On March 19, 1960, the sound of a gunshot rang through an Independence, Missouri home. It wouldn’t be a good day for James Kinne, who lived in the home with his wife and daughter.

Marc Hoover.

Police arrived at the Independence, Missouri residence to find a 20-year-old housewife named Sharon Kinne waiting on them. She claimed her daughter Danna had played with her father’s .22 caliber pistol and had accidentally shot and killed him as he slept.

Sharon claimed she heard her daughter ask her father how his gun worked before pulling the trigger. According to Sharon, James collected guns and often left them unattended. His parents also confirmed this to police.

The police believed Sharon’s story and ruled the case an accidental shooting. But Sharon Kinne was no ordinary housewife, she had a cheating heart and loved money.

She had tired of her marriage to James and wanted him dead. Unknown to the police, Danna Kinne didn’t shoot James Kinne, Sharon did. Afterward, she collected on her late husband’s life insurance and bought herself a new car. A month after murdering James, Sharon began a heated affair with a married man named Walter Jones. She became pregnant with his baby.

Walter didn’t seem thrilled. He was even less thrilled when Sharon insisted on him dumping his wife and marrying her. He refused. It would be a fatal mistake for Mrs. Walter Jones. On May 27, 1960, the body of Mrs. Patricia Jones was found riddled with four bullet holes. Walter Jones and a man named John Boldiz were both potential suspects, but both passed a lie detector test. Sharon Kinne was also a suspect, but refused to take a lie detector test.

On June 1, 1960, police arrested and charged Sharon Kinne with killing her lover’s wife and also for killing her husband. A jury acquitted Sharon of killing Patricia Jones. But a jury eventually convicted her of killing James Kinne. However, the ruling was reversed. Eventually, the court rescheduled her fourth trial for October 1964.

Sharon, however, had other plans. She wasn’t waiting around for another trial. She fled to Mexico with a criminal named Samuel Puglise. But instead of keeping a low profile, Sharon tried to rob a Mexican-American man named Francisco Parades Ordonoz. During the robbery attempt, Sharon shot and killed Ordonoz.

Mexican authorities captured her and then put her in jail. After her capture, Mexican authorities deported Puglise back to America and searched her hotel room. Mexican authorities found a .22 pistol. Don Mason, an assistant prosecutor from Missouri traveled to Mexico hoping to recover the gun. Mexican authorities didn’t turn it over, but they test fired it and gave the bullets to Mason.

Ballistics experts examined the bullets and matched them to Patricia Jones. Sharon Kinne couldn’t be retried for killing Jones because it would have been double jeopardy. For killing Francisco Parades Ordonoz, a Mexican court sentenced Sharon to prison for 13 years.

Although imprisoned in Mexico, Sharon Kinne adjusted well. It was said that fellow prisoners and guards feared her. Besides, she hadn’t received the La Pistolera nickname for being a girl scout.

On Dec. 7, 1969, Sharon Kinne disappeared from the Ixtapalapa Women’s Prison. No one has ever seen or heard from her again. One theory is that she married a wealthy man and moved away from all prying eyes.

But no one knows for sure.

The story of Sharon Kinne is fascinating. She was a ruthless killer who escaped from prison and disappeared. To the public, she was more than just an ordinary housewife, but Sharon disagreed. Sharon once told a news source, “I’m just an ordinary girl.”

Marc is a longtime resident of Clermont County and an avid reader. Contact him through his website at www.themarcabe.com or through Facebook: www.Facebook.com/themarcabe or his Twitter account @themarcabe. Marc also has a podcast called Catch my Killer where he interviews family members seeking justice for their murdered loved ones. You can listen at www.catchmykiller.com.