- Narrator: Terror rings out at the headquarters
Of the country's most popular cartoonist,
Sending shockwaves through the country.
- There was a shooting,
And it was at the charles schulz offices.
- This is the last thing you would expect to happen.
- This was the case that was getting the media coverage.
This was the case that people were paying attention to.
- Narrator: When the dust settles,
Charles schulz's second in command
Is desperately clinging to life.
- He had gunshot wounds in his back.
- Was this an active-type shooter or a targeted thing?
Was there a suspect at large?
- Narrator: The search for the shooter will expose a crack
In the picture-perfect lives of a local power couple.
- He fell for a woman much younger than him.
- She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.
- Charles schulz had threatened both of them to stop this.
She had this feeling of, I think, ultimate betrayal.
- She said, if I can't have him in this life,
I'm sure as hell gonna have him in the next one,
'cause we're both going to hell together.
- Narrator: Was this a crime of passion
Or something much more calculated?
- I never had any doubt about her mental capacity.
She planned it, premeditated it.
- They saw her as this person who had lost everything.
- She talked about why she did it
And how he'd made her life miserable.
- I don't think anyone would say what she did was okay,
But they can understand why she did it.
- ♪
- Narrator: July 5, 1995.
It's a quiet morning in the sunny town
Of santa rosa, california.
Nestled in the heart of wine country
This upscale, family-friendly town is known
For its most famous resident, cartoonist and creator
Of the peanuts comic strip, charles schulz.
- I've lived in this county for almost 50 years now,
And sonoma county's all-time leading citizen
Without question is charles schulz.
And everything he brought to this community both
In terms of peanuts and his wife's philanthropy.
Jean, you know, she's a great philanthropist.
- Santa rosa is a larger town, but it still has
A rural feel to it.
I'm gonna cruise around.
I'm gonna get to know my beat,
Get to know the people in my beat.
- Narrator: But just before 11:00 am,
The serenity is shattered in the most unlikely of places.
- The 911 call came in from someone who
Worked in the office.
- This is the last thing you would expect to happen
At charles schulz's studio.
This was a place where families come.
- Narrator: Within minutes, officers arrive on the scene.
- There was a gentleman face down, not moving.
There were people standing out front,
And they were just deadpan.
Normally on scenes like that, there's a lot of chaos,
People are yelling. Nobody was saying anything.
That just really stood out to me as something very eerie.
It was just very obvious that everybody was shocked.
- Narrator: Witnesses identify the victim as 53-year-old
Ron nelson, charles schulz's business manager.
- He occupied a very prominent position
In the whole schulz operation.
- He had been working with schulz from about 1972.
He was the first vice president and the treasurer
For the company.
And he was very much involved in helping to develop
And market products from the peanuts cartoon strip.
- Mr. Nelson had gunshot wounds in his back.
He was basically close to death when they arrived,
Mainly from blood loss.
- Narrator: Medics attend to ron,
While officers race to clear the scene.
- There was a lot of concern about,
Was this an active-type shooter?
Or was this a targeted thing and, you know,
Was there a suspect at large?
- Narrator: As officers secure the building,
They find another injured person.
- We had our weapons drawn for our safety,
And we found a female laying on her back on the floor
In a back office.
- She had a gunshot wound to her chest.
- Narrator: She's conscious enough to identify herself
As shirley nelson, ron nelson's wife.
- It was not something that we ever responded to there.
Why is this happening? What's going on?
- Narrator: Born in pennsylvania on January 18, 1930,
Shirley delong was always taking care of others.
- She was always very caring. She loved animals.
She loved sports. She loved people.
- She didn't really talk about her childhood, um,
Or siblings or parents, or anything like that.
She never really delved a lot into the past.
- Narrator: Like many young girls,
Shirley dreamed of falling in love and starting a family.
- Her first marriage was very, very young,
And he was catholic.
And their family expected an abundance of children.
And that was very difficult for her,
Because I know she had tried for so very long to get pregnant.
And every month, it was such a disappointment to her.
She very much wanted children, but she was never able to.
The family was kind of cruel to her.
Because of their religion, they somehow ended up
Getting an annulment.
