Transcript: 190. La Pistolera – The Story of Sharon Kinne | USA/Mexico

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Sharon Kinne was a woman who knew what she wanted—whether it was men, money or freedom. What was questionable was her methods of getting those things, Sharon would do anything from faking a pregnancy to killing someone. Sharon's risky lifestyle did eventually catch up with her, but even a prison sentence was not enough to stop La Pistolera.

>>Intro Music

Sharon Kinne was born Sharon Elizabeth Hall on November 30, 1939, in Independence, Missouri. While Independence is nowadays one of the largest cities in Missouri, back in the 1940s, things were a bit different. Around the time Sharon was born, just over 16 thousand people were living in the area, and even though the number increased rapidly in the next twenty years to 60 thousand, Sharon always felt she did not belong to Independence and wanted to get out of the small town.

Sharon got a taste of life outside of Missouri when her parents, Eugene and Doris Hall, moved the family to Washington when she was in junior high. Eugene's work in construction kept the family in the city for several years before they returned to Independence. By this time Sharon was 15 years old. As a whole, her school years were perhaps rather uneventful: Sharon was average in every way and it often seemed like she was more interested in boys than schoolwork. 

A newspaper article published in the Reading Eagle in February 1966, claimed that Sharon attracted male attention not because she was particularly pretty or stylish but because she was amoral, which paints a picture of how women expressing their sexuality were seen back then. Nevertheless, Sharon saw nothing wrong in having casual affairs, but at the same time, there was nothing right with it either. Sharon was ambitious, and the small-town kids did not offer her what she really wanted: a glittering future.

But then, in the summer of 1965, the phone in the Hall home rang. The caller was 22-year-old James A. Kinne, a student at Brigham Young University in Utah. James and Sharon had briefly met at a church function the day before, and the young man was determined to see the pretty blonde girl again. Sharon, who was 16 at the time, immediately said yes – what could be more exciting than having a date with a college man?

That summer, Sharon and James saw each other frequently, apparently having a really good time. Sharon, however, was worried that James would just forget about her as soon as he returned to Utah and someone else would take her place. The two also had differing views of the world: James was a devout Mormon and, unlike Sharon, was very moral. The odds of their relationship standing the test of time was pretty slim. But when James went back to collge, he kept his promise and wrote letters to Sharon as often as he could. Not long after, Sharon broke big news in one of her replies to James: she was pregnant.

"You were the first man I'd ever given myself to, completely and without reservation. Maybe it's wrong, but I feel no shame. But now, 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 think of the only man I ever truly loved."

But the truth is, being a Mormon in the late 1950s gave James no other option than to take a leave from BYU and immediately return to Independence. During their time apart, James realised that he did not really love Sharon, but marrying her was the right and moral thing to do. Having a baby out of wedlock was heavily frowned upon, and James simply could not let that happen. So as soon as he arrived in Missouri, James and Sharon began to plan their next move, and on October 18, 1956, they got married.

For one reason or another, the couple's marriage license said that Sharon was 18 years old and a widow, even though neither was true. Apparently, Sharon used to tell people that at the time her family was living in Washington, she had been married to a man who died in a car accident. Sharon later refused to talk about the claim, so nobody really knows why she had felt a need to lie – perhaps she just wanted a more exciting back story. Sharon also used the story to ridicule James: she did not apologise for deceiving him about being her ‘first’, on the contrary, she said he was an idiot not knowing the difference. James had doubts about the marriage after hearing about Sharon's first husband, but he still felt he had no other choice but to follow through.

After the wedding, Sharon and James returned to Provo, Utah, so that he could resume his studies at BYU. The couple also had a second, more formal wedding at the Salt Lake Temple in Salt Lake City after Sharon had joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. At this point, Sharon was in her seventh heaven: she was married to a college man and living outside Missouri. However, that happiness did not last very long. By the end of the fall semester, James put his studies back on hold, and the couple moved back to Independence, where James took a job as an electrical engineer at Bendix Aviation to support his family. But the first child was not to be born as soon as James had thought…

The pregnancy that had gotten Sharon and James together as husband and wife ended in miscarriage, or at least that is what Sharon claimed. There has been speculation about whether Sharon ever even was pregnant or if she used the news of a baby as a trick James into proposing to her. 

