Black Widow Accidentally Exposed Her Own Crime | Fatal Vows Season 2 Episode 12

[00:00:00]You're such a bad boy, Ronald.

[00:00:03]A fresh start leads to new love. She was exciting to him.

[00:00:08]In his first marriage, Honey, we're talking. there was no excitement at all.

[00:00:13]They were putting a lot of time and a lot of money into this beautiful home.

[00:00:17]But for some, one love isn't enough. Get out! They started seeing each other, and they saw each other often, and they were bold about it.

[00:00:25]>> And behind closed doors, unholy secrets slowly reveal themselves. [music] >> It probably crushed him to know that there was competition. And shake a pious town to its very core. He was really angry.

[00:00:37]>> [music] >> And I think he was deeply, deeply hurt.

[00:00:41]Bastard. Love may be blind and marriage bliss, but divorce is murder.

[00:00:55]>> [music] >> Rocky Ford, Colorado, is the perfect place for a fresh start.

[00:01:13]A place where Sharon Fuller and her husband, Mike, a Seventh-day Adventist minister, hoped to repair their ailing marriage.

[00:01:21]But this marriage is beyond repair.

[00:01:24]Can I just ask you to please, for the last [music] time, do up the last button?

[00:01:29]After 12 years of marriage, Sharon Fuller wants a different sort of fresh start.

[00:01:35]One that doesn't include her husband.

[00:01:38]Mike was the kind of guy [music] who had a very regimented way of looking at the world, and he wanted his wife to fit that view, too. And she just couldn't. It's our reputation [music] I'm talking about.

[00:01:48]>> Reputation, what are you talking about?

[00:01:50]>> Just do up the For Sharon, Mike's a constant reminder of her own strict religious upbringing. [music] Sharon grew up in a very [clears throat] restrictive home. Her parents really told her what to do and when to do it.

[00:02:02]And I think when she married Mike, she kind of got another taste of that. She felt suffocated. She felt like everything about her marriage was about control.

[00:02:11]Shortly after arriving in Rocky Ford, the Fullers are invited to dinner at the home of wealthy local optometrist Perry Nelson.

[00:02:20]Sharon is thrilled to be making new acquaintances.

[00:02:23]Hi. Especially men. Hi. Uh sorry, my wife Julie.

[00:02:27]>> Perry Nelson is not eligible quite yet.

[00:02:29][music] But since his marriage to Julie is also on the rocks, there's a good chance that he could be persuaded. It really boiled down to the fact that his wife was uh kind of frigid. She was a quiet, decent person.

[00:02:44]But uh life was very serious with her.

[00:02:48]Honey, we're talking.

[00:02:50]And he was very sexually frustrated.

[00:02:54]That's why we I know because he told me.

[00:02:57]Sharon and Perry seem to develop an immediate connection.

[00:03:00]Another drink?

[00:03:02]Oh. My wife Donna, she was very perceptive. She saw things that I never saw. I would just look right past it, but Donna caught it all.

[00:03:11]>> [music] >> And she said, "Sharon has really been making eyes at at Perry."

[00:03:17]>> Love what you're wearing. It's very nice. Wow.

[00:03:20]Thanks. She was exciting. She was vivacious, outgoing, bubbly, fun-loving, the partying type, you know.

[00:03:29]She was exciting to him. And in his marriage, there was no excitement at all.

[00:03:35]Just 2 weeks after their first meeting, Perry succumbs to Sharon's charms.

[00:03:46]Normal stupid male, you know, that's what happens.

[00:03:50]Most of us can't control ourselves, and I think that's what happened [music] to him.

[00:03:56]All I know is that uh eventually, she seduced him.

[00:04:01]And he yielded to temptation and committed adultery.

[00:04:06]Her breasts got >> [music] >> men. She had a way of uh showing them off real well.

[00:04:12]She used to wear low-cut tops, spaghetti strap tops.

[00:04:17]Men like that, [music] of course.

[00:04:19]They like the the breasts.

[00:04:22]Several months later, Sharon and Perry leave their respective partners.

[00:04:27]Sharon gives up custody of her two children to ex-husband Mike, while Perry splits custody with his ex-wife.

[00:04:35]It's just a small town, and when something like that happens, it's pretty shocking.

[00:04:41]This is July 3rd, 1977.

[00:04:44]Any last words, soon-to-be Mrs. Nelson?

[00:04:47]Stop.

[00:04:48]Stop filming me. Soon-to-be Mrs. Nelson, can you get a shot of this?

[00:04:53]Finally, ignoring the scandalmongers and the town gossips, Sharon, age 31, and Perry, age 35, tie the knot.

[00:05:04]The following spring, they have a baby boy together.

[00:05:08]Two years later, he's followed by a baby girl.

[00:05:13]To house their new family, Sharon and Perry start to build a new home in the neighboring town of Weston, nestled in the majestic Rocky Mountains.

[00:05:23]They were putting a lot of time and a lot of money into this beautiful home.