They were married for a very short time,
But I do not know for how long.
- Narrator: Not long after her first marriage ended,
Shirley remarried in 1954,
And she cheerfully gained two step-children.
- After her first marriage, she had met my grandfather,
And she was in our life from the day that I was born.
She was always there.
- My impression was that her pattern was to
Build her world around a man.
- Narrator: Shirley gave her all for her new family,
But that marriage also ended.
- I don't know anything about their marriage,
Just that they were married for about 12 years.
- Narrator: The split left a significant hole
In shirley's life.
- She had no professional training,
No skills outside of the home.
- Narrator: Shirley struggled to find her own identity
As a new divorcee.
But that all changed when she met handsome
24-year-old graduate, ron nelson in 1966.
- Her and ron met in a bar in minneapolis.
He had just graduated and got his cpa.
She was out with a bunch of girlfriends.
She was about 11 or 12 years older than ron.
- She was older than ron, but she never...
I don't ever feel like she felt that was holding
Their relationship back.
- She never, ever looked her age.
She looked very young. She loved that.
No one could guess her age. And ron liked that too.
She was always very well dressed,
And he liked to show her off.
- Narrator: In ron,
Shirley finally found someone who made her feel fulfilled.
- Ron knew that shirley couldn't have children
And he was ok with that.
- Narrator: After less than a year of dating,
The two tied the knot in 1967.
And shortly after, ron landed a coveted job within
The charles schulz empire.
- Mister nelson was the business manager for charles schulz.
- Ron did a lot of the licensing agreements around the world.
It was a vast, vast empire of stuff everywhere.
- Narrator: Ron's prestigious position came with an equally
Elite paycheck.
- They got swept up into the world that they lived in for
So long in the schulz universe.
And it's a pretty dynamic place to be.
- Her marriage to him gave her access to the charles schulz
Community, society.
- They lived in a country club in santa rosa.
They did live on the golf course.
- They had a pretty strong practice of getting out
Their golf cart, bringing their little dog
And playing a few holes at the end of each day.
- Shirley and ron did dinner parties.
They traveled.
They did golf tournaments, and fundraisers, and so forth.
They were just caught up in a whirlwind,
A grand life, really.
- She had a bit of an arrogance about her
From being in that position of, you know,
Wealth and her husband being well known.
- Narrator: In may of 1995,
The nelsons celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary.
On the surface,
It seems like shirley and ron are living the dream.
But on July 5, 1995,
The two are clinging to life after suffering gunshot wounds.
- They found mr. Nelson out in front of the office
Of charles schulz. He was almost dead.
- Narrator: Inside, officers radio for paramedics
To help shirley.
- My job is to make sure that the scene is safe.
So my priority was locating a weapon.
Where was the gun?
- Narrator: Coming up...
A high-stakes love triangle is revealed.
- He was aware that there was some marital problems.
- Everybody was shocked at what had happened.
- I don't think she could handle it.
And she didn't.
- If I can't have him, you're not gonna have him either.
- ♪
- Narrator: July 5, 1995.
Santa rosa detectives are called to the scene of a shooting
At the offices of peanuts creator, charles schulz.
First responders attend to the injured couple,
Ron and shirley nelson,
As officers search for the murder weapon.
- He had multiple gunshot wounds in his back.
And at least one of them penetrated up through his, uh,
Pancreas, his liver, uh, all the way up through his abdomen area.
- Narrator: Paramedics rush ron to the hospital.
- He had lost his pulse, dropped his blood pressure,
And I think he was also kind of doa.
- Narrator: Meanwhile, after a thorough search
Of the schulz offices,
Investigators locate a crucial piece of evidence.
- There was this .357 magnum gun, a pretty big gun.
- The sergeant came in and told me that the weapon
Had been located.
The concern now was to make sure now that
Both of these people receive medical care.
- Narrator: Paramedics hurry shirley to the hospital.
- From the very beginning, an officer is assigned to shirley.
They actually ride in the ambulance with her
To the hospital.
- Narrator: And what shirley reveals to first responders
Is downright shocking.
- They said, what happened?
And she replied, I shot him. I shot my husband.
Is the son of a bitch dead?