Nevertheless, Sharon became pregnant again, and this time, she gave birth to a baby girl named Danna. While both James and Sharon were loving and caring parents to their daughter, their relationship was not a happy one. They argued a lot and Sharon complained about everything. One thing she kept moaning about, was their living arrangements. Up to this point, the Kinnes had been living in a bungalow next to James' parents' house, but Sharon wanted something fancier. And yet, she was not ready to contribute to the costs. At this point, James was working a second shift at Bendix, from 3:30 PM until midnight and often stayed overtime to make some extra money for his family But, when Sharon worked, she demanded that her money not be considered as family income. So, what James earned was for them and what Sharon earned belonged to her alone.

On October 31, 1958, it was James who bought a lot in the Elswood Meadows subdivision and arranged for a ranch-style home to be built. It was to be his dream home, where he and Sharon would raise their children and where he would eventually die.

The new house by itself was not enough for Sharon. She also wanted new appliances and new furniture – everything had to be new no matter the cost. The subject caused arguments between Sharon and James. In the end, James had the final word, and the home in Elswood Meadows was furnished with mismatched furniture from their old bungalow. Sharon was not happy: she felt like James was becoming increasingly difficult to manipulate. Hungry for attention and puppy-like devotion, Sharon began to rekindle old relationships from her high school years while James was at work. One of Sharon's most frequent extramarital affairs was with a man named John Boldizs. Sharon and John picked up where they left off: in the back seat of his old Ford sedan. However, Sharon quickly grew tired of the back seat romps and began to invite John into the home she shared with James, Danna and their new baby boy, Troy. And when John was not exciting enough anymore, Sharon went out to search for a company in local pubs, one time finding two businessmen to have fun with her at the same time for several days, before returning to John.

Meanwhile, Sharon completely neglected things at home. James would return from work to find the place a mess, there were rarely home-cooked meals, and dirty laundry began piling up in hampers. Danna and Troy wore the same clothes for days. But if James dared to discuss the situation with Sharon, it would always explode in an argument. She would say:

"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."

James had a difficult time understanding what Sharon was talking about. She got out of work by 5:30pm, so what was she doing the whole day afterward? Of course, it was not only Sharon's job to take care of the home, but at least she could make sure the children had clean clothing. James just did not know that Sharon often hired a babysitter so she could go out and meet up with men. Sometimes she would put Danna and Troy to bed early and invite John over. Sharon used every waking hour with her lovers, she did not have time to clean the house.

Eventually, James started to play with the thought of divorcing Sharon. Their house was a mess, she spent all of his money, and James suspected that she was being unfaithful too. The neighbours told him about a laundry man that had stayed inside the house for a weirdly long time and several different cars that kept pulling into the driveway. They also wondered if Sharon had taken a second shift as she sometimes would not return home until 11:30pm or even later. Something was definitely going on.

James complained about the situation to his parents and told them about his intention to leave Sharon. But even though Kattie and Haggard Kinne did not necessarily like Sharon, she was still the mother of James' children. James' parents believed that he should just try to work things out, pray and see what the Lord would suggest. And that is what he did. James returned home to Sharon and prayed.

Kattie also decided to try and speak with Sharon, only to hear her son's wife blame her for everything. According to Sharon, it was James' mother's fault he had never grown up and could not be a proper man. Things Sharon screamed to Kattie's face were so horrible that James' mother did not even know such rudeness existed. Finally, Sharon slammed the door in her mother-in-law's face. She felt great, but at the same time, Sharon knew Kattie would tell James what happened, and that meant another argument with him. Sharon knew more talk about divorce was coming, and she needed to have her demands ready.