[00:05:27]It was what they called roundhouse. It was situated on the top of a mountain with a 360° view of the hills and the mountains below. I mean, really, it was a showplace, and everybody talked about it. They thought, "Wow, look at what that golden couple's able to create up there, you know, they must have something really special together if they can create that." Perry and Sharon even work together at Perry's optometry clinic, where Sharon assists with the books. You need to give me a minute.

[00:05:53]>> [music] >> I want to be perfect for the best optometrist in town.

[00:05:58]Forensic psychologist [music] Brian Russell and psychotherapist Stacy Kaiser believe that Sharon and Perry have a shot at making their second marriage a success.

[00:06:09]They seem to be [music] unconcerned about what other people think, which is unusual. They're really just focused on who they are, what they want, and the love they have between them. So, my hope in this situation would be that Sharon [music] and Perry learn from their past, and that they really try to have a [music] healthy and productive relationship. They're going to have a little bit of an uphill battle. They're going to have some people in the community [music] who are going to look down on their decisions that they made to get out of their first marriages [music] and pursue a new one with each other. And they're going to have people who are sort of just waiting [music] for the chips to sort of fall.

[00:06:46]So, Susie Squirrel left with Chuckie Squirrel.

[00:06:52]For now, the new couple is proving everyone wrong. Second chances are possible.

[00:07:00]with Chuckie Squirrel.

[00:07:02]Moreover, they've become a popular couple in town and host many local events.

[00:07:08]Sharon is known for her vivacious personality and Perry for his warm hospitality and generosity. And they had 17 kids. 17?

[00:07:18]Oh.

[00:07:19]>> [laughter] >> Everybody said, "Oh, she's so great and she's this and she's that."

[00:07:24]It was a new start and Perry was just a really nice guy, just a really he'd get along with anybody and had a really good personality.

[00:07:32]Where he was an outcast, now he was a celebrity.

[00:07:38]He was that wonderful Dr. Nelson.

[00:07:41]But as the new house nears completion, Sharon surprises friends by confiding that things in her marriage may not be quite as perfect as they seem. I mean, I thought the rich husband, the house, the family, you know, I thought that was going to make me happy, but I'm really bored.

[00:07:58]Sorry. Sorry. And Sharon has the same complaint about Perry that she did about her former husband, Mike.

[00:08:05]She was saying, you know, this doctor just weren't doing it for her anymore.

[00:08:09]The simmering tension at home is about to get worse.

[00:08:13]Sharon.

[00:08:14]Sharon is in charge of the couple's finances.

[00:08:18]But money that should be used to keep the house running is now funding her high-end lifestyle. It's a simple job at the office. Just pay the bills. Can't you just pay THE PAY THE BILLS. GET OUT. GET OUT. WHAT THE GET OUT. SHE WAS JUST taking everything he could make, not paying the bills, uh electric bills, things of that nature. I think that's one reason why he wanted to put the generator up there is because she didn't pay the electric bill.

[00:08:42]>> I can have it for you by the end of the week.

[00:08:44]Their new home may be built on Colorado granite, but this marriage is built on quicksand.

[00:08:51]Sharon?

[00:08:53]What's going on?

[00:08:55]What do you mean, wrong?

[00:08:57]Sharon begins spending less and less time at home, and Perry becomes despondent. I'm sorry. Listen.

[00:09:03]Sweetheart. No, come on. Sweetheart.

[00:09:06]If you leave, YOU'RE NOT COMING BACK IN HERE. YOU could tell though he was having a tough time. He would get in a depressed [music] state.

[00:09:13]And he you you know, he wasn't the same guy as we knew all all along. Sharon and Perry really have to take an interest in why the other's marriage didn't work out the first time around. Was [music] it something beyond their control? Was it that their spouse maybe cheated on them, and they were sort of on the receiving end of infidelity?

[00:09:35]Was it something though about their character OR THEIR PERSONALITY?

[00:09:40]>> [screaming] >> WHEN PEOPLE DON'T DEAL with the issues that they had in one relationship, their issues [music] come with them wherever they go. And so, part of what happens is they repeat the same patterns over and over again because they've never learned [music] how to fix them.

[00:09:56]Sharon decides it's in everybody's best interest if she moves out.

[00:10:01]So, Sharon actually packed up her bags and moved to an apartment outside of town to try to figure out what to do next, whether she should stay [music] with him or whether she should go. But, as they try to decide on the future of their family, a rugged stranger shows up on Sharon's doorstep. A man who will add fuel to an already volatile situation.

[00:10:22][music] Sharon told people that he made her feel like a woman for the first time.

[00:10:33]Sharon and Perry Nelson's marriage is failing.

[00:10:37]Sharon moves out of their new house in order to figure out what to do.

[00:10:42]The separation is harder on Perry than he anticipates, and he falls into a depression.

[00:10:49]He already had the feeling of failure from his first marriage.

[00:10:54]And he just didn't want that marriage to fail.

[00:10:59]To make things worse, he has become sexually obsessed with his wife.