And she said, I shot myself.
She was very agitated, very angry,
And kept repeating, did I kill him?
I hope he's dead.
- It became apparent pretty quickly that it was, you know,
A domestic situation and that shirley had done the shooting.
- When she arrived, I'm not sure she had much of a pulse.
- She was eventually resuscitated and had surgery
To repair her injuries.
- There was a lot of damage,
And it was a very serious surgery.
And they weren't sure she was going to make it.
- Ron was in the same situation.
They were struggling to revive him, bring him back.
- Narrator: As doctors work to save ron and shirley's lives,
Detectives at schulz enterprises try to make sense
Of the crime scene.
- We have all the people at the scene who had information
About what had occurred.
And we just start delegating,
You interview this person, you interview this person.
- Narrator: According to ron's coworkers,
Just before 11:00 that morning,
Shirley drove up to the office in a car no one recognized.
- She just wanted to be able to get access to the office
Without being detected.
I think that if her car had pulled in,
There was a chance that someone else would let her husband know
That she was arriving.
- She parked right in the front,
Got out of the car and walked in.
She had these great big sunglasses on.
- Narrator: But investigators say shirley's efforts
To go undetected were misguided.
- It was just bizarre.
Anybody who saw her said, oh, there's shirley,
Dressed weird.
- I mean, she's very distinctive,
And they would have known who she was.
They were very familiar with her.
- Shirley nelson had come in there
And said to the receptionist, is he in there?
And then she went into his office.
He stood up, and she shot him twice in the back.
And apparently fired at least two other rounds and missed him.
There was no doubt that she was the one who shot him.
- Narrator: Detectives are eager to talk to a key witness--
Ron's closest colleague, his boss, charles schulz.
- He actually said he didn't even hear the gunshots,
Because his office was at the other end of the building.
- Narrator: Mr. Schulz says
Though he didn't see the shooting,
He thinks he knows what caused it.
- He was aware that there was some, uh, marital problems
Because shirley and ron, and jean schulz and charlie,
I think they had a social relationship, you know,
Outside of work also.
Um, and he was aware that the relationship was not going well.
- He said ron had an affair with his secretary.
And it was something that he kept hidden for a while.
- Ron, he was 50-something at the time.
She was-- I believe she was 41.
- He fell for a woman much younger than him
In his work situation.
- Narrator: Mr. Schulz says he'd hoped
Ron and his secretary, eileen christensen,
Would break it off.
- Schulz disapproved and said that they should
Find a way to end it.
His concern was that it could lead to some kind of
Sexual harassment lawsuit.
- He was very adamant, he had been very vocal
And had threatened both of them to stop this
Or that they were both risking termination.
- He warned him not to do it. And he did it anyway.
- Narrator: Family members say
Just a month before the shooting,
Ron finally came clean with shirley.
And she took the news pretty hard.
- She was physically upset, tearful,
Hysterical would probably be a better word.
The fact that it was his secretary
And they were working together was a big blow.
- Shirley, historically, she builds her life around her man.
She viewed, you know, I need to keep a perfect home.
My man comes home, he has to have his drink
Ready for him, dinner ready on the table.
That's who she was.
- Narrator: Though blindsided by the affair,
Shirley's closest friends say the relationship
Had started deteriorating much earlier.
- Shirley had a stroke in 1991,
And I think that was the point where ron just realized
She is much older, and that he saw then that age gap.
And I think slowly but surely that chipped away at him.
- That changed her quite a bit.
She didn't have any physical signs of um, a stroke,
But that was an eye opener of where her age possibly was
And her health.
- Obviously, it exposed her fragility.
I think that impacted him and his view of her being
With a significantly older woman.
And I think that changed the relationship.
- Narrator: Friends tell detectives after her stroke,
Shirley was determined to get the relationship back on track.
- She tried dressing nicer,
Which she was very well dressed and very put together.
She tried to lose weight to, um, tone her muscles.
Her goal was just to win him back.
- Narrator: After speaking to witnesses at the scene,
Authorities shift their focus to the car
Shirley drove to the office
And identify it as a rental vehicle.
