence, Missouri.

According to Sgt. Dustin Love of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Sharon had been with a different boyfriend when she found Patricia, who’d been shot four times, and acted surprised.

She supposedly said, “I think that’s her,” and asked her boyfriend not to tell investigators that she’d been there when Patricia was located.

He didn’t listen, and Sharon was ultimately charged with both Patricia’s murder as well as the murder of her husband, James.

Sharon went on trial for Patricia’s murder in June 1961, but she was acquitted by an all-male jury. Then, the following year, she was convicted of killing James in January 1962, but the conviction was overturned by the Missouri Supreme Court due to improper jury selection.

She was subsequently tried a second time, and the new jury reportedly wasn’t able to agree on a verdict. So, Sharon was released on bond and fled the country in September 1964, going to Mexico with another boyfriend.

While in Mexico in September, she proceeded to pick up a man named Francisco Ordonez at a bar and went back to a hotel with him. By 3:00 a.m., gunshots were fired. Sharon had been trying to rob Francisco before she killed him.

A male employee at the hotel heard the gunshots, and after he ran to the room, Sharon shot him, too. The employee lived, and Sharon was convicted of Francisco’s murder, receiving a 13-year prison sentence. The local press began calling her “La Pistolera” or “The Gunslinger” in English.

Ballistics tests also confirmed that the gun found in Sharon’s hotel room was the same firearm used to murder Patricia Jones.

Sharon served out just five years of her 13-year prison sentence before she managed to escape from a Mexican prison in 1969. At the time, authorities in Mexico launched a nationwide manhunt, but her trail remained cold for decades until 2023.

That year, an anonymous tipster from Canada told the police that Sharon had been living in Alberta under the alias Deidra “Dee” Glabus. This prompted authorities to subpoena a funeral home since Sharon had recently died at 81 years old in 2022.

After obtaining her fingerprints, investigators concluded that Sharon had indeed been hiding out in the small town of Taber, which is three hours south of Calgary, for a whopping 49 years.

In Taber, which is known for its corn crop, Sharon was a local realtor and volunteer. She married Jim Glabus, and together, the pair moved to the tiny town in 1973. They went on to own the Taber Motel and worked as realtors.

Jim, who was diabetic and had a history of alcoholism, ultimately died in 1979 at the age of 38. Sharon later wed a man named Willie Ell in 1982, and he passed away in 2011 at 79 years old.

Sharon was only officially convicted of one murder, but it’s widely believed that she’s responsible for the two other slayings. Now that her whereabouts have finally been ascertained, authorities say that the case is closed.

Nonetheless, the police would still like to talk with anyone who can help them fill in the gaps in her life post-1969.

You can view the press release from the Kansas City Missouri Police Department here.

Katharina Buczek graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Digital Arts. Specializing ... More about Katharina Buczek

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