On November 28, 2008, Sharron Diane Crawford Smith was arrested for the 1967 double murder of Connie Hevener and Carolyn Perry. Before dying this January, Smith confessed to the murders. While there is never a moral
justification for these senseless acts of murder, Smith's story, who was 19 years-old at the time, reminds us of the importance of opening dialogue with our teenagers about sexual abuse, sexuality, and society.
It was the 1960s. The so-called "gilded age" of conversion therapy from the 1940's to the 1960's "assumed that homosexuality was a mental illness" and sought to eradicate it through electrical shock treatments, lobotomies, and psychiatric conversion therapy. In fact, during this period, "gays entered (conversion) therapy in droves." It was before the Stonewall Riots of 1969 and the start of the modern gay movement. It was a time in which the American Psychiatric Association classified homosexuality as "psychopathology" in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Disorders. Many gays like gay historian Martin Duberman at the time had difficulty rejecting "the dominant psychiatric view that homosexuals were a homogeneous group, bound together by dysfunction and neurosis." No doubt, Smith would have been affected by all of this.
Here are excerpts from Smith's interview confession.
Q: WELL, TAKE ME BACK TO THAT NIGHT.
A: I WENT DOWN TO THE STORE TO TELL
THEM THAT I COULDN'T WORK.
Q: ABOUT WHAT TIME WAS THAT? DO YOU
REMEMBER? WERE THEY
CLOSING?
A: 9:30.
Q: ABOUT 9:30? NOW WERE YOU SUPPOSE TO
COVER THE SECOND HALF
OF -THE SHIFT OR CAUSE ABOUT 9:30 OR
10:00 THEY'RE STARTING TO
GET READY TO CLOSE WHY WOULD YOU HAVE
TO WORK THAT NIGHT?
A: IT WASN'T THAT NIGHT, THE NEXT
NIGHT.
Q: OH THE NEXT NIGHT. THE SUNDAY NIGHT.
OKAY.
A: UH HUH.
Q: THE NIGHT PRIOR TO. OH OKAY. SO
ABOUT 9:30 ON SUNDAY
NIGHT.
A: UH HUH.
Q: WHO DID YOU TALK TO?
A: I TALKED TO HER.
Q: WHO?
A: I TALKED TO CONNIE.
Q: CONNIE. OKAY. WHAT HAPPENED?
A: I JUST SAID THAT I COULDN'T WORK AND
SHE GOT A LITTLE
UPSET. I GOT UPSET. I WAS THINKING SHE
HAD TOLD SOME THINGS I'D
RATHER NOT GO IN AND THAT'S ABOUT IT.
Q: WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?
A: I WAS JUST PUSHED SO FAR SO I SHOT
HER AND THAT WAS IT.
Q: HOW DID THEY PUSH YOU? WHAT DID THEY
DO TO PUSH YOU?
A: TALKING, TEASING.
Q: COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE. SO THIS
HAD BUILT UP FOR AWHILE.
A:
UN HUH.
Q:
OKAY, DID YOU SHOOT THEM WITH THAT .25 THAT YOU SAID YOU
BOUGHT
AT MONTGOMERY WARD'S ?
A:
UN HUH.
Q:
DID YOU BUY THAT TO SHOOT THEM?
A:
NO.
Q:
YOU BOUGHT IT JUST BECAUSE YOU ENJOYED SHOOTING.
A:
YES.
Q:
OKAY. WHO DID YOU SHOOT FIRST?
A:
UM, CONNIE.
Q:
YOU SHOT CONNIE.
A:
UN HUH.
Q:
YOU SHOT CONNIE OR DID YOU SHOOT CAROLYN FIRST? TRY TO
THINK
BACK. TRY TO REMEMBER EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED JUST THAT
NIGHT.
A: I
THINK IT WAS CONNIE.
Q:
YOU THINK IT WAS CONNIE? AND WHERE DID YOU SHOOT HER?
A:
BEHIND THE EAR.