- We found out it was registered out of whatever rental fleet,
And we just start backtracking it and then that leads us to,
Hey, did you guys rent this car? Who did you rent it to?
And that's how that starts.
- Narrator: To detectives, the rental car suggests
Shirley was attempting to enter the office unnoticed.
- I think that if her car had pulled in,
There was a chance that someone else would let her husband know
That she was arriving.
He could have gotten out of there
Before she got to his office.
- Narrator: With little evidence left behind in the car,
Detectives head to the rental agency.
- That's where shirley's car was,
So we served a search warrant on that to get inside the car.
- Narrator: Inside shirley's personal vehicle,
Detectives find .357-caliber bullets and a receipt
For a smith & wesson revolver.
- She had purchased this gun at montana hawk.
- Police interviewed the owner of the gun shop
About how she had bought the gun.
- Narrator: The timing of shirley's visit to the gun store
Falls eerily in line with the demise of the nelson marriage.
- By June 8th, I believe,
Ron had already left the house and had moved out.
And she went to this gun shop around, uh, June 15th.
- She had gone down to the store to buy the gun
And filled out the paperwork.
- But state law says there's got to be this
Two-week waiting period so a background check can be done.
- Narrator: The gun store owner says in the interim,
Shirley took lessons.
- She met a man named mac scott, who was an ex-sheriff's officer
In the county. And mac had an indoor gun range.
He gave her lessons.
And started teaching her how to shoot this .357.
- She was going down there, you know,
On a fairly regular basis practicing and shooting the gun.
- Narrator: Coming up...
Against all odds, shirley and ron survive--
Each with their own crazy story to tell.
- She said to him, you destroyed my life.
You're going to hell with me.
- Narrator: And investigators wonder,
Was there another intended target?
- Shirley expressed a lot more disdain for eileen
Than she did for ron.
- She commented that she wished she had taken her too.
- ♪
- Narrator: It's been nine hours since police found ron nelson
And his wife, shirley, gunned down at the offices
Of america's most beloved cartoons.
- Because it happened at the charles schultz property,
A very famous santa rosa landmark,
There was a lot of talk about what happened, obviously,
Because it was such a violent crime.
So it was an extreme amount of media attention from all over.
- Narrator: As the hospital staff continues
Life-saving efforts on ron, authorities get word that,
Against all odds, shirley has survived the shooting.
- She had a point-blank .357 magnum gunshot wound
Straight to her chest.
So how she survived it, I don't know.
And they didn't either, because they thought for sure
She wasn't going to make it, but she did.
- When we were notified that she was stable and out of surgery,
That's when we went over to interview her.
Obviously, there's a lot of laws about interviewing people
That are suspected of crimes.
So I needed to make sure she understood I was with
The police department,
That I wanted to ask her questions.
- Narrator: At approximately 6:30 pm on July 5th,
Detectives meet with their shooter
And make sure she is capable of answering questions.
- I wanted to be sure that she understood who I was
And why I was there.
I was trying to establish if she was able to comprehend
What was really going on.
You know, if she was coherent enough.
And she seemed pretty clear about the events
Of what happened.
I started asking her what happened and, and, you know,
She said she shot herself in the chest.
She was pretty clear that she wanted to kill her husband
And kill herself.
- Narrator: Since shirley has no previous criminal record,
Investigators must determine if she fully understands
Her actions.
- During her statements to police,
She very freely admitted that she went there
To shoot her husband.
- She made a comment about all of this over a [bleep]
In a motel room. Something to that effect.
And how she was sorry that ron wasn't dead.
- She talked about why she did it
And how he had made her life miserable.
And she couldn't see any other way out.
- Because her identity was so closely tied to ron,
When he is telling her this relationship is ending,
In her mind,
It wasn't just that their marriage was ending,
It was in some respects, her life was ending.
- She just kept saying that there was no life
For her without him, and that she felt that
She couldn't go on without him,
And that if she couldn't go on, he wasn't gonna go on either.
She did say several times,
He's not gonna leave me like garbage.
- Narrator: Though shirley is clearly distraught
Over ron's affair,
An aspect of her story catches investigators off guard.
- In the hospital bed, when she was talking to police,
She said very glowing things about him
And talked about him as a sweet man.