[00:11:06]Yeah, it's me. Um I'm still waiting to hear from you. I think we should talk. So, give me a call.

[00:11:13]He found in her the answer [music] to things that had never happened before in his life.

[00:11:20]She would give him what he needed.

[00:11:22]Maybe as often as they needed it.

[00:11:25]Sharon is also thinking twice about the separation.

[00:11:29]Seven months after moving out, Sharon returns to their shared home.

[00:11:34]She's determined to look past the flaws in their relationship and repair the damage. Hi.

[00:11:41]Um Can I come Perry gladly welcomes her back.

[00:11:47]Thanks.

[00:11:48]Look, I'm I'm really sorry and I I miss you, but He wanted it to work and he loved her so he he accepted her back.

[00:12:02]>> [music] >> Family and friends are surprised to discover that Perry has given their relationship another chance. [music] The couple picks up exactly where they left off as though not a day has passed. You were such a bad boy last night.

[00:12:20]There's a term [music] in psychology called escalation of commitment where that person just doubles down and just keeps throwing good effort after bad because [music] the prospect of turning back seems worse and harder and longer than [music] just trying to power through. Getting married for the second time puts a lot of pressure on the relationship because you already feel like you failed once and >> [music] >> and you don't want to fail again. So, you're invested more, you want to work harder.

[00:12:50]You don't want it to go the same way the other one went.

[00:12:57]But their attempted reconciliation [music] is about to hit a roadblock.

[00:13:04]A few weeks after Sharon moves back [music] in, a local carpenter, Gary Adams, appears at Sharon's [music] doorstep. He's been hired by Perry to do some work at the house.

[00:13:18]You've uh valid Who are you?

[00:13:22]Gary.

[00:13:23]Gary. He He a carpenter, roofer type guy. He He uh did a lot of odd jobs, you know, things of that nature. All right. Well, the the mallet's out back, Gary. Yeah.

[00:13:35]In the garage? Yeah, in the garage.

[00:13:44]I think in a lot of ways it leads to Sharon's perspective, Gary Adams was the total package. I mean, he was handsome, he was rugged, he liked to hunt and fish, he was, you know, worked with his muscles, and all those kinds of things that Perry really wasn't.

[00:14:00]Just a few months later, Sharon throws a Halloween party for all the locals, where she dresses up as Scarlett O'Hara.

[00:14:09]And she wants Gary, not Perry, to be her Rhett Butler. Honey, come, let's dance.

[00:14:15]Oh, right.

[00:14:16]I had heard rumors before they had the Halloween party one night, and they snuck off together, and everybody knew about it. That kind of thing was going on. Oh, Gary, you can't leave me in this town. To the Titanic coming up.

[00:14:28]Mhm. Thanks so much.

[00:14:32]Gary Adams showed up in sort of a western mountain man type getup, and they got very, very chummy on the dance floor. Let's go in the room.

[00:14:40]Come.

[00:14:41]All right.

[00:14:42]>> [music] >> You want to show me something?

[00:14:44]She is consumed by her desire for Gary, despite the fact he too has a wife and child.

[00:14:50]The coast is clear? Yeah.

[00:14:52]Good.

[00:14:53]You know what I feel like doing? What? I feel like riding your horse. Come here.

[00:14:57]Sharon told people that he made her feel like a woman for the first time. She did think of him as a soulmate. I don't think she ever thought her other husbands >> [music] >> were soulmates at all. She did feel there was something special, a special connection that she had with Gary Adams.

[00:15:16]They started seeing each other, and they saw each other often, and they were bold about it. I mean, they would go to a motel and, you know, meet for the afternoon or they'd go to meet at a place in a meadow somewhere, you know, to have sex. It was constant. [music] It was not really private, either.

[00:15:32]Everybody kind of knew what was going on.

[00:15:35]When a person grows up in a conservative upbringing, they often rebel. And I think Sharon is one of those rebels.

[00:15:41]Sharon [music] wants to feel like she can do whatever she wants, whenever she wants to. And I really think it's manifesting itself in [music] the sexual arena. She has decided that there are no limits. She can have sex with whoever she wants to, and that she should be allowed to do that.

[00:16:03]You already for a cold one? Yeah, buddy.

[00:16:05]All the while, Perry remains oblivious to it all. He has no idea about his wife's new affair.

[00:16:13]I haven't. I used to do this with my grandmother when Oh, yeah? Yeah, she was in the country house. All right, give it a shot, man.

[00:16:21]What's stuck? It's possible that Perry just didn't think Gary was Sharon's type. I mean, he was a laborer. He wasn't a rich guy with a lot of money, and he kind of knew his wife's taste kind of leaned toward that. In fact, [music] Perry hired him to do household chores. You know, they had some paving that needed to be done. They had some landscaping work that needed to be attended to [music] there at the roundhouse, and they hired Gary to do it all. Perry had no idea that during their lunch breaks that [music] Sharon and Gary were having sex.

[00:16:49]He's He's really paranoid [music] lately.

[00:16:52]Super controlling.

