deadly weapon. Oleta agreed to the divorce, and in 1958 Sharon became the second Mrs. Ken McElroy.
In July 1959, Sharon bore Ken a son, Jerome. The family moved to the farm outside of Skidmore, living in the two-bedroom house with Tony, Mabel, and Tim. Ken was gone a lot, and the family became concerned about the baby's well-being. Once Tony almost backed his truck over Jerome, who sat unattended in the driveway. Ken's sister Helen came to visit when Jerome was just over a year old and concluded that Ken and Sharon were leaving too much of the child care to Tony and Mabel. So Helen took Jerome back with her to California. Soon afterward, Ken and Sharon left the farm and moved to a tiny house outside Burlington Junction.
Sharon seemed to both love and fear Ken. More than once she tried to get away from him, but it never lasted very long. She had neither the resources nor the strength to hold out. In 1961, she bore him a daughter, Tammy Sue.
One afternoon that year, Sharon appeared with her baby in the sheriff's office in Maryville and told a story about how Ken had locked them in the house and left them for over two days. She had finally escaped and caught a ride to town. Now, she was scared about what he would do when he found out. She described the beatings she had suffered when he became angry. A social worker came to the sheriff's office to help her, but Sharon was so frightened she could barely keep track of where she was and what she was saying. Her eyes darted constantly around the room, and she couldn't sit still. The social worker arranged for both Sharon and her baby to stay with a foster family who lived on a farm outside Graham.
Linda B. and her husband loved children, but were unable to have any of their own, so they had begun taking in foster children that year. Sharon and her baby were two of their first guests.
To Linda, Sharon seemed a sweet, shy nineteen-year-old who obviously hadn't been around much. She was anxious to learn homemaking skills and followed Linda around and watched her sew, cook, and clean house. Sharon was a conscientious mother and took good care of her baby. She had one false tooth in front that popped out every once in a while and made her look kind of silly.
Linda learned from the social worker that McElroy had brought a fourteen-year-old girl named Sally D. out to their house to live with him and Sharon. McElroy had sex with both of them and frequently beat them up. Sharon couldn't handle it and wanted out.
Sharon and Tammy stayed on the farm for about six weeks. The prosecutor had filed a complaint charging Ken with abusing Sharon, and the social worker brought her to the courthouse to sign the complaint. The sheriff's office and state patrol had been alerted and were standing by to execute the arrest warrant. Somehow, McElroy found out where Sharon was and appeared in the social worker's doorway, demanding to talk to his wife. The social worker told him he had to get permission from the judge, which was granted on the condition that the meeting take place in the prosecutor's office. Ken sweet-talked Sharon and told her that if she came home, he would bring Jerome back from California. At the end of the conversation, Sharon told the prosecutor she wouldn't sign the papers. That night, McElroy came to Linda's farm and picked up Sharon, Tammy, and their belongings. Linda heard later that when Ken got Sharon home that night, he beat her terribly,
Sally was a skinny, gawky kid with pretty strawberry blond hair, brown eyes, and light freckles. Her mother had died when Sally was very young, and she lived in Quitman with her dad, who was a butcher, and her two brothers. In 1960 she was thirteen years old and very much a child __she would believe anything someone told her and do whatever an adult said. Ken McElroy hunted coons and traded dogs with one of her brothers, and soon he was hanging around and paying lots of attention to this trusting girl-picking her up after school, giving her
In July 1959, Sharon bore Ken a son, Jerome. The family moved to the farm outside of Skidmore, living in the two-bedroom house with Tony, Mabel, and Tim. Ken was gone a lot, and the family became concerned about the baby's well-being. Once Tony almost backed his truck over Jerome, who sat unattended in the driveway. Ken's sister Helen came to visit when Jerome was just over a year old and concluded that Ken and Sharon were leaving too much of the child care to Tony and Mabel. So Helen took Jerome back with her to California. Soon afterward, Ken and Sharon left the farm and moved to a tiny house outside Burlington Junction.
Sharon seemed to both love and fear Ken. More than once she tried to get away from him, but it never lasted very long. She had neither the resources nor the strength to hold out. In 1961, she bore him a daughter, Tammy Sue.
One afternoon that year, Sharon appeared with her baby in the sheriff's office in Maryville and told a story about how Ken had locked them in the house and left them for over two days. She had finally escaped and caught a ride to town. Now, she was scared about what he would do when he found out. She described the beatings she had suffered when he became angry. A social worker came to the sheriff's office to help her, but Sharon was so frightened she could barely keep track of where she was and what she was saying. Her eyes darted constantly around the room, and she couldn't sit still. The social worker arranged for both Sharon and her baby to stay with a foster family who lived on a farm outside Graham.
Linda B. and her husband loved children, but were unable to have any of their own, so they had begun taking in foster children that year. Sharon and her baby were two of their first guests.
To Linda, Sharon seemed a sweet, shy nineteen-year-old who obviously hadn't been around much. She was anxious to learn homemaking skills and followed Linda around and watched her sew, cook, and clean house. Sharon was a conscientious mother and took good care of her baby. She had one false tooth in front that popped out every once in a while and made her look kind of silly.
Linda learned from the social worker that McElroy had brought a fourteen-year-old girl named Sally D. out to their house to live with him and Sharon. McElroy had sex with both of them and frequently beat them up. Sharon couldn't handle it and wanted out.
Sharon and Tammy stayed on the farm for about six weeks. The prosecutor had filed a complaint charging Ken with abusing Sharon, and the social worker brought her to the courthouse to sign the complaint. The sheriff's office and state patrol had been alerted and were standing by to execute the arrest warrant. Somehow, McElroy found out where Sharon was and appeared in the social worker's doorway, demanding to talk to his wife. The social worker told him he had to get permission from the judge, which was granted on the condition that the meeting take place in the prosecutor's office. Ken sweet-talked Sharon and told her that if she came home, he would bring Jerome back from California. At the end of the conversation, Sharon told the prosecutor she wouldn't sign the papers. That night, McElroy came to Linda's farm and picked up Sharon, Tammy, and their belongings. Linda heard later that when Ken got Sharon home that night, he beat her terribly,
Sally was a skinny, gawky kid with pretty strawberry blond hair, brown eyes, and light freckles. Her mother had died when Sally was very young, and she lived in Quitman with her dad, who was a butcher, and her two brothers. In 1960 she was thirteen years old and very much a child __she would believe anything someone told her and do whatever an adult said. Ken McElroy hunted coons and traded dogs with one of her brothers, and soon he was hanging around and paying lots of attention to this trusting girl-picking her up after school, giving her
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