On a seemingly ordinary day in Independence, Missouri, March 19, 1960, the life of 25-year-old James Arthur Kinne was cut short by a fatal gunshot to the back of the head. Initially, his death was portrayed as a tragic accident. His wife, Sharon Kinne, told authorities that their two-year-old daughter had accidentally fired the weapon while he was napping.
This account was initially accepted, and the death was ruled an accidental homicide.
However, suspicions arose among investigators who found it difficult to believe a toddler could inflict such a wound. The case was re-examined following another suspicious death linked to Sharon Kinne. Prosecutors eventually reopened the investigation into James's death, leading to a grand jury indictment against his wife for murder. Evidence presented during later court proceedings suggested a troubled marriage and that Sharon had been involved with other men. A former lover of Sharon's, John Boldizs, testified that she had once offered him $1,000 to kill her husband.
The legal saga that followed was complex and drawn out. In January 1962, Sharon Kinne was convicted of her husband's murder and sentenced to life in prison. However, this conviction was later overturned by the Missouri Supreme Court due to improper jury selection. Subsequent retrials resulted in a deadlocked jury and a mistrial, preventing a final verdict in the case of James Arthur Kinne's death.
Sharon Kinne's life after the trials was marked by further criminal activity. She was charged in the death of another woman, Patricia Jones, but was acquitted. Later, she fled to Mexico, where she was convicted of another murder and sentenced to prison, from which she subsequently escaped in 1969. For decades, she remained a fugitive and was the subject of one of the longest outstanding murder warrants in Kansas City's history. The case surrounding James Arthur Kinne's death officially closed when it was discovered that Sharon Kinne had been living in Canada under an alias and died of natural causes in January 2022.