[00:16:54]It's like he's he calls my friends to see where I'm at. I think he's got some sort of private eye following me or something.

[00:17:01]Sharon finds that Gary is also a sympathetic ear.

[00:17:06]Does he ever hit you?

[00:17:08]Sharon was confiding to Gary that there were all sorts of problems in the marriage. Not just money problems and not just a lack of love, but maybe some abuse was going on, too. That Perry was so controlling and so mean to her that he'd actually left bruises on her body and she showed those bruises to Gary.

[00:17:23]Shouldn't let anyone hit you like that.

[00:17:27]Bastard.

[00:17:31]Sharon's allegations of abuse seem to provoke Gary to become more protective of her.

[00:17:39]Perhaps too protective.

[00:17:43]He kept close tabs on her. He came by at night.

[00:17:46]>> [music] >> He would survey the place. He would make sure that Sharon was safe. And keeping an eye on her meant, you know, never letting her out of his sight. My impression was that he was always looking over his shoulder like somebody was going to get him. He was just super jumpy and squirrely. He's crazy.

[00:18:02]He could be really intense. So, I think Sharon sort of saw a glimpse of that and wondered, really, what have I gotten myself into? Yeah, I want to make sure you're safe.

[00:18:11]I think part of what's appealing about Gary is he's sort of the rugged, unpredictable bad [music] boy.

[00:18:20]And I think she's kind of enjoying the excitement and adventure of [music] wondering what someone like Gary is going to do next. Somebody who is like Sharon has a tendency to think they could maybe have it all. They could have the stable person [music] and then on the side over here, they could have the exciting, risk-taking fun.

[00:18:43]With his second marriage and his finances in disarray, Perry's friends and clients are starting to desert him.

[00:18:53]>> [snorts] >> People were canceling appointments saying, "Look, I don't like your wife. I don't like [music] you, and I'm not going to patronize your business anymore." And these were people that had come to his office for many, many years.

[00:19:04]So, that hurt really bad.

[00:19:06]In debt and on edge, he moves [music] his practice to a cheaper office space and sells his car.

[00:19:13]The IRS is also after him for unpaid taxes. [music] He became very paranoid about it. He got to the place where he had a sign on his property that says no trespassing and that included the sheriff and everybody else. No trespassing. His personality changed because he he was under such duress.

[00:19:33]As Sharon pursues her sexual obsessions with abandon, Perry's life spirals further downward turning a drama into a tragedy.

[00:19:44]I was shocked. Terribly, terribly shocked.

[00:19:53]The Nelsons can no longer hold on to what's left of their marriage.

[00:19:59]Oh, you're a really bad boy. [music] But if you want it, you're going to have to come get it. Sharon Nelson is riding a new high with her lover, Gary Adams.

[00:20:11]She found the one. She After all this looking, after all these marriages, after all these trysts with all these guys around town, she'd finally settled on the perfect guy. Meanwhile, Perry's life is plagued by guilt [music] and paranoia to an unbearable level. I'm Bob. I'm going to help.

[00:20:29]He was referring to the fact that he [music] had divorced his first wife and he had married Sharon. He And I said, "Perry, you don't have to go to hell."

[00:20:40]I was quite worried.

[00:20:43]I didn't know if he was suicidal or not.

[00:20:47]Increasingly concerned, Bob Goodhead and his wife pay a visit to Perry. I told my wife, I said, "I'm going to have a serious talk with Perry. I mean, a brother-to-brother talk.

[00:21:00]And I've got I got to help him out of this."

[00:21:03]Perry's not home. Sharon says that he has been away for a few days at a conference in Denver.

[00:21:08]>> [music] >> And she was expecting him back earlier that afternoon.

[00:21:12]She's been drinking and begins to talk quite candidly.

[00:21:16]She started saying thanks to my wife like uh What would you do if your husband didn't come home ever again? What would you do?

[00:21:26]It made no sense because he wasn't that late.

[00:21:32]Something's weird here.

[00:21:33]>> [music] >> And it's about to get weirder. Perry never returns from [music] his conference that evening. And the next afternoon, a jogger spots something at a ravine on the outskirts of town.

[00:21:47]It's Perry and Sharon's car at the side of the river.

[00:21:52]Police inform Sharon that the car is empty and there's no trace of her husband.

[00:21:58]I was shocked, terribly shocked.

[00:22:03]Terribly, terribly shocked. I just can't believe it, you know? His car. As the weeks go by and Perry doesn't surface, friends and family become increasingly anxious. Everyone in town has a theory.

[00:22:18]The theory I thought might have happened was that he was up there camping and and got caught in a flood, you know?

[00:22:26]Others believe Sharon and Perry may be involved in a conspiracy.

[00:22:30]I think they were both in it for the money, the insurance money.

[00:22:34]But Sharon appears to be genuinely devastated and although her husband may be dead, she won't receive a penny in life insurance >> [music] >> until a body is found.

[00:22:46]Unable to pay the taxes for the roundhouse, she has no choice but to move out with her two children to a seedy rental in Rocky Ford.

