Mystery of woman who 'killed three' then vanished from prison 55 years ago is finally solved

The mystery surrounding a woman accused of killing three victims across Missouri and Mexico before escaping from prison half a century ago, never to be seen again, has finally been solved.

More than 50 years ago, Sharon Kinne allegedly shot dead her husband in Independence, Missouri, and blamed it on her toddler daughter. 

She then allegedly murdered her lover's pregnant wife.

And then, after escaping justice four times at trial, she fled to Mexico City where she killed a man she had met in a local bar.

That time, she was convicted and jailed in Mexico, before the 25-year-old staged a prison break and was out on the lam once again. 

Since then, what happened to the fugitive, where she went and whether or not she was even still alive has remained a mystery.

Now, over 55 years later, investigators in Jackson County, Missouri, are set to hold a press conference Thursday afternoon which they promise will bring 'closure' to the notorious case.

'We hope that by bringing closure to this case, we can provide a sense of resolution not only to the friends and families of the innocent victims she murdered but also to those who were affected by her actions, including her loved ones,' Jackson County Sheriff's Department said in a statement announcing the briefing. 

While the department is keeping the details of the announcement under wraps, it comes just days on from the release of a bombshell report on the case.

According to FOX4, the FBI confirmed that Kinne had finally been tracked down.

She had been living under another name, in another country and had died around three years ago.

According to the report, a woman who went by the name Diedra Glabus died in 2022 and her fingerprints were found to match the missing killer.

No further details are yet known about the woman who lived as Diedra Glabus or what she had been doing for the past five decades.

The news briefing on the case is slated for 3pm CT.

It's a chilling tale that has spanned three murders, two continents and more than five decades of mystery.

The case began back on March 19 1960 with the killing of Kinne's 25-year-old husband James Kinne at their ranch home in Independence, The Associated Press reported.

James had been napping in bed when he was shot in the back of the head with his own .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol.

Kinne told police she had been getting ready in the bathroom when she heard a gunshot, The La Crosse Tribune reported at the time.

She claimed the couple's two-year-old daughter had been playing with the gun and had accidentally fired the deadly shot.

Just hours before his death, James had confided in family members that he planned to leave his wife because she had been having affairs, the Tribune reported.

But his death was initially ruled an accident.

And so Kinne was able to collect a $5,000 life insurance payout, which she used to buy a new convertible. 

She also began dating the car salesman who had sold her the car, Walter Jones.

Then, less than two months later, Jones's pregnant wife Patricia Jones was killed along a lovers' lane. She had been shot three times.

 It was Kinne who claimed to stumble across Patricia's body after taking a different lover to the popular meeting spot. 

Kinne was quickly charged with her love rival's murder - a shock twist that also prompted cops to take another look at her husband's death. She was then also hit with charges for his murder. 

The following year, she went on trial for each case separately. 

Kinne was acquitted of Patricia's murder by an all-male jury.

She was then convicted of James's murder.

But, the conviction was later overturned. She was tried twice more for James's murder: one ended in a mistrial, the second with a hung jury. 

While out on bond after that fourth trial, Kinne jetted off to Mexico City with another lover before she could be tried again in Missouri.

But it wasn't long before Kinne was in the trouble with the law again. 

Days after arriving in Mexico City in 1964, Kinne met Francisco Paredes Ordonez in a bar and went with him to a motel, where she shot and killed him.

Kinne, who was caught with the murder weapon in her hands, claimed she had acted in self-defense.

 A search of her belongings uncovered a second gun: the same gun investigators would later learn had been used to kill Patricia. 

In 1965, Kinne was convicted in a Mexican court of Ordonez's murder and was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Behind bars, she earned the nickname 'La Pistolera,' meaning 'The Gunslinger,' and gave many interviews to the media.

'You know, one of the reasons why I can do just about anything I please is they're a little bit afraid of me,' she told The Kansas City Star in one jailhouse interview.

'They're afraid of all the women convicted of murder.' 

Just four years into her sentence at Ixtacalapan, on December 7 1969 escaped.

For the 55 years since, Kinne's whereabouts have been the source of numerous theories, rumors and speculation. 

Now, it seems that speculation will finally be put to rest.