Q:
HUH?
A:
BEHIND THE EAR.
Q:
BEHIND THE EAR?
A:
RIGHT ABOUT HERE.
Q2:
DO YOU REMEMBER WHERE IN THE STORE YOU WERE?
A:
HUH?
Q2:
DO YOU REMEMBER WHERE IN THE STORE YOU WERE WHEN THIS
HAPPENED? THE FIRST SHOT?
..................
M: SHARRON, DID YOU GO BACK IN
THE BACK IN THE ROOM WHERE THE
MOPS
AND THINGS WERE?
A:
OH YEAH.
M:
WERE YOU BACK THERE WITH ONE OF THEM?
A: I
WAS AT THE COUNTER WITH ONE. AND I THINK THE OTHER ONE
WAS
IN THE BACKROOM.
M:
SO WHEN YOU SHOT CONNIE, DID YOU GO BACK THEN IN THE ROOM
AFTER
CAROLYN?
A:
WHEN SHE STARTED YELLING.
M:
WHO DID?
A :
CAROLYN.
M:
CAROLYN DID?
Q2 :
WHAT WAS SHE YELLING?
A:
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, YOU BITCH.
M:
WHEN YOU SHOT CONNIE, DID SHE GO BACK TO THE ROOM? WAS SHE
ABLE
TO GO BACK TO THE ROOM WHERE YOU WERE WITH CAROLYN?
A :
YEAH.
M:
SO SHE WENT BACK THERE AFTER YOU SHOT HER? DID YOU HAVE TO
SAY
ANYTHING TO CONNIE AGAIN? OR DID CONNIE JUST FALL TO THE
FLOOR?
Q:
HOW MANY TIMES DID YOU SHOOT EACH ONE OF THEM?
A :
ONE.
Q:
ONE TIME? WERE BOTH OF THEM IN THE HEAD?
A:
UN HUH.
Q:
OKAY. WHAT DID YOU DO AFTER THAT?
A: I
LEFT.
Q:
YOU LEFT. OKAY. DID ANYBODY SEE YOU?
A: NOT THAT I KNOW OF.
................................
C: I
JUST WONDER WHAT THEY WERE TAUNTING YOU WITH. LIKE I SAID
I
WORKED UP TO JUST A WEEK BEFOREHAND AND...
M:
IT'S OKAY. YOU CAN SAY IT.
A:
ABOUT MY LIFESTYLE
C:
HOW DID THEY KNOW ABOUT YOUR LIFESTYLE?
A:
HOW DO KIDS FIND OUT ABOUT ANYTHING? I MEAN IT WAS REALLY
UNUSUAL
BACK THEN. HOW DO KIDS FIND ANYTHING? THEY LISTEN TO
THEIR
PARENTS.
C:
CAROLYN DIDN'T HAVE BUT ONE PARENT THAT I (INAUDIBLE). I
KNOW
WHAT YOU ARE SAYING.
A:
I'M SURE THEY DIDN'T UNDERSTAND. IT WAS SOMETHING NEW.
AND
SOMETHING DEFINITELY UNUSUAL.
S:
DID YOU ACT ON BEING GAY BACK THEN?
A:
NO.
Q:
THEY BASICALLY STEREOTYPED YOU.
A :
YEA.
Q:
YEA. AND THAT'S UNFAIR. THAT'S UNFAIR.
Q2:
NOWADAYS NOBODY I COULDN'T IMAGINE THAT. IT'S JUST NOT LIKE
THAT.
I WAS BORN IN SEVENTY AND I COULDN'T IMAGINE SIXTY
SEVENTY.
C:
DO THINK DIANE THE
WAY YOUR STEPFATHER TREATED YOU, THAT
YOU
HAD TAKEN SO MUCH ABUSE FROM HIM THAT THIS THING WAS AN
INCIDENT
THAT CAME UP THAT JUST PUSHED YOU OVER THE EDGE?
