Episode 495: The Horrific Murder of Jack Tupper- Part 2

On March 19, 1960, Kansas City police were called to the home James and Sharon Kinne for what they believed was an accidental shooting. According to Sharon, she had found their two-year-old daughter lying on the couple’s bed, a gun near her hand and her father’s body next to her with a large hole in his head. Unable to find evidence to the contrary, the shooting was ruled an accident and Sharon collected on her husband’s life insurance policy. It wasn’t until a few months later, when the wife of Sharon’s new boyfriend went missing and eventually turned up dead, that investigators came to believe that James Kinne’s death was no accident. Sharon Kinne was eventually arrested and charged with the murders of her husband James and of Patricia Jones, the wife of Sharon’s boyfriend at the time of her arrest. During the course of their investigation, detectives began unraveling a lurid tale of infidelity and conspiracy that resulted in at least two murders. Ultimately, Sharon would be acquitted of her Patricia Jones’ murder, and would be tried three times for the murder of James Kinne.  Before she could be tried for a fourth time, Sharon fled to Mexico with the help of yet another boyfriend, where she killed Francisco Parades Ordoñez in what she claimed was self-defense. The Mexican authorities rejected that claim and in 1964. Sharon was tried and convicted for murder, receiving a ten-year prison sentence. However, after serving just five years of her sentence, Sharon Kinne escaped the Mexican prison and has been on the run ever since. Today, more than fifty years later, she is still considered a fugitive with active warrants out for her arrest. Thank you to the wonderful David White, of the Bring Me the Axe pod, for research assistance  References Doyle, Patricia Janson. 1962. "Sharon thinks of trial, jury and jail." Kansas City Times, January 13: 1. Hays, James C. 1997. I'm Just an Ordinary Girl: The Sharon Kinne Story. Leawood, KS: Leathers Book Publishing. Kansas City Star. 1961. "Anxious in his hunt for wife." Kansas City Star, June 16: 1. —. 1961. "'Changed her story on gun'." Kansas City Star, June 15: 1. —. 1960. "Fin a woman slain in woods." Kansas City Star, May 28: 1. —. 1962. "'Fixed a price for his death'." Kansas City Star, January 9: 1. —. 1960. "Officers study life of families in slaying probe." Kansas City Star, May 28: 1. —. 1960. "Puzzled over a fatal shot." Kansas City Star, March 20: 1. —. 1960. "Rap coroner in slaying probe." Kansas City Star, June 2: 1. —. 1960. "Weird ties in murder probe." Kansas City Star, May 29: 1. Kansas City Times. 1962. "Boldizs views offer as jest." Kansas City Times, January 10: 1. —. 1969. "Kinne Search Widens." Kansas City Times, December 9: 1. —. 1962. "Mrs. Kinne found guilty." Kansas City Times, January 12: 1. —. 1961. "Sharon Kinne goes free." Kansas City Times, June 23: 1. —. 1962. "Somber Sharon Kinne starts jail routine." Kansas City Times, January 12: 1. Kelleghan, Kevin. 1969. "Sharon Kinne hunt eases up." Kansas City Times, December 18: 31. Maryville Daily Forum. 1961. "Testimony on death gun to KC jurors." Marysville Daily Forum, June 19: 1. Olwine, Margaret. 1974. "Sharon Kinne: Is she free forever, part II." Kansas City Star Magazine, February 17: 14. —. 1974. "Sharon Kinne: Is she free forever?" Kansas City Star Magazine, February 17: 17-19. Weber, David. 1964. "Sharon Kinne in jail." Kansas City Star, September 20: 1. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When East Orange, New Jersey police were called to the home of Virginia Wardlaw in late November 1909, they knew only that there had been an accident involving Virginia’s niece, Ocey Snead. Once they’d arrived, however, officers discovered Ocey’s body in an upstairs bathtub, dead from what appeared to be suicide by drowning. After just a few weeks of investigation, it became clear that Ocey’s death was no accident. Suspicion quickly fell on Virginia and her two sisters, who were soon charged with Ocey’s murder, which investigators believed was committed in order to collect on a large insurance policy. The murder of Ocey Snead was an undeniable tragedy, but her death was only the beginning of what would become one of the early twentieth century’s most captivating crime stories. As detectives and the press dug deeper into the background of the three women accused of starving and drowning their niece, a bizarre story emerged that sounded as though it had been pulled directly from the pages of a classic southern gothic horror novel. And like any good gothic horror story, the trial of Virginia Wardlaw and her sisters was full of unbelievable twists and culminated in a shocking conclusion. Thank you to the Wondrous Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for Research! References New York Times. 