[00:22:55]Not only was her husband missing, Sharon was devastated for a lot of other reasons, too. I mean, she had these two children she was raising, she didn't have any money, she had to move out. So, this was not a good time for Sharon at all. She was devastated. Upset and [music] desperately worried, Sharon seeks solace in the well-muscled arms of the one person she has left, her true love, Gary.

[00:23:18]>> How how are things going with the My wife? Yeah.

[00:23:23]Same old. Nothing new.

[00:23:25]Same old. Yeah. Sharon asks Gary to leave his wife and be with her, but Gary refuses. Oh, I guess I thought that you cared about me.

[00:23:34]>> would leave my wife after 15 years?

[00:23:38]Sharon is devastated and their love affair abruptly comes to an end.

[00:23:43]>> [music] >> At this point, Sharon has nothing. No husband, no boyfriend, no roundhouse, and you know, nothing at all. So, she's going to have to start over, and that's what she thinks about. Where am I going to go? What am I going to do next?

[00:23:55]A year after Perry's disappearance, Sharon finds herself more alone than ever before.

[00:24:02]And then less than a mile from where Perry's car was found, a jogger makes a shocking discovery.

[00:24:15]It's Perry.

[00:24:18]Or what's left of him.

[00:24:23]After a close examination of the body, police find no evidence of foul play.

[00:24:29]When Perry's body was discovered, he had skull fractures, [music] the body was severely decomposed, and everything about his death and their investigation was consistent [music] with an accident.

[00:24:44]The case is officially closed, but Perry's life insurance [music] payout has been delayed because of the time it took to find the body.

[00:24:55]Sharon can't ignore her mounting debts.

[00:24:58]She's now broke and alone.

[00:25:02]Desperate for a chance to rebuild her life, she looks for romance in the personal ads.

[00:25:08]Sharon is a survivor. She has always managed to pick herself up, move on, and find another man. And I believe that's exactly what she's going to do.

[00:25:18]And Sharon's new boyfriend, like the others before him, will quickly realize she's full of surprises. At that point, of course, he was thinking, you know, this is definitely a mistake. He realized that something was really wrong.

[00:25:37]After the unexpected death of her husband, Perry, Sharon Nelson [music] has lost everything. Her husband, her lover, and her house.

[00:25:46]She looks for support in the personal [music] ads and sets her sights on a 38-year-old firefighter, Glenn Harrelson, who lives in the neighboring town of Thornton, [music] Colorado.

[00:25:58]They have much in common, including children from their previous [music] marriages.

[00:26:03]He was obviously enamored with her and what purportedly she had to offer uh in the way of friendship, companionship, uh ready-made family.

[00:26:14]And that's what he was looking for.

[00:26:17]Glenn is looking to start over after a painful divorce. I think he was just getting lonely. And he and I were really good friends and I had met my husband and everybody around us in the singles group seemed to be meeting people and he wasn't meeting anybody. Will you go out with me again?

[00:26:38]Yeah.

[00:26:39]He can't believe his luck when the alluring and outgoing Sharon Nelson accepts a second date.

[00:26:46]He was a little more alive when he was around her. He was pretty He was pretty sad before he met her and everybody wants to meet somebody and everybody wants to meet [music] their you know, their perfect other.

[00:27:00]And I think he felt he had found somebody that would bring out the best in him.

[00:27:04]And that was very exciting for him.

[00:27:07]So, you guys met in a personal [music] ad? Oh.

[00:27:11]Yeah.

[00:27:12]We did. Before long, the two of them are going steady.

[00:27:17]He did describe her as very beautiful, actually sexy, very lively, vivacious.

[00:27:22]She was very sensual. She [music] was very She was really put herself out there and she was very outgoing, very outspoken.

[00:27:30]But he was nervous.

[00:27:32]Yeah. You were a bit nervous. Yeah, yeah, I was. She was the extrovert to his introvert.

[00:27:37]He was just euphoric. He was happy.

[00:27:41]Seemed to be the old [music] Glenn.

[00:27:44]Almost.

[00:27:45]Sharon moves in with Glenn in his Thornton house, 3 hours from Weston.

[00:27:51]You know what? I didn't like it there.

[00:27:52]>> [music] >> Yeah. You know? Did you like it? I guess I just got used to it. I think here, here, that's where it should be. She settles her and her two children comfortably in Glenn's new house. Okay.

[00:28:04]Glenn is infatuated. Glenn, you know, really from the outset he put her on a pedestal. He thought Sharon was the most amazing, accomplished, attractive woman that he'd ever seen, that he was lucky >> [music] >> to be with someone of her caliber. It was, you know, a a dating whirlwind and he seemed to think that he found the one. I was very surprised at how fast they moved together.

[00:28:28]I was a little surprised, but she was again, she was very personable, very charismatic.

[00:28:33]She was interesting.

[00:28:36]Are um Are you making fun of me?

[00:28:40]I think you are. Oh, really?