A: I
DON'T KNOW. I'M NOT TRYING TO PSYCHOANALYZE IT.
C: BUT
YOU WILL AGREE THAT YOUR STEPFATHER REALLY... WELL, YOU
SAID
YOU MIGHT HAVE BOUGHT THE GUN TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM HIM
AND
THAT WAS YEARS OF ABUSE.
A:
YEA
Q2:
I HOPE YOU FEEL THE BURDEN LIFTED OFF YOU. IT'S GOT TO. I
KNOW
IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME BUT IT'S GOT TO MAKE YOU FEEL YOUR
CONSCIENCE
OR IT'S SOMETHING THAT'S GOT TO MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER.
IT'S
GOT TO.
C:
DO YOU THINK THAT BACK THEN IT WAS SO MANY FAMILY MEMBERS
WORKING
THERE, IT WAS WHOLE FAMILIES, YOUR AUNT WORKED THERE, IT
WAS
KINDA OF ONE BIG FAMILY. AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT WE THOUGHT AT
THE
TIME. I'M JUST WONDERING IF SOMETHING JUST KINDA PUSHED YOU
OVER
THE EDGE. IT DIDN'T TAKE MUCH, JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE TO
PUSH
YOU OVER THE EDGE. YOU WEREN'T BUT WHAT, NINTEEN?
.......
Q2:
DID YOU EVER TALK ABOUT IT WITH HIM OR ANYBODY?
A:
NO.
Q2:
SAYING, MAN I'M CATCHING A ROUGH TIME?
A:
YOU COULDN'T DO THAT BACK THEN.
Q:
YOU COULDN'T EVEN TALK ABOUT THE ABUSE YOU HAD BEEN
GETTING?
A:
NO
S:
WHY DON'T YOU TELL THEM ABOUT THE ABUSE?
A:
THEY KNOW ABOUT THE ABUSE
S:
WHAT TYPE OF ABUSE?
M:
IT WASN'T JUST PHYSICAL WAS IT?
A:
NO.
S:
AND YOU KNEW YOUR MOTHER WOULDN'T BELIEVE IT. AND YOU WENT
TO
THE COUNSELOR TEN YEARS AGO SHE STILL DIDN'T BELIEVE IT.
Q:
SO YOU SOUGHT SOME HELP FOR ALL THAT.
A:
ABOUT TEN YEARS AGO.
S :
TEN YEARS AGO.
Q2:
SO NOBODY HAD ANY IDEA THIS WAS GOING ON. NONE OF THE
GIRLS
AT THE PARLOR KNEW?
A:
NO.
Q2:
THAT HAD TO HAVE BEEN PRETTY TOUGH TO CARRY AROUND TOO. A
SECRET
TOO.
S:
THIS ALL STARTED, I'M SORRY TO INTERRUPT, THIS ALL STARTED
WHEN
YOU WERE THIRTEEN, WHEN YOUR MOM TOOK YOU BACK FROM NELLIE
(INAUDIBLE).
THE SEXUAL ABUSE AND ALL FOR SIX YEARS.
A:
SIX YEARS.
S:
RIGHT? AM I RIGHT?
A:
UH HUH.
S:
THIS IS WHAT YOU TOLD ME AND I'M SORRY BUT I FEEL THAT THIS
IS
THE PERTINENT TIME, EVEN THOUGHT YOU TOLD ME YEARS AGO, I
FEEL
LIKE IT'S A PERTINENT TIME TO (INAUDIBLE)
M:
CAN I ASK YOU SOMETHING?
A:
UN HUH.
M:
DID MR. BOCOCK KNOW ABOUT THE SEXUAL ABUSE?
A: I
DIDN'T TELL HIM.
M:
YOU DIDN'T? DO YOU THINK HE KNEW? DO YOU HAVE REASON TO
BELIEVE
THAT HE MIGHT HAVE KNOWN? ANYTHING HE MIGHT HAVE SAID
TO
YOU?
A: NO.