1910. "Alienists declare Mrs. Martin insane." New York Times, September 21: 6. —. 1909. "Bathtub mystery no murder, she says." New York Times, December 2: 2. —. 1909. "Bathtub principals are twice indicted ." New York Times, December 23: 4. —. 1910. "Miss Wardlaw dies; starved herself." New York Times, August 12: 1. —. 1911. "Mrs. Martin pleads to manslaughter ." New York Times, January 10: 2. —. 1910. "Mrs. Martin's cries halt lunacy trial." New York Times, November 8: 7. —. 1909. "Mrs. Snead's family full of fatalities." New York Times, December 9: 20. —. 1910. "Ocey Snead was drugged ." New York Times, January 21: 1. —. 1910. "Say Miss Wardlaw is dying." New York Times, August 11: 4. —. 1909. "The Snead msytery." New York Times, December 18: 12. Rife, Luanne. 2016. "The Black Sisters." Roanoke Times, December 1: 116. Roanoke Times. 1909. "Christiansburg woman is held." Roanoke Times, December 3: 1. West, Mike. 2009. "Fearless Confederate died mysteriously in NYC." Murfreesboro Post, February 15: 8. —. 2009. "'Sisters in Black' sour Ocey's domestic bliss." Murfreesboro Post, February 22: 8. Zierold, Norman. 1968. Three Sisters in Black. New York, NY: Little, Brown. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It is Listener Tales 80 and this installment is brought to you by HEROES with the spookiest of tales… A decomposing body, florescent yellow fluid, possessed toys, a baby seeing ghost, and a man in black. These are brought to you by you, for you, from you and all about you so if you have a listener tale please go ahead and send it to Morbidpodcast@gmail.com with "Listener Tale" somewhere in the subject line :) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On the evening of December 28, 1956, fifteen-year-old Barbara Grimes and her thirteen-year-old sister, Patricia, left their home in Chicago, Illinois headed for a movie theater in Brighton Park to see the latest Elvis Presley film. When the girls failed to return home that evening as expected, their mother sent the two other siblings to wait for them at the closest bus station, but when they returned later without Barbara and Patricia, she became anxious and began calling their friends, before eventually phoning the police. Three weeks later, Barbara and Patricia’s bodies were discovered on the side of a rural road by a construction worker in Willow Springs, about an hour outside Chicago. The murder of the Grimes sisters and the investigation that followed remains one of Chicago’s most notorious cold cases and one of the most costly and labor-intensive searches in the state’s history. Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me The Axe Podcast for research assistance! References Chicago Tribune. 1957. "Suspect's mom says he's lazy, shiftless bum." Chcago Tribune, January 25: 3. —. 1957. "Charged with murder of Grimes girls." Chicago Tribune, January 28: 1. —. 1957. "Dsicloses how 2 girls ditched him and companion in theater." Chicago Tribune, January 27: 1. —. 1957. "High points of the news." Chicago Tribune, February 3: 8. —. 1957. "'I knew it!' sobs mother." Chicago Tribune, 01 23: 1. —. 1957. "Nude bodies thrown beside country road." Chicago Tribune, January 23: 1. —. 1957. "Rule out sex attack, strangling theories." Chicago Tribune, January 24: 1. —. 1958. "Slayer of girl, 15, hopes he gets chair." Chicago Tribune, November 19: 1. —. 1957. "Widen search for 2 young sisters missing four days." Chicago Tribune, January 1: 5. —. 1956. "Young sisters reported seen in two places." Chicago Tribune, December 31: 6. Gowran, Clay. 1957. "Re-enacts crime, and shows how he dumped two in ditch." Chicago Tribune, January 28: 1. Lowry, Shirley. 1957. "Lost girls' mother keeps brave." Chicago Tribune, January 11: 3. McGill, Nancy. 1957. "Mom denies Skid Row tale." Chicago Tribune, Janaury 28: 6. Milwaukee Journal. 1957. "Grimes case tiff costs job." Milwaukee Journal, February 16. Nix, Naomi. 