[00:28:43]Glenn's a firefighter. He believes in being the hero and the protector, and Sharon needs someone who is going to take care of her. And so that combination appears to be a match made in heaven. He's happy, she's happy, and for the moment they think it's going to work out. It appears that both Sharon and Glenn are rushing into a new relationship at this point, although for different reasons. It seems like Glenn is vastly overestimating his ability to size up a new woman in a very short period of time.

[00:29:17]Hey, that dinner was a After several weeks, Sharon makes a shocking request.

[00:29:24]So, I was just I was thinking um Uh-huh.

[00:29:28]Have you ever thought about you know, seeing other people?

[00:29:36]You're kidding, right?

[00:29:38]>> [music] >> No.

[00:29:40]I think Glenn felt like by then he was the only one, that he was going to be the man of her dreams, >> [music] >> and it probably crushed him to know that there was competition.

[00:29:49]Look, why is there something wrong with me? No, not at all. Glenn is surprised and disappointed, but is still willing to give Sharon the benefit of the doubt.

[00:29:59]>> [music] >> Knowing Glenn's uh attitude towards others, I think that he probably imagined himself in a in a capacity to be able to overcome and uh make that part go away. He was definitely willing to work things out with her. He loved her. There's no doubt in my mind he loved her.

[00:30:16]And the more wrapped up he becomes with his new lover, the less his friends see of him.

[00:30:22]Oh, no way, Sharon.

[00:30:24]Hi, how are you doing? It's been a while. We got to go. Sharon made it very clear that she was not interested in befriending any of Glenn's prior friends or even getting to know and was very very much in our estimation attempting to alienate him from his prior life entirely. Still, Glenn is willing to make the sacrifice.

[00:30:48]His perseverance pays off when Sharon finally agrees to marry him. And Sharon seems content with Glenn. Just Glenn.

[00:30:57]He seemed happy, and that's really all any of us cared about was, uh, that he started on the pathway to mending.

[00:31:05]Even better, Sharon's financial situation is about to drastically [music] improve. Perry's life insurance money finally comes through, worth almost a quarter of a million dollars.

[00:31:16]>> Glenn!

[00:31:17]Sharon is now able to pay the IRS.

[00:31:25]Bye.

[00:31:26]With her debts paid, [music] she decides to move back into her old house in Weston.

[00:31:32]>> [snorts] >> Look, you know, it's only for the week, and then on the weekends we're together.

[00:31:35][music] It's great. Still, she tells Glenn she's committed to the marriage, [music] and that he can come up and see her on weekends. All right, all right, all right. Look, bye.

[00:31:46]Thank you.

[00:31:50]He traveled back and forth from his house here in Thornton all the way out there so he could continue his career here at the fire department.

[00:31:58]It was hard, actually. It was It was hard to watch.

[00:32:03]Hey there.

[00:32:04]>> Hi.

[00:32:08]I think part of what's going on for Glenn is he thinks if he does everything right, if he works hard, if he's dedicated and loyal, he will have what he wants ultimately, [music] which is Sharon. I think that Sharon's becoming intoxicated [music] with her power over men. I think she truly believes that she can control and manipulate any man that comes her way.

[00:32:31]Glenn suspects that Sharon is seeing her old lover, Gary.

[00:32:36]He knew that they were still seeing each other because he would come back home and we would go out to breakfast or coffee and he would talk about being really upset because the cigarette butts found around the house were not his brand nor were they hers.

[00:32:51]He was really angry.

[00:32:53]He was really and I think he was deeply deeply hurt. Deeply hurt.

[00:32:59]Sharon's secret life is beginning to make him anxious. I can hear him. What's up?

[00:33:05]It's Sharon, man. At that point, of course, he was thinking, you know, this is definitely a mistake. And it was soon after that that that he realized, you know, it wasn't just a mistake that that you could walk away from or or, you know, that you could just get a divorce and move on with your life. He he realized that something was really wrong.

[00:33:25]He's right to be worried. Several weeks later, neighbors alert the fire department when they see smoke emerging from an upper window of the fireman's house.

[00:33:38]Luckily, Glenn's kids are located at his ex-wife's house.

[00:33:43]Glenn, however, is missing.

[00:33:46]And his colleagues have the daunting task of searching for one of their own inside the blazing inferno.

[00:33:52]He was to have reported to work at some point and did not show up. So, they didn't know where he was. His vehicle was there. He was there.

[00:34:02]>> [music] >> He had to be somewhere.

[00:34:05]As the smoke clears, an extraordinary truth will be revealed. She said, "I'll talk to you. I'll tell you everything.

[00:34:12]I'm tired of living the lie."

[00:34:19]Just weeks after discovering his new wife, Sharon, is keeping secrets, Glenn Harrelson's home is engulfed in flames, but there's no sign of Glenn. Emergency crews are unable to find him anywhere inside or outside the house. There was a period of time where um they didn't know if he was in the house or not.

[00:34:42]They were looking for him.

[00:34:44]When the fire is finally extinguished, investigators scour the house for clues.

