Page 198 of The Woman By the Lake

Jefferson was supposed to be the prosecution’s ace in the hole. However, it wouldn’t turn out that way.

Sure, he painted a picture of emotional terrorism that was diabolical and chilling. He testified as well to their happy family life, and even shared guilt that he let the things she said penetrate.

But he gave off the vibe of a thirty-year-old punk-ass kid who looked back at appalling actions that were the work of psychological control with more of an air of being pissed he had to deal with this situation, than taking any responsibility for his part in it.

The only reason this didn’t work in Sharon’s favor was that she was seeing where this was all leading. And instead of keeping a brave face, or entering into plea negotiations with the prosecution, she suddenly started acting out in what could only be an attempt to set up an appeal on the basis of mental incapacity.

And she did this, terribly unwisely, starting with Truman and Kennedy, both sympathetic witnesses.

She interrupted them, shouting things like, “You know your father loved me!” She would dissolve into loud wails. And once, she melted off her chair in a dead faint.

The judge cautioned her several times, and when she banged repeatedly on the defense table and chanted, “Liar, liar, liar,” at one point during Jefferson’s testimony, the judge paused proceedings for the afternoon to get her attorney to calm her down. He did this warning, if it happened again, she’d be charged with contempt of court.

No more outbursts happened after that, but she made faces, made a show of scribbling on a legal pad obsessively, and often whispered loudly in her (very beleaguered, I should say) lawyer’s ear.

The defense called both Sarah’s parents and sister to the stand, as well as Lincoln and Roosevelt’s parents.

Finally, the defense had the opportunity to put to the jury how bizarre and “despicable” the Whitaker’s way of life was and give the jury something to think on regarding Lincoln’s alleged jealousy.

It was a fatal mistake.

First, the jury had already heard about how this was untrue from plenty of others, all of whom were much more earnest and credible witnesses who knew and loved the family.

Second, the prosecution managed to get the litigation about the estate entered into evidence, and as such, when he had his shot at them, he made mincemeat of all five of them (particularly Sarah’s parents, who eventually came off as nothing short of religious zealots).

Sharon was the final one to take the stand in her own defense, and it was another mistake because her lawyer couldn’t hide how dead set he was against it, not to mention she was again histrionic. She tried to convince them she wasn’t there that night. Instead, a fourteen-year-old boy, with no motive to do so, killed his mom and uncle, and talked his father into confessing to the crime.

This last sounded absurd, and the way she related it made it seem even more so.

And why she deviated from the Lincoln Did It Theory, which was firmly established by Lincoln himself, and instead went after Jeff, was anyone’s guess. Although it did make her look like she had it out for Jeff, which was precisely what she should have avoided.

While she was testifying, it was openly apparent no one in that courtroom believed a word she said, not the spectators, and worse for her, not the jury.

Jefferson had been a punk-ass, but he didn’t seem like it was that bad he’d kill two members of his family, especially when he had zero motive to do so. And the only times there seemed honest remorse and discomfort were when he had to directly discuss anything about the murders or his dad.

Upon copious discussion, and Riggs supplying us with cocktails during it, Maribeth and I decided the true Sharon came out in her behavior and testimony, but she wasn’t crazy. You couldn’t be if you did the things you did in a calculated manner.

The prosecution summed up shrewdly, painting a horrific picture, shying away from the obsessive fan stuff and the part Sharon crafted that Jefferson played, and leaning into a woman spurned who then took her revenge on an, albeit alternative, but exceptionally happy family.

The defense, going in with all the cards, in the end, was forced to try to guide the jury into believing the word of a single woman, the defendant, who had acted bizarrely in the extreme during the trial, when she simply said she wasn’t there. But she had no alibi for the time it happened, though she did have multiple people who testified she had means, access and motive.

Sharon might be able to lean on her behavior in court in future appeals, but it backfired in the present.

The jury was out for two and a half hours, and Maribeth and I thought that length of time mostly had to do with Jefferson being an obviously spoiled brat.

They came back with a guilty verdict.

She was given two life sentences, to be served concurrently, with the possibility of parole.

This meant she could be out in twenty years.

And Maribeth and I figured the apparent leniency of that sentence was because of Jeff too.

As an aside, Maribeth told me it was the best vacation she’d ever had in her life.

Things went far worse for Sharon Swindell in Seattle, however.

I didn’t attend that hearing, except for one day, when Riggs was forced to go with me. But Harry did, and he gave Riggs and me the full skinny of what we missed.

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