On March 18, 1960, James told his parents Sharon had said she would grant the divorce if she would keep the house, and James gave her $1000 in cash. She wanted Danna and James could have Troy. James was appalled and refused to to separating the children or giving Sharon any money. The situation eventually caused a huge fight between James and his father. Haggard said everyone had tried to warn James about Sharon before their marriage, but now it was too late. Haggard did not believe in divorce and thought James and Sharon should remain together just because of the children. Meanwhile, James was miserable and felt his father was not supporting him. After yet another argument with Sharon, James took his children to the babysitter and left for work.

Later that night, Sharon unsurprisingly did not pick up Danna and Troy from the babysitter. Instead, she lied about working overtime and drove to Norwood Avenue to meet John Boldizs—Sharon had a question to ask. She had been thinking about life after a possible divorce from James and realised that even if he gave her $1000—which would be worth about $10,000 today—she would not have enough money for her lavish lifestyle. There had to be another way to end things, and Sharon had come up with a perfect plan. But when she told her request to John, he laughed, thinking:

"She got to be joking. No one could be that crazy."

The following morning, March 19, 1960, started like any other Saturday morning. Sharon made breakfast for the children and woke up James, who then showered before beginning the ritual of taking care of his gun collection. While James was cleaning his Hi-Standard .22 caliber, little Danna walked up to the table carrying a toy pistol. She pointed it at her father, yelling bang and laughing when James grabbed his chest and fell to the floor. For Danna and James, it was a fun game, innocent father-daughter time, but Sharon, who was watching the performance, got more sinister ideas.

James visited Kansas City that morning and returned a few hours later, sometime after two o'clock. He and Sharon had dinner plans later that evening with people from Church, so James decided to have nap. He told Sharon to wake him up at 5:30pm.

When 5:30 then came, a loud noise pierced through the peaceful quiet of Elswood Meadows. The noise was followed by Sharon''s screams, as she yelled on the phone:

"Haggard? Come quick! I think James is dead."

In the master bedroom of the house at 17009 E. 26th Terrace, James Kinne lay on the bed with a single bullet wound in the back of his head.

After calling James' father, Sharon dialled the Independence Police Department and asked someone to come quickly because her husband was suffering a heart attack. Sharon likely realised her mistake as soon as she ended the call. After all, being shot and having a heart attack were two very different things. But Sharon did not care, surely the police understood she was simply in panic. Anyway, Sharon felt she had a very believable story to tell the authorities.

And it was tragic: little Danna shot James. That was Sharon's version of the events. At the time the ambulance arrived, James was still alive and was rushed to the hospital. Meanwhile, detectives interviewed Sharon, who told them she had put their 2-year-old daughter in the playpen before stepping into the shower. Sharon then said that when she got out, she heard noises from their master bedroom. According to Sharon, Danna was saying:

"Show me how it works. Daddy, please show me how this works."

Just a few seconds later, Sharon heard a shot. She ran into the room and saw Danna standing beside the bed and James had collapsed, bleeding from his head. Now that Sharon was talking with the detectives, she picked up Danna and carried her to the playpen, almost as if she wanted to demonstrate the girl really was able to climb out. Immediately after being put inside the playpen, Danna did indeed toss her leg over the side and ran back to her mother.

Up until this point, Sharon had not cried, not a single tear. She had rubbed her eyes to make them appear red, but they were still dry. But now, Sharon began to cry, but not because of her husband. She cried because of what she was doing to Danna. Still, she stuck to her story, and her daughter would grow up believing she killed her father.

James Kinne died on the way to the hospital, never regaining consciousness. Even though detectives were suspicious of Sharon's story, there was no evidence suggesting she was the real killer and not her daughter. The detectives even visited the Kinnes home and gave Danna the .22 caliber automatic pistol to see if she would play with it. She did and even managed to flick off the safety. The detectives noticed Sharon had seemed nervous when her daughter had not been immediately able to snap the gun, but otherwise, they were empty-handed. The investigation into James Kinne's death was soon closed and ruled an unfortunate accident. 

After the funeral, Sharon collected James' life insurance policies, valued at about $29,000 (that would be about $230,000 today). While Sharon loved money, she was not quite sure which made her happier, the cash or the fact she did not have to deal with James and her in-laws anymore.