[00:34:50]The fire did extensive damage in the family room to where it had burned a hole, about a 9-ft hole in the family room down into the crawl space.

[00:35:11]After descending into the crawl space, they make a gruesome discovery.

[00:35:17]It's Glenn Harrelson's corpse.

[00:35:22]The body was very burned uh in what they call a pugilistic [music] stance.

[00:35:29]Because of the fire, all the muscles had retracted and and ligaments.

[00:35:34]I can't imagine what that >> [music] >> would have been like for those investigators to have gone into that that hole, that crawl space, [music] and found a body, and then to realize that it was in fact one of their own people.

[00:35:51]I can't fathom what that would have been like >> [music] >> for them.

[00:35:55]What's worse, it seems immediately clear that Glenn's death was no accident.

[00:36:00][music] Glenn had been shot twice in the head. One was in the mouth, one was, you know, up the nasal cavity.

[00:36:09]Police inform friends and family that Glenn Harrelson was murdered. I'm I'm really sorry.

[00:36:14]>> I know I dropped the phone and got really upset, and my husband had to pick me up.

[00:36:18]>> What happened?

[00:36:19]Because it said there had been an accident.

[00:36:22]And there had been a fire.

[00:36:25]Are you okay? The first thing my husband said was "I'm sorry he died in a fire?" He said fireman.

[00:36:33]That seems weird.

[00:36:35]Everyone is worried about Sharon.

[00:36:38]I said, "Has anybody called Sharon?

[00:36:40]You know, this is going [clears throat] to be hard for her. This is going to be her second husband that she's lost.

[00:36:44]Somebody's got to be with her."

[00:36:49]The crime scene does not give up any clues as to the identity of Glenn's killer.

[00:36:55]So, the cops turn to the only lead they have, the rumors of Sharon's adultery.

[00:37:01]We had got a phone call from one of the deputies [music] that said, "You might look at this Gary Adams."

[00:37:11]The next day, investigators Elaine and Glenn call Sharon into the Trinidad Police Station for questioning.

[00:37:18]Initially, Sharon was somewhat withdrawn, not real forthcoming, but we asked her if we could just sit down and and talk to her about her relationship with Glenn. He was my he was my husband.

[00:37:31]There was no indication that she had even cried. Her eyes were not swollen, red, blurry-eyed. It was just amazing that there was no effect on her whatsoever.

[00:37:43]>> [music] >> I was at home in my uh my late husband's home that we had together.

[00:37:48]Suspicious of her calm demeanor, [music] detectives try and get her to lower her guard.

[00:37:54]I knew at this point that Sharon had been married multiple times and [music] felt that maybe she liked male attention. And so, I did lean in, uh really tried to befriend her, make her feel like I thought she was very important. [music] I looked at her and said Listen, if you're hiding something, we can protect you. We can keep you safe.

[00:38:18]Glenn's [music] intimate line of questioning has a sudden and dramatic effect.

[00:38:24]What?

[00:38:26]And she said, "I'll talk to you. I'll tell you everything. I'm tired of living the lie."

[00:38:31]Can we get out of here?

[00:38:33]And she said, "I'm not going to talk to you here. These walls have ears." We said, "We'll take you wherever you want to go."

[00:38:40]We start going north on I-25.

[00:38:43]I had no idea where we were going.

[00:38:45]I was nervous and Glenn and I were talking. We were both in the in the front seat. My mouth is, "Is this an ambush? Where are we going?" She said, "There's a Pizza Hut here in Walsenburg." She said, "If you just want to pull in there, I'll uh I'll tell you everything." Please stay.

[00:39:03]You can You guys could, you know, As promised, Sharon drops a shocking confession. She reveals her old lover, Gary Adams, murdered Glenn.

[00:39:15]And there's more.

[00:39:17]Gary Adams not only killed my husband, Glenn, he killed my first husband, Perry.

[00:39:23]She claims that Gary is the jealous mastermind behind the murders and that the situation was beyond her control.

[00:39:31]>> He's jealous, yeah. She'd been caught up with this man who was a renegade, you know, mountain man, out of control, who'd do anything to be with her, including kill two of her husbands.

[00:39:41]>> She says that Gary, purely on his own initiative, killed Perry for the insurance payout.

[00:39:49]All right, pull up here.

[00:39:55]According to Sharon, Gary [music] tricked Perry into giving him a ride to Denver, lured him out of the car for a bathroom break, and pretended to lose his wallet.

[00:40:05]What's going on? I dropped my wallet.

[00:40:08]Where? In the creek. Get out of the car.

[00:40:15]It was dark and so when Perry was then looking for the wallet, uh Gary picked up a large rock and hit Perry over the head with it.

[00:40:28]And then Gary, you know, did drown him and left his body in Clear Creek. So, he just let him go down the river.

[00:40:39]>> [music] >> It worked. Perry's death was never suspected to be murder.

[00:40:45]Sharon eventually received a quarter of a million dollars in life insurance money and gave a small portion to Gary.

[00:40:53]Sharon tells police that Gary must have wanted to recreate another accident with her third husband, Glenn, and this time the motive was love.