Her identity was wrapped up in being mrs. Ron nelson.
- I think shirley saw her marriage as
Really close to perfect.
Initially, she thought maybe this was a, you know,
A midlife crisis.
This is a temporary kind of thing.
And so, she initially,
Starts I think, trying to win him back
Or to convince him that this is nothing serious.
And things deteriorate from there.
- She felt that eileen had seen this opportunity
And betrayed her, betrayed him,
Betrayed mr. Schulz as well.
I think shirley expressed a lot more disdain for eileen
Than she did for ron.
As it all went down,
I know she was never willing to, you know,
Put him in the same light that she put eileen.
- She did have hopes they were gonna get back together.
From what friends were saying, she was working out, uh,
At the gym with a personal instructor more often.
- Narrator: As investigators dig deeper,
They uncover some disturbing information.
- Shirley is trying to win ron back,
And at the same time,
I think she's becoming increasingly disturbed
And distraught. She's talking to her friends.
And she tells them,
Hey, this person is destroying my life.
All of the anger and rage, I think that she felt initially
Toward ron is now directed toward eileen.
- Shirley had talked about giving money to eileen
Or even buying her a house, if she would, um,
Cease the affair with her husband.
- Narrator: When that didn't work,
Shirley developed a new strategy.
Shirley says she was prepared to put her firearms training
To the test.
But things didn't go exactly as planned.
- He stood up and she shot him twice in the back.
And, uh, apparently fired at least two other rounds
And missed him.
- When I asked shirley about the actual shooting,
She talked about how she was moving around while she was
Firing and that's why she didn't successfully kill ron,
That something had gone wrong.
- Narrator: And according to shirley,
There was one more mark she missed that day.
- She had apparently missed being able to shoot
Eileen christensen.
- She also commented that she wished she had taken her too.
- Narrator: While shirley spills her innermost thoughts
To investigators,
They learn ron has miraculously survived his injuries.
- He was shot in the kidney, uh, in the lung, uh,
In the intestines,
And uh, also it nicked his, uh, artery as well.
- He had lost a lot of blood,
But they were able to obviously revive him and save him.
- Narrator: Investigators are anxious to interview ron
And rush to his hospital bedside.
- I did interview him. He was conscious.
He was aware. We had a conversation.
And he gave me a little bit of a history,
But we didn't get too much, given his condition.
- Narrator: Ron confirms to police that while the couple
Had been separated for about a month,
They were still in touch.
- On some occasions,
Shirley and ron had sexual encounters.
And he would say things to her in her mind that were giving
Her an impression he was thinking about coming back.
- He's still wanting to hang on to shirley,
Still maintain that friendship, that camaraderie,
That relationship.
And yet he's clearly not willing to give this other person up.
You have somebody who in some respects may be getting the best
Of both worlds for a little bit.
- Narrator: Coming up...
Shocking allegations are exposed.
- The day before the shooting,
They were out on the golf course,
And many people witnessed their argument.
- That, to her was like the dagger.
That was like him saying to her,
I want something you can't give me.
- Narrator: And all eyes are on santa rosa
As an unexpected person rushes to shirley nelson's defense.
- He loved shirley.
He said that he was never gonna let her spend a day in jail,
Wasn't gonna happen.
- ♪
- Narrator: Investigators are interviewing ron nelson
After he has survived an alleged murder-suicide attempt
By his wife, shirley nelson.
Ron has just admitted that during his affair with eileen,
He was still sleeping with shirley.
- Shirley is a very fragile, broken person
And you're showing up and having sex.
I mean, that's pretty mixed signals.
- Narrator: Ron says on July 4th,
He met shirley to tell her their marriage was over for good.
- The day before the shooting,
They were out on the golf course and many people witnessed
Their argument.
He kept at her and was telling her
She wasn't good enough.
- Narrator: And that's when investigators say ron
Dropped the final bombshell.
- Ron said, you're old.
I found someone younger. We're having children.
And we're gonna build a life.
- When shirley and ron first got together,
They talked about it,
Made the decision they weren't gonna have kids.
However, as we all know, those things can change.
I didn't want to have kids and now I do.
