‘Fugitive serial killer’ wanted for Missouri, Mexico murders lived in Alberta for decades
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Posted Jan 30, 2025 6:22 pm.
Last Updated Jan 30, 2025 6:53 pm.
A woman wanted for murders in Missouri and Mexico dating back to 1960 was likely living in Southern Alberta for nearly 50 years, according to investigators in the U.S.
The Kansas City Missouri Police Department (KCPD) and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) announced Thursday they have closed their investigation into “fugitive serial killer” Sharon Kinne, accused of killing three people, after learning she died three years ago in Taber, Alta.
According to a timeline of events provided by the KCPD, Kinne told police in March 1960 that her two-year-old daughter accidentally shot her husband James Kinne in the head inside their Independence, Missouri home — just outside of Kansas City.
James was pronounced dead at a local hospital shortly after. The death was ruled accidental.
Two months later, a man who had an affair with Kinne reported his wife Patricia Jones missing to police. The man, Walter Jones, reportedly ended the affair with Kinne after she claimed to be pregnant.
Police allege Kinne showed a former lover the body of Patricia Jones, who had been shot four times.
Kinne was eventually arrested and charged with the killing Patricia Jones on May 31, 1960, and was also charged for the killing of James Kinne after investigators took another look at that crime.
She was found not guilty for the murder of Jones, but was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for killing her husband in January 1962.
The Missouri Supreme Court ended up reversing the conviction due to an improper jury selection just over a year later and granted Kinne a new trial. She was released on a $25,000 bond.
Kinne would eventually flee to Mexico City with a new boyfriend in September 1964. She was arrested for murder soon after for allegedly shooting a man she had picked up in a bar in a hotel room.
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The KCPD were able to link the gun used in the Mexico hotel room shooting to the killing of Patricia Jones.
Kinne was convicted of murder in Mexico and sentenced to 13 years in prison. A warrant was issued for her arrest by JSCO after she missed her court appearances for the new trial for the killing of her husband James.
In December 1969, Kinne escaped from the Mexico prison and was not found again.
Her whereabouts had been a mystery, featured in podcasts, TV shows and even a book, I’m Just an Ordinary Girl: The Sharon Kinne Story.
Kinne settles in Southern Alberta under new name
KPCD and JCSO each got anonymous tips about Kinne in December 2023 that suggested she had been living in Taber, Alta. under the name Diedra Glabus.
Glabus died of natural causes in January 2022 at the age of 81.
Through forensic genealogy and fingerprint analysis, investigators were able to confirm that Kinne and Glabus were the same person on May 31, 2024 — exactly 64 years after her first arrest.
Investigators have since learned that Kinne married several times over the years, including to James Glabus in Los Angeles in 1970.
An obituary for James Glabus confirms he died in Taber in 1979 at the age of 38 and newspaper clippings suggest he was introduced as a new board member for the Taber Chamber of Commerce in 1977.
Authorities still say Kinne’s exact whereabouts between 1969 and 1979 remain a mystery.
“Sharon was a woman that never faced the consequences of her actions, leaving them for her children to deal with,” reads a statement from a spokesperson for the Kinne family. “She caused great harm without thought or remorse.”
“Hopefully, this closure will allow the family a chance to heal from her traumatic legacy.”
The closing of the file ends one of the longest outstanding felony warrants in American history, according to KCPD.
“I would love nothing more (than) to one day sit across the table from her, and I would like to pick her brain,” said JSCO Sgt. Dustin Love at news conference on Thursday.
“So, yeah, it’s unfortunate we couldn’t catch her when she was alive. She was really good at what she did.”
With files from The Associated Press