Sharon wanted to start her new life appropriately, so she went and bought a flashy sports car – a blue Ford Thunderbird. Sharon thought the vehicle suited her personality, she wanted to be noticed, and the car would do just that. The man who sold the Thunderbird to Sharon was Walter Jones, a muscular, handsome man just out of the Marine Corps. In the end, Sharon left the dealership with a new car and a date. Soon, the two began to see each other regularly, but the problem was that Walter Jones had a wife.

Walter's marriage with Patricia was not the happiest one. They were high school sweethearts who had lived on the West Coast while Walter served. After his discharge, the couple moved back to Missouri and settled in Independence with their two children. Patricia had hoped that Walter would become a family man, but he was just too prone to temptation. Working as a car salesman, Walter would begin staying out later and later or not coming home at all. Within five years of marriage by 1960, Patricia had threatened to leave her husband several times, but Walter had always apologized and promised he would turn his life around. That, of course, never really happened.

The Thunderbird was not Sharon's only purchase in the spring of 1960. She was in the market for a new firearm. The Sheriff's Department had kept James' old pistol and despite many attempts, Sharon could not get it back. Sharon asked a friend at work, Marvin Mayo, to find her a .22 caliber Hi-Standard automatic target pistol – identical to one that had killed James. Marvin did as he was told, but as Sharon got the gun, she exploded to her friend's face, blasting:

"Goddamn it, Marvin. I only wanted you to buy the gun; I didn't want you to attach my name to it. Go back to the shop and put it in your name."

Logically, when Marvin had bought the pistol, he had asked it to be registered under

Sharon's name as she would be the actual owner. But Sharon did not want that, and Marvin requested the name change on the registration, without questioning Sharon's weird behaviour any further.

On May 15, 1960, Sharon and Walter Jones spent a night in a motel. When it was time for pillow talk, Sharon asked Walter to come with her for a two-week vacation to Everett, Washington. Such a thing, however, was out of the question for Walter, who explained he was on thin ice with Patricia. So instead, Sharon left for the trip with her brother Eugene and left Danna and Troy, grudgingly, with James' parents.

Sharon and Eugene returned to Independence on May 24. She immediately called Walter to tell him she was back in town and had some exciting news. The truth is, during Sharon's vacation, Walter had considered breaking off the relationship. Being dependent on a woman – in this case, on Sharon with her inheritance money – did not sit right with Walter. But he thought there was nothing wrong in meeting Sharon for one last time before telling her it was over.

Walter arrived at Sharon's home later that evening, and after rattling some walls around 11:30pm, he rolled from the bed, saying he needed to go. He was just about to break up with her when she told him her ‘exciting’ news: she was pregnant.

Walter was shocked as Sharon kept talking, dreaming about their life together. But Walter's reaction was not what she had hoped for. Instead of being happy, he was fuming, saying it was impossible for Sharon even to know if the child was his as any of a half-a-dozen men could have knocked her up. Walter also said he was not leaving his wife for a nasty-ass whore like Sharon. While Sharon screamed back at him, Walter finished getting dressed and headed for the front door without saying another word. Sharon shouted after him, saying she would tell his wife everything. And so she did: the very next day, Sharon called Patricia Jones at work.

Patricia listened to what Sharon had to say: she claimed Walter had been having an affair with her sister and asked if Patricia would meet with her to discuss the matter privately. Patricia agreed, and on Thursday, May 26, at about 5:25pm, her co-worker drove her to the parking lot of an antique store. Seeing a woman sitting alone in a 1957 Dodge DeSoto wearing a scarf and huge sunglasses made Patricia's co-workers feel uneasy. They told her not to stay and instead go home to talk with her husband, but Patricia was sure everything was going to be alright. She walked back to the DeSoto and sat next to Sharon, who started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