[00:41:03]He wanted Sharon all to himself.

[00:41:09]Gary hid in the shadows of Glenn's house waiting for him to come home.

[00:41:14]He did hit him over the head.

[00:41:17]Glenn actually started to struggle with Gary and that's when Gary shot him twice in the head.

[00:41:37]Sharon is hoping her candid confession with police will play in her favor.

[00:41:44]So, she threw Gary under the bus. She pretty much said, "Let's point the finger at him.

[00:41:48]>> [music] >> He's the one that did all this. I'm innocent here. I just loved too much."

[00:41:54]We have somebody who thinks that they could talk their way out of something by >> [music] >> coming up with what they think is a plausible way to lay the blame on to third party. I think she [music] thinks she's going to get away with this.

[00:42:09]Sharon has gotten away with everything she's tried to do in the past, so why wouldn't she think that she would get away with this?

[00:42:17]Sharon grows increasingly confident that Gary will take the rap. But the cops bide their time, and as Sharon grows more confident, >> [music] >> she gets careless, revealing her prior knowledge of the plot to kill Glenn.

[00:42:31][music] She just told us that her marriage to Glenn was not what she had thought it would be, and Gary had told her there's only two ways to [music] get this done. Fire or water?

[00:42:45]He'd asked Sharon if there was um kerosene or gasoline in the garage.

[00:42:50]Yeah, there's [music] lawn mower gas in the garage. Why?

[00:42:54]Perfect.

[00:42:56]She told us that he showed up at 4:00 in the morning, and that [music] he had said it's done.

[00:43:02]It becomes obvious that Sharon was involved in the planning.

[00:43:08]It's done.

[00:43:10]She even admits to police that Gary brought her Glenn's wedding ring as proof that Glenn had been killed. I think it was the trophy. You hear of that a lot with crimes, the you know, keeping something of the victim's as a trophy for your deed, and I think for her that wedding ring was her trophy.

[00:43:33]Investigators believe that both Sharon and Gary are jointly responsible.

[00:43:37]>> you doing?

[00:43:38]>> You're under arrest for the murder of Perry Nelson and Glenn Harrison. They arrest her for first-degree murder. I swear I told you the truth. It wasn't It wasn't me. Very clearly, she was implicated in his death, and and was as much a conspirator as if she had been standing in the room at the time. And with Sharon with Dr. Nelson, it was all about the money, you know, getting rid of him. She knew that he had all these life policies that were worth a lot of money. With [music] Glenn, she indicates that she really did love Gary. [music] And it was all about this love for Gary.

[00:44:15]I feel like riding a horse. We never got a clear picture of what his motivation was other than his back and forth with Sharon and their on-again, [music] off-again sexual relationship. Sociopaths seek a feeling of power and control. The two of them [music] came together in hopes of being a powerful force. And let's not forget that they actually did get away with it with Perry for [music] a long time. And so they figured because we got away with this first one, we'll probably get away with the second one as well.

[00:44:48]What we know about sociopathic [music] people is they tend to find somebody like themselves and they sort of feed off of each other's sociopathy and they sort of excite each other and sometimes they actually sort of stretch each other's sociopathy to new heights.

[00:45:04]The detectives tracked down Gary Adams near his home, a small mountain cabin.

[00:45:10]Put your hands up. Get down on your knees.

[00:45:12]Drop your weapon.

[00:45:16]On June [music] 7th, 1989, Sharon Nelson pleads guilty in Colorado State Court to two counts of first-degree murder so she can avoid the death penalty.

[00:45:27]She is given two life sentences.

[00:45:31]Two days later, Gary Adams also receives two life sentences. At first, I wanted both she and Gary to be put to death.

[00:45:40]Um, I thought that was fair.

[00:45:43]But ultimately, they answer to God, not me.

[00:45:48]Sharon's four biological children and five ex-stepchildren [music] have cut off all ties to their mother or stepmother.

[00:45:57]And the small towns of Weston and Thornton, Colorado are still haunted by this dark chapter in their history.

[00:46:06]Well, I was enraged. I I made the [music] statement to my wife. I said, you know, I shouldn't have said this, but I did. [music] I said, uh, "If I could catch Sharon out in the >> [music] >> boondocks someplace and I had a rifle, I'd just do her in." Cuz it made me pretty mad.

[00:46:24]>> [snorts] >> That she had the audacity to do [music] that.

[00:46:28]I've since forgiven her.

[00:46:30]It's hard to forgive her, but >> [music] >> now I pray for her soul.

[00:46:36]To have a parent taken away and just suddenly like that, I don't know where it was.

[00:46:41]Nobody could expect that, especially a teenager, you know.

[00:46:44]He was stolen away from us.

[00:46:46]It's terrible not to have him here.

[00:46:48]You know, we think about it every day.

[00:46:50]You never realize how fast everything can be taken away from you.

[00:46:53]Um, and the kind of people that can be around without you knowing it.

[00:47:01]>> [music]