And in shirley's case, I can't.
This is impossible for me.
- I think that to her was like the dagger.
That was like him saying to her,
I want something you can't give me,
And I have somebody else who can maybe give it to me.
- And I think it really is the first time
That shirley realizes, I have permanently lost him.
- Narrator: Ron believes that conversation is likely what led
To the next morning's horrific events.
- When she walked in, she said some things to him.
- She said to him, you destroyed my life.
You're going to hell with me.
Words to that effect.
- I think he instantly realized that what she was trying to do,
And he was trying to escape.
- He sort of tried to crouch down to get away from it,
And he was hit twice by the bullets.
- There were five bullets in the gun.
And she fired all five of them.
The final bullet was the one she shot herself with.
- Because it happened so quickly,
There wasn't a lot of in-depth, you know, what did you do next?
What did you do next?
- Narrator: Detectives leave ron to rest and secure a warrant
To search the home he once shared with shirley.
- We believed there'd be evidence of the crime
At the house.
We got in there and on the table
You had a variety of a different letters to different people.
- She had left some of their wedding photographs out,
Along with 10 letters that she had written
Both to friends and also to charles schulz.
- When you read the letters,
It was mainly about the depth of love she had for ron.
Despite all the things that he was doing to her,
She wanted to be with this man.
She said, if I can't have him in this life,
I'm sure as hell gonna have him in the next one,
'cause we're both going to hell together.
And she then started this process of getting her
Financial business in order.
She wrote letters to all of her friends saying good-bye
And explaining what she was doing.
- Narrator: On July 6th,
Less than 24 hours after she attempted to kill her husband,
Detectives arrest shirley nelson.
- I went to the hospital where shirley was,
Walked in, identified myself,
Tom schwedhelm, santa rosa police department.
Um, and I'm gonna be, I'm placing you under arrest
For the attempted murder of your husband, ron nelson.
I think she was anticipating it coming.
- In the following days, she remained at the hospital
Because of her injuries and because of her mental state.
- It was the treating psychiatrist who said
Things like, she was delusional.
She felt like she was gonna join with him in, you know,
In the afterlife, and those kind of things.
This is somebody who needs ongoing care,
That if she doesn't have some on-going care
And more intensive care than we can provide here,
She may do it again. She may hurt herself.
So we need for her to get some more treatment
Before we can release her.
- She was at the mental health facility for a period of time,
And then when they released her, she went to the county jail.
- The judge didn't wanna give bail to her.
But I was able to convince the judge that as a matter
Of law she was entitled to bail, and he reluctantly said,
Okay, two million.
Well, at that time, you know,
Two million dollars bail was unheard of around here.
- Narrator: The price tag seems outrageous,
But soon,
An unlikely and powerful ally steps in to help.
- He said that he was never gonna let her spend a day
In jail, wasn't gonna happen.
He loved shirley. He respected shirley.
- Narrator: Coming up...
Shirley's mysterious benefactor is revealed.
- I find out that he is ready to put up
$2 million cashier's check to bail her out.
- Narrator: And will shirley's story resonate with a jury?
- The media was pretty hard on her.
- One of the quotes that I recall was,
Money talks and, and privilege walks.
- ♪
- Narrator: September 1995.
It's been two months since shirley nelson attempted
To kill her husband, ron, before turning the gun on herself
At the offices of charles schulz.
- This was the case that was getting the media coverage.
This was the case that people were paying attention to.
- Narrator: With bail set at $2 million,
It appears shirley nelson will remain in jail.
But the community is stunned once again
When santa rosa's favorite citizen offers to help her.
- The next day,
I find out that mr. Schulz is ready to put up a
$2 million cashier's check to bail her out.
- He also recognized,
Knowing shirley and who she was,
That this was completely out of character for her,
And that she needed help.
She didn't need to be locked away in a prison.
He called me up and said,
Got the money. Let's go get her.
- After she was released from custody on bail,
She rented a place in the oakmont.
Clear on the opposite side of town from, uh,
Where mr. Nelson was still living in the family home.
- There was controversy over her not being in jail,
Because people felt that there was a double standard
For people who had money,
And also people who had notoriety or celebrity status.