While driving, Sharon was explaining the affair to Patricia, still claiming it had been her sister who was taken by Patricia's husband. After about one-half mile, Sharon pulled the car into a dirt alley across from an old farmhouse. Apparently, Sharon wanted them to catch Walter with his pants down and said this was a usual spot for him and his lover to come. But as soon as they got out of the car, Sharon turned to face Patricia and told the truth: she was her husband’s mistress. Sharon removed the scarf and sunglasses, put them in her purse and took out her pistol. With the weapon aimed at Patricia, Sharon explained all about the pregnancy and the intention to start a new life with Walter, and how he had thrown her aside. Sharon then told Patricia she wanted her to give her husband a divorce so he would be free to marry his lover. Nobody knows if what happened next would not have happened if Patricia just had answered differently. Instead of telling Sharon what she wanted to hear, Patricia said she could not give Walter up, she loved him, and their children needed him. Without saying a word, Sharon levelled the gun at Patricia's head and pulled the trigger.

The bullet hit Patricia's neck on the lower left side, severing the large blood vessels and stopping once it hit the spine. The shattered fragments of the second bullet penetrated Patricia's heart and lungs: she was already paralysed and dying, but Sharon felt such contempt for this woman who had never done anything to her that she fired a third shot. The bullet entered Patricia's face just beside her mouth, as her hand still moved to cover the wound, Sharon tried to shoot her one more time, but the gun jammed. After several minutes of clearing the chamber, Sharon raised the gun one more time and fired the fourth shot hitting Patricia in her stomach. Satisfied her victim was finally dead, Sharon collected the spent cartridges before ripping Patricia's clothes, staging the scene to appear like a rape that ended with murder.

That evening, Walter picked up their two children at the babysitter's and waited for his wife's return. But as time passed and Patricia was nowhere to be seen, Walter began to worry and eventually called Robert Hurst, the driver of Patricia's carpool. Robert had also been the one giving Patricia a ride earlier that day to meet the mystery woman, and now, Robert told Walter about the strange encounter. Feeling sick to his stomach, Walter thanked Robert and dialled Sharon Kinne.

Sharon admitted talking with Patricia, saying she told Walter's wife about their affair and the pregnancy. Sharon added she only ever wanted to hurt him and would never do anything to his wife. However, Sharon's words did not convince Walter, who screamed into the phone, asking what Sharon did with Patricia. Sharon calmly explained they had just talked about the situation, and afterward, she had left Patricia a couple of blocks down the street from their home at about 6pm. In the end, Walter slammed the phone down and fell asleep on the sofa, hoping that Sharon's story was true and Patricia was just mad at him and staying in a motel.

But the next day came, and Patricia still had not returned home. So Walter called Sharon again, and the two agreed to meet. Sharon was the last person to see her, and Walter was sure she knew more than she was willing to tell. As he sat inside Sharon's car, Walter grabbed her purse and dumped the contents on the front seat, looking for the pistol. Not finding it, Walter kept asking about Patricia, and Sharon kept denying knowing anything. At this point, Walter was so on edge he pulled out a switchblade knife and put it against Sharon's throat, threatening to kill her if she had done anything to Patricia. But Sharon maintained her story and promised to help search for the missing woman.

Leaving an emotional Walter at his house, Sharon drove to Norwood Avenue and the home of John Boldizs, asking his help to find Patricia. The two drove around for a while until the point where John began to feel Sharon was not really looking for her "friend" but had used Patricia as an excuse to get him out with her that night. So John told Sharon to give up the ruse and drive to the old Cruwell, a spot they had often gone on dates before.

Shortly after midnight, Sharon and John pulled into the lovers' lane. Almost immediately after getting out of the vehicle, Sharon screamed and pointed at something on the ground in the weeds. John walked to check it out and saw a woman lying there, staring at him with empty eyes: Patricia Jones had been found.

John was absolutely horrified after the discovery and wanted to call the cops straight away, but Sharon demanded to be taken back home first. She knew how it would sound explaining she found her lover's wife shot to death while with her other lover. John grudgingly agreed, but as soon as he then stood next to Patricia's body with detectives giving him a hard time, John could not keep up with the lie. He admitted he had not been alone that night and dropped an entire roll of dimes on Sharon Kinne.

