A murderous fugitive who hid from American and Mexican authorities in small-town Alberta for decades was a bridge-playing, banana bread-baking ex-realtor, according to her former friends and neighbours.
Dee Glabus, as she was known in Taber, Alta., was actually Sharon Kinne, one of America’s most wanted criminals.
Kinne was tried for three murders — her husband, her lover’s wife and a Mexican man she met in a bar — in Kansas City and Mexico City before she escaped from a Mexican prison in 1969, five years into a 13-year sentence.
Authorities were never able to track down Kinne after her escape.
At a news conference on Thursday, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in Missouri said fingerprint records confirmed that Kinne had been hiding in southern Alberta.
Friends ‘in shock’
Some of Kinne’s former friends and neighbours had gathered for an afternoon of bridge at the local seniors’ centre in Taber when they learned the news.
“I can’t believe it. I’m in shock,” said Vena Vandersteen. “That’s just insane.”
Vandersteen said Glabus was a talented needlepoint artist who once gave her a hand-made quilt as a gift.
Glabus was also a food bank volunteer, often supplying them with homemade banana bread.
The group of women learned to play bridge together, taught by Phyllis Katrusik.
“She came here to play bridge with us and liked it,” said Katrusik. “And we were always anxious to get players, we’re rounding up players whenever we can.”
Katrusik also reacted to the bombshell news that her friend and neighbour was a convicted killer, on the run from authorities.
“How can you fool the whole world year after year?” she wondered.
Dee Glabus came to Taber in 1973 with husband Jim Glabus. The two owned the local Taber Motel before working together as realtors.
The bridge ladies said after Jim died in 1979 at the age of 38, Dee was left out of his will and fought it in court.
“We just all felt sorry and wanted to help her,” said Katrusik.
Husband died at age 38
According to newspaper clippings from the time, Jim Glabus died from complications of diabetes and alcoholism.
A few years after his death, Dee Glabus married a man named Willie Ell. The pair were together for 30 years until Ell’s death in 2011 at the age of 79.
It’s unknown if either of Glabus’s Alberta husbands were aware of her criminal past.
Taber’s mayor, Andrew Prokop, certainly had no idea, according to his spokesperson.
Meghan Brennan told CBC News the mayor would not be commenting on the situation.
Funeral home fingerprints
At the Kansas City news conference, officials thanked the Taber police and RCMP for their co-operation in the investigation.
Canadian police were tapped for assistance in 2023, after the Jackson County sheriffs received an anonymous tip that fugitive Sharon Kinne was living in southern Alberta as Dee Glabus.
“It just so happens that someone had that tip and was not willing to release it until after her death,” said Sgt. Dustin Love.
Love said Dee Glabus was fingerprinted by the funeral home after she died.
He subpoenaed the records and was able to confirm the tip — Dee Glabus was Sharon Kinne, one of America’s most wanted.
Back at the bridge table, Vandersteen revisits a life lesson she’s imparted to her kids.
“I always tell my kids, the truth will set you free someday,” she said.
“Whatever you do in life, they’ll find out.”
