KIDNAPPED BY A CLIENT-Sharon Muse

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Retails good evening. He promised to kill me when he got out. I believed him. If I wanted justice, I had to fight both him and the courts to kill him first. If I didn't do something, I was going to die. This is not a manufactured dialogue from a thriller, but the words of Attorney Sharon Muse. They came after she survived in attempted kidnapping, rape, and murder at the

Thank you for having us. Very excited to be here.

Thank you very much for both of you for joining me.

Thank you.

Now, Sharon, can you just give us a brief background before we get into this incredible, incredibly personally and intimately involved story of your life and this incredible incident. Tell us just briefly what your life was like before this, your work as an attorney, and where exactly Bourbon County and Scott County, where exactly are we talking about where this occurred.

Bourbon and Scott County are the two counts, two of the several counties that surround Bayette County in central Kentucky, which is Lexington. We're more rural, would not be considered a city, probably by anybody standards. Prior to this, I had your basic small town practice, did a lot of a variety of different kinds of cases. Very care free, very lighthearted, never really concerned with security or safety, never considered a client could possibly.

Be a threat to me.

Typically they like you because you're helping them, you're fighting for them, you're advocating for them.

I guess I took a.

Variety of cases, and unfortunately I got involved with this particular man because I felt sorry for him and his wife and did some free legal work, and that's how I came to even know that he existed.

Let's go back to the day in question, the faithful day, two thousand and six, April seventh, and you had got some bad news about your mother. So tell us where you were that day, and when you were talking about the news, you said you had a bad day. Before we talk about your faithful meeting with your former client.

I'd gone into work that day dressed very casually.

I had on jeans and just a cotton.

Pullover shirt was like a stretchy neckline, and you'll hear more about that later. But my plan was just to work on some appellate briefs.

I wasn't going to see any clients, and my.

Admin, Judy, I'd instructed her, I said, don't I can't be bothered by anybody. I have to focus, like this is my deadline. So I was working on the computer, was getting close to being done, and my mom stopped by the office and came in to tell me that she had just left her doctor and they had found some strange black spots on her lungs, and they weren't clear what they were. They believed them to be a rare form of cancer and something that we couldn't get

You had been dating a man named Jeff for about seven months, and yes, and so tell us what you were doing. You were speaking with him as you left the office. Tell us what the conversation was like. And what happened next is you carried a briefcase in some flows to your car.

Well, it was interesting.

Jeff always had Fridays, he was a preacher, and that was you know, you didn't get Sunday's off, and so he was going to be playing golf that day. And we had an understanding that when he played golf. He usually didn't have his phone with him, and if he did, he wouldn't answer. It was just his time away from the world. But we had spoken on the phone briefly and when I this was again before smartphone, so I opened up my flip phone and I could see the

His face looked familiar.

I couldn't think of his name, and I couldn't think how I knew him, but I was fairly certain he was a previous client. And he immediately starts talking to me about his wife had just died.

He was afraid.

His family was scared, the assets were frozen. They needed help. This is a Friday now, right at five o'clock, and what can I do to help them? His family wanted me to come talk to me, and I was trying to politely move forward as he was talking to me, so I could not find myself stuck in a hallway for thirty minutes trying to have a client consult. So I explained to him, it's Friday at five o'clock.

The courts are closed.

There's literally nothing I can do for you. I'm happy to listen, but I need you to go in and talk to Judy. Set up an appointment first thing Monday morning. I'll get you in front of Judge and we will get you taken care of. And I'm so sorry for your loss, but right now my hands are tied until Monday morning. Well this didn't seem to settle him down at all. He seemed very anxious and fidgety, and he was,

We need you. We're scared, we need your help.

And at some point in this exchange in the hallway, he pulled out a giant wad to cash, not like I'd ever seen any anybody carry around before, but it was about the size of my fist, was wrapped with a rubber band, and it had like some white powdery substance in the middle.

I saw it just for a flash.

And he tried to put it in my bag, in my briefcase, and I took my hand and waved him off and said, no, don't do that. This isn't how this works. I don't just take wads of cash. You'll talk to Judy, you'll sign it contract, he'll pay me hourly. I said, this is not how things work. And he kept trying to get that cash in my pocket or in my bag, and then he stopped for a minute, put it back in his pocket and continued to say, my wife just died.