Early in the morning of May 28, the police informed Walter Jones about Patricia's murder and asked him to come to the station. There, Walter told everything he knew about Sharon, their affair and how Sharon had met with Patricia before she went missing. The detectives then asked Walter about a man named John Boldizs, the other person present discovering the body, Walter confirmed John was another boyfriend of Sharon’s.

In the end, both men gave written statements and agreed to take polygraph tests, and both Walter and John were deemed to have been truthful. In turn, when Sharon was brought in for questioning, she only agreed to an oral statement, did not sign anything and refused to take a lie detector test. While the police did not have much against her yet, they felt it was enough and Sharon Kinne was arrested for Patricia Jones' murder on May 31, 1960.

Meanwhile, investigators were processing the crime scene, determined to find the murder weapon tying it to Sharon. Finally, after a long search, a .22 caliber slug was found buried in the ground where Patricia's body had been found. At this point, Walter's wife had already been buried, but without the coroner locating the other bullets inside Patricia's body. Apparently, he had felt one slug was enough to determine the cause of death, but the investigators needed them all. So, just days after her burial, Patricia's body was exhumed, and a more thorough autopsy was performed before she was laid to rest once more.

Due to mostly circumstantial evidence against her, Sharon was eventually freed on a US$24,000 bond on July 18^th. At this point, she did not just face charges for Patricia's murder but one for the death of her husband, James Kinne. In the light of the new events, Sharon's story of what had happened to James was questioned, and the police were now sure she was actually responsible for both deaths. Still, the case against Sharon, considering the murder of her husband, was much weaker than the other one. For that reason, it was decided Sharon would be tried separately for each case. The court set the trial for January 1961.

However, it was postponed until June 12, 1961, due to Sharon's advanced pregnancy and her giving birth to a third child: Marla Christine Kinne. Surprisingly, Sharon had not lied about the pregnancy this time, even though nobody knew for sure who Marla’s father was.

During the first trial, the prosecution painted a picture of a jealous lover who killed her boyfriend's wife because he had attempted to end the relationship. The motive was there, but the problem was that the prosecution did not have much evidence against Sharon. It was not even firmly proved that the pistol Sharon owned was the weapon that killed Patricia.

The whole time, through vivid descriptions of Patricia's body, Sharon sat with no emotion, seemingly more concerned about her makeup and hair and how her yellow dress would play on the evening news. In the end, even though Sharon had the motive, the pretext, knew the place of death, had the weapon and discovered the body, the jury felt there were "just too many loopholes." After one and a half hours of deliberation, they returned with the verdict and acquitted Sharon.

Going into the trial in the death of James Kinne, which began in January 1962, Sharon and her defence were confident of a similar ending. However, this time the prosecution had a witness, John Boldizs, who testified Sharon had been willing to pay for James' murder. They also alleged that Sharon had killed James so she would not lose her children and she would collect her husband's US$29,000 in life insurance policies. In turn, Sharon's defence noted that prior police investigation had determined James's death to be "obviously accidental." They also attacked John's reliability and presented witnesses supporting the viability of the theory that Danna had shot her father. But this time, the jury was not convinced, and after five and a half hours of deliberation, they returned with the guilty verdict on January 11, 1964. Three months later, Sharon Kinne was sentenced to life in prison and sent to Missouri Reformatory for Women. But that was not the end of it.

Sharon's defence kept fighting, stating her conviction should be vacated because the jury had delivered its verdict based on "surmise and speculation" rather than "substantial evidence." In the end, the Missouri Supreme Court reversed Sharon's conviction in March 1963 and ordered a new trial based on her defence, having been denied adequate peremptory challenges during jury selection.

The second trial in the death of James Kinne, which began on March 23, 1964, ended in a mistrial because it was revealed that a law partner of prosecutor Lawrence Gepford had once been retained by one of the jurors. So, a third trial was ordered. It began in early June 1964 and resulted in the all-male jury deadlocking seven-to-five in favour of acquittal, which meant another mistrial.