- The media was pretty hard on her.
Um, she was wrong. She was.
- Narrator: Despite his close relationship with ron,
Popular cartoonist charles schulz remains steadfast
In his support of shirley.
- Charles schulz, he made a very strong statement
At that point to eileen and to ron.
I don't like what you did and I'm willing to support her.
- Narrator: On April 23, 1996,
Nearly a year after the shooting,
Shirley's attorneys hope the jury will be as understanding
Of their client's plight.
- Shirley was charged with attempted murder.
- The whole crux of the case was, uh,
What her mental state was at the time
And whether she was capable of premeditating and having, uh,
The rational ability to do this.
- Shirley pled not guilty by reason of insanity.
- Narrator: Prosecutors allege shirley
Knew exactly what she was doing.
- I never had any doubt about her mental capacity.
She knew it was against the law.
She knew it was criminal behavior.
She intended to kill her husband,
That she planned it, premeditated it,
And went through a series of steps to carry it out.
- Going and buying a weapon and learning how to shoot a weapon,
Those are not things you do in the heat of the moment
Or a passion. Those are things that take time.
- Narrator: The defense counters by arguing that shirley
Was in an emotional free fall following the separation
From her husband.
- She fell apart,
Pretty hard.
Um, he was her everything.
Her identity was him,
Being his wife and his partner.
And so it was pretty devastating for her.
- Shirley is trying to win ron back
And at the same time, I think she's becoming
Increasingly disturbed and distraught.
- These were all things that are kind of building up each,
Each day,
And then culminate with the argument on July 4th.
- Narrator: An argument the defense says finally broke her.
- She always wanted children.
So that had this feeling of, I think, ultimate betrayal.
You know, certainly was kind of like the straw
That broke the camel's back.
- Narrator: With both sides passionate about their stance,
No one knows which way the jury will go.
- It was a hung jury, 9 to 3 in favor of acquittal
Of first-degree attempted murder charge.
And I think at least nine of the jurors
Did not believe that she had the requisite state of mind
To be a cold-blooded killer.
They saw her as this profoundly depressed person
Who had lost everything,
That she was compromised mentally by her situation.
- I think many members in the community,
Not just those 12, think, hey before you start,
You know, cheating on your wife, end your marriage.
There's a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it.
I don't think anyone would say what she did was okay,
But they can understand why she did it.
- Narrator: Rather than opting for a re-trial that might elicit
The same outcome, prosecutors offer shirley a deal.
- Her plea agreement was that she pled guilty
To attempted murder,
Which made her technically eligible for probation.
- Narrator: On April 16, 1997,
Shirley accepts a plea bargain of one year in jail,
Five years probation, and 3,000 hours
Of community service.
- I do think the sentence was extremely lenient
For attempting to kill somebody.
- This case did generate a fair amount of controversy.
One of the quotes that I recall was, uh, uh,
That-that money talks and, and privilege walks.
- Narrator: In the end,
Shirley serves about six months behind bars.
- The other time she was basically in a mental facility.
- I think that being in custody, and, and doing all the hours
Of community service at the santa rosa food bank
Were transformative for her.
- Because it gave her a chance in a very weird and strange way
To find a purpose in life again.
- When she went to jail,
She talked a lot about the girls that she'd met there.
I really believe that those women helped grandma
To understand she could rebuild her life.
- I believe that she was a different person.
And the retrospect that she saw things
In other people that maybe she hadn't seen before
Or just had her eyes closed to.
- Narrator: 27 years later,
Shirley's story continues to be shared
In hopes that it inspires others
Battling with their mental health to seek help.
- We need to re-educate ourselves,
So that there are avenues and ways for people
And places for them to deal with these things,
So they don't get to the desperate position
Of either wanting to kill themselves or somebody else.
- It's so important to get help in those situations,
Because there is always life on the other side of that.
- I feel like grandma went full circle.
She regretted it.
She has said time and time again,
I'm glad he didn't die.
She forgave herself.
And I think that was a big part of healing.
She did a lot of volunteering.
That was her life.
I think she did a lot of good.
She did a lot more good than she would've
If she would've gone to jail for the rest of her life.
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