I'm scared. I don't know what to do.

So in order to get past him, to get to my car, where I.

Thought I could leave. I said, okay, well I'm leaving. Walk with me to my car.

I'll ask you a couple of questions and then come back and make an appointment with Judy. And he said okay, and I thought, okay, I got out of this awkward situation.

Good idea.

So we're walking to the car and I'm asking him you did your wife have a will? Was it notarized or their witnesses where their names noted. I was just asking basic questions to determine if, according to Kentucky law, that this would be a valid will, and he.

Answered them all.

He was very articulate and clear, and we approached the car and I said, okay, it sounds like a valid will. We shouldn't have a hard time getting it through probate. Thank you for stopping by.

Sorry about your loss.

I'll see you Monday morning. I turned my back to him and put everything in my car, unlocked my car, loaded on my files in the back, and as I opened my car door to get in, I look up and he's on the other side of my car with the car door open, and he's physically standing between the car door and the well of my car, and I just I froze. I didn't know what he was doing or how I was supposed to respond, right, So at that moment I said, I said, you know what's going on? How can I help you?

What do you need?

And he was like, well, can you give me a ride to my grandma's house? And I we had this fairly lengthy exchange, so, well, how did you get here? While I walked, Well, can't you walk back? Well, it's only three blocks. Well, then that's a short walk. So I went back and forth with him repeatedly, without ever just saying no, get away from my car.

I'm not comfortable.

Like in my mind, I kept thinking this, this man's life just died. He's a clienteers he trusts you, he needs and wants your help. Why would you say no to him? Like I've almost guilted in myself or shamed myself into it. And I continued though I just didn't feel comfortable, and I was like, you know, no, if you walked here, you can walk back. And probably after our fifth or sixth exchange of this, thunder cracks in the sky and the spring weather in Kentucky is very volatile.

Doing was was okay, and that probably wasn't a big deal. So I'm sorry you.

Had the tenacity that you had the idea that you should make sure that you have your phone and you dial tell us about this. Once he's inside the car, what happens, and increasingly in terms of your your fear, and at what point do you get the idea to dial your phone and connect with your boyfriend Jeff.

So, when we were standing outside the car, I felt very uncomfortable, but I couldn't really articulate why, but I just felt uncomfortable. When he sat down in the car, and I felt the weight of his body hit the seat and he shut the door. Some kind of alarm went off inside of me, and I just I knew that I wasn't safe. I didn't know to what degree, but something in me was saying, you're not safe.

So there was no.

I can't articulate specific thoughts, I just instinctively, instead of putting my purse where I usually do, I tucked it by my left leg in the car well, and I pulled my very surreptitiously pulled my cellphone out, opened it up, flipped it on, and I tucked it kind of under my left thigh where he couldn't see it. Now, I'll tell you I didn't think. I didn't think the battery was working, but I couldn't figure a way to get my phone plugged into the car charger where he wouldn't

To contest it? Because he said he only.

Lived three blocks away, so I expected this to be a very short ride. So once we passed what anybody could imagine would be three blocks, I said, well, you know, where are we going? Where does she live? What's the street number? And once I said that and we got close to the end of that street again, everything just amped up another level. I was certain at that point that I was in trouble and I wasn't safe. I

And just look at me.

And I glanced over at him, and he was looking at me as if we were on a date it was, and he said, it sure is nice being in this car with you. And that's the moment that I thought he's he wants he's going to rape me.

And that's when my.

Mind really started spinning, and I thought, what do what do I do? How do I stay se what can I do? And as the drive continues, keep in mind, this is my hometown.

I grew up here.

I drove right by the street that my parents lived on. At the time where I grew up. I grew drove by the street where my elementary school was. But I had no idea where I was.

I couldn't.

All I could think about were his hands. I was trying to dodge the next blow or at one point he put his hands between my More than one point he put his hands between my legs and I would move them, and I grabbed the steering wheel and tried to keep them from being able to touch my breast. And it just the further out we drove, the more fearful I became, the more desperate I became, and the angrier and more violent he became.

So at some point he sees my cell phone, and.

Because he'd been in prison up to just less than two weeks before, he hadn't seen a cell phone yet, he thought it was a digital recorder. So he starts yelling at me and saying, are you recording me?