At the time the fourth trial in the death of James Kinne was scheduled for October 1964, Sharon was free on her $25,000 bond and apparently bored of the legal battles. So, in September that year, she decided to travel to Mexico with an alleged lover, Francis Samuel Puglise, under the name "Jeanette Pugliese." There was nothing stopping Sharon from leaving the country from a legal perspective, but her contract with the company that posted her bond stated she needed written permission to leave Missouri, something Sharon did not ask for.

After arriving in Mexico, Sharon and Francis checked into a local hotel as husband and wife. Soon after, claiming she felt unsafe in the foreign country, Sharon bought a pistol even though the couple already had firearms they brought from the US. In addition to being scared she was going to be raped and murdered on the streets, Sharon soon became ill from the food and water, and so did Francis. Both of their heads were pounding, and their stomachs were gurgling until the point Sharon could not take it anymore. She asked Francis to go and get medicine, but he refused, he was feeling way too sick to move. So Sharon went alone, but by the time she made it to the pharmacy, it was already closed. Frustrated and tired, Sharon went to the bar of Del Prado Hotel to have a glass of water, where she met a man named Fransisco Parades Ordonez.

Francisco was a Mexican-born American citizen who immediately caught Sharon's attention. The two talked, and eventually, Sharon agreed to go for a ride with this stranger, which ended at Francisco's room in Hotel La Vada. Sharon knew, of course, what this man wanted, but that night, being so sick, she was not in the mood to have sex, but perhaps Sharon could get some money out of him. According to Sharon, as soon as the two entered the room, things began to get out of hand: Francisco was already naked and forcing himself on her. Sharon managed to grab her pistol from her purse, pointed it at Francisco and pulled the trigger. Two bullets penetrated the man's chest, killing Francisco before he hit the bed.

Sharon was arrested on the spot, after a hotel employee had alerted the police after hearing the gunshots. Sharon told the officers she had only protected herself and never meant to harm Francisco, but they did not believe her. Instead, the police thought Sharon had gone to Francisco's room with an intention to rob her victim, and as he resisted, she had shot him. 

Sharon and Francis' room was searched, and authorities actually found the gun that had killed Patricia Jones four years earlier, but because Sharon had already been acquitted of that crime, she could not be charged for that crime again.

Francis, who was charged with entering the country illegally and carrying an unlicensed gun, was eventually deported to the US. Sharon, however, was convicted of the homicide of Francisco Parades Ordoñez on October 18, 1965. She was sentenced to ten years in a Mexican prison. After Sharon appealed her sentence, it was lengthened from ten to thirteen years. Soon after, Sharon Kinne was nicknamed "La Pistolera," meaning "the gunfighter," in the Mexican press.

For four years, Sharon served her sentence, but on December 7, 1969, she was suddenly not present for a routine 5pm roll-call at the Iztapalapa prison. However, it was not until the second roll-call later that evening that Sharon's absence was finally officially noted. It took the prison several hours to report one of their inmates missing to the Mexico City police. A manhunt for Sharon Kinne was then arranged, but there were absolutely no signs of her: she had simply vanished without a trace.

It was speculated that Sharon had bribed guards to help her escape: there had been an unusual blackout at the prison around when Sharon went missing. In the end, it was concluded the prison was generally lax and had fewer guards than it should have.

As time passed, the media came up with several different theories of how La Pistolera had escaped, including a supposed boyfriend who was a Mexico City policeman, Sharon's mother helping her or Sharon disguising herself as a man to escape. Another theory even speculates that Francisco Parades Ordoñez's family played a role in Sharon's disappearance. Perhaps they helped her to escape and then killed her as revenge.

The active search for Sharon Kinne lasted only 11 days before the Mexican secret service, and the Mexico City district attorney's office stated that they were no longer involved in searching for the escaped prisoner. Since then, years and decades have passed without anyone knowing where Sharon is – or at least, no one willing to tell. Today, more than fifty years after Sharon Kinne vanished from the Mexican prison, she is the subject of the longest currently outstanding arrest warrant for murder in the history of Kansas City, Missouri.

If Sharon is still alive, she would be 82 years old. Some, however, argue that no other shootings linked to her during the years are the strongest evidence of Sharon Kinne being long gone.

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