2013. "1950s case gets new look from pro, amateurs." Chicago Tribune, 30 May: 1. Taylor, Troy. 2015. The Two Lost Girls: The Mystery of the Grimes Sisters. Jacksonville, IL: Whitechapel Press. United Press. 1957. "Bennie admits part in crime." Daily Chronicle, January 28: 1. —. 1957. "New suspect is arrested." Daily Chronicle, January 24: 1. —. 1957. "Two teen-aged girls killed." Daily Chronicle, Janaury 23: 1. UWIRE. 2019. "'Chicago History Cop' making headway in Grimes sisters' murder case." UWIRE, October 25. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When 39 year old Bernie Tiede confessed to the murder of his friend and companion, 81 year old Marjorie Nugent in November 1996, the revelation came as a shock to the small town of Carthage, Texas. The two had been inseparable friends since the death of Nugent’s husband in 1990 and as far as anyone in Carthage could tell, Nugent couldn’t have picked a more devoted companion than Tiede. Yet as the details of the crime began to emerge, a strange story began to take shape—Tiede’s supposed motive for the murder was to gain access to Nugent’s fortune, but what he did with that money once he had access defied the logic and expectations of greed. The story of Bernie Tiede and Marjorie Nugent should have ended with the trial and conviction of Tiede, but a few years later, Bernie’s story became the subject of a big Hollywood film, shining a spotlight on the story and raising new questions about the extent of Bernie’s responsibility for the murder. Tiede remains a rarity in the history of American crime: a sympathetic killer almost no one in town wanted to see convicted. Thank you to the wonderful David White, of the Bring me the Axe podcast, for research assistance References Associated Press. 1997. "Man indicted in death of banker's widow." Austin American-Statesman, August 29: 91. —. 1999. "Shreveport man testifies about 'inappropriate kiss' he witnessed between murder suspect and victim." Marshall News Messenger, February 3: 6. —. 1998. "Mistrial declared in confessed widow killer case; trial moved." Odessa American, October 28: 16. Bernhardt Tiede, II v. The State of Texas. 2002. 12-99-00182-CR (Twelfth District Court of Appeals (Tyler, Texas), November 2). Cieply, Michael, and David Montgomery. 2014. "Murderer who inspired the film 'Berni' is released to the director's garage." New York Times, May 8. Grissom, Brandi. 2014. "Over 15 years, a town's stance on a convict shifts." New York Times, February 9. Halmark, Bob. 2012. Carthage residents react to Bernie movie. March 8. Accessed June 13, 2023. https://www.kltv.com/story/17106798/carthage-residents-react-to-bernie-movie/. Hollandsworth, Skip. 1998. "Midnight in the Garden of East Texas." Texas Monthly, Janaury. Jacobs, Janet. 1997. "Slaying, arrest stun town." Longview News-Journal , August 21: 1. —. 1998. "Deputy testifies about Tiede's arrest, confession." Longview News-Journal, October 29: 7. —. 1999. "Emotions run high in Tiede trial." Longview News-Journal, February 7: 1. —. 1999. "Tiede found guilty of murder." Longview News-Journal, February 10: 1. —. 1998. "Tiede returns to court." Longview News-Journal, October 29: 1. —. 1999. "Tiede sentenced to life in prison." Longview News-Journal, February 12: 1. —. 1997. "Homicide shocks Carthage residents." Marshall News Messanger, August 20: 5. —. 1997. "Tiede's troubles mount as new charge is filed." Marshall News Messanger, August 22: 1. —. 1997. "Officials freeze Tiede's finances as murder investigation continues ." Marshall News Messenger, August 24: 9. Jennings, Diane. 2012. "Austin attorney takes interest in Bernie Tiede's murder case." Dallas Morning News, August 7. Longview News-Journal. 1998. "Confession gives details into slaying." Longview News-Journal, October 29: 1. Marshall News Messenger. 1999. "Carthage man's trial set to begin in San Augustine." Marshall News Messenger, February 1: 1999. —. 1999. "Tiede sobs as photos shown in court." Marshall News Messenger, February 4: 3. —. 1999. "Videotape upsets Tiede jury." Marshall News Messenger, February 5: 2. Rhodes, Joe. 2012. "A wacky Lonestar murder mystery." New York Times, April 15: SM40. Texas Tribune. 2016. "Bernie Tiede painted as victim, calculating killer." Texas Tribune, April 6. —. 2016. "Jury sentences Bernie Tiede to 99 years or life." Texas Tribune, April 22. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.