Or you recording me?

And I grabbed the phone and I was and I said, no, this is my phone. And I put it up to my ear and Jeff was there. I couldn't believe it, but Jeff was there.

Wow.

And at some point during this drive his name just came out of nowhere, and so I said, do you want me to call you Hank or do you want me to call you mister Morrison? And I said it that way so that Jeff would know who had me. And during this conversation, during this conversation, I had asked him where had he been and what had been going on because I didn't remember that he had been a criminal client. I thought I had done an adoption for

All I was.

All I was trying to do was to keep him calm, because.

You're in a car, there's no room to go anywhere. Every time I did anything he didn't like, it was a threat or a strike or in my face and grabbing me or shaking me or stroking me. And all I wanted to do is keep his hands off me.

You right about the phone the phone call where Jeff talks to Morrison. Yeah, what does Morrison say to him before he hangs up?

He says, don't worry, I'll take care of her. And when he said that and he hung up, I cannot. I don't know that I can adequately tell you now or even in the book what that did to me, because I knew.

Probably not going to get out of that car.

Ever, and I frantically redialed, hoping and praying that Jeff that I had battery and that I didn't lose service and that Jeff could hear, and we continue on the entire drive. Is just this me saying, are we a most there yet? Why are you doing this to me? Eventually I started saying, is that an airport? Is that an elementary school?

Because I can't.

Think and I don't understand where I am so I'm just trying to describe to Jeff what I'm seeing so that hopefully he'll know where I am, or he could figure out or he could call the police and tell them where I am. And Morrison grabbed the phone a second time and was trying to talk to Jeff. And when I put the phone back up to my ear, Jeff said, do you want me to call the police? And I just said I don't know, because I thought he was my lifeline. What was he going to say

I was just I was done, And he was like a role.

Reversal became very calm, and he was like, we're almost there. It's right down this road. It's three houses down. I'll get out, just take me to the house. And so part of me thought, Okay, I'm wrong.

He really just.

Doesn't want to go to his hitco referred as his meme off house. We're driving down this country road and I said, okay. I counted as I passed your house, I said that's one, that's two, that's three. And I started to pull in the driveway and I said, this is a house. You're getting out. He's like, no, I counterground,

Mall is there.

There was some part to me it is desperate to think I was really taking him to his grandmother's house.

And he said, no, not there. Drive past it.

Back behind that barn. There was a second barn, even back behind the house. And I told you earlier. I knew that he wanted to hurt me when he told Jeff, don't worry, I'll take care of her. But when he told me to drive back behind that barn, at that point, there's nothing to lose.

He's going to kill me.

I know he's going to kill me. And at best I could hope he killed me on the roadway so somebody finds me. So I just said, I said no. I drove past the driveway. I reversed into it, which is something I've never ever done. But for whatever reason, I drove past the driveway, I reversed in it. I put my car in drive, and I'm screaming, get out of the car, get out of the car. I'm just

What looks like.

Slow motion, moving his right hand because he hold me down to his left hand, He's moving his right hand down the inside of his jean leg and I start screaming.

Jeff called the police, Call the police.

He's got a gun. He's going to kill me. And at that moment, my phonement that was lasting.

Jeff heard.

And when Morrison pulls up his pantlet, he had a nice strapped around his angle just assumed it was a gun. I just saw a black handle. And he pulls it up, and as he's pulling it over to my throat, he says, this is for those years in jail. And he I can see his biceps like flexing, triced muscles are the veins are popping up an environment. I can see him pressing that mince into my throat and I can feel the pressure of it, thinking this is it, this is it.

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Blood and then I getting be able to catch your breath and that's it. And I waited and I kept breathing, and I waited, and I felt the blood and I felt the warm blood running down my chest, and I thought, what's I'm still breathing, but I could see him. He was shoving that nice into my neck, and I kept thinking, how am I still breathing? And he said take your pants off. He was telling me what he was gonna.

Do to me.

I don't remember his exact words, but I do remember he told me what he was gonna do to me, and that he specifically said take your pants off. And I said, no, you're gonna If you're gonna rape me, you can rape my dead body. I was finally I had finally hit the rage phase. Up to this point, I've been confused, I've been scared. I've been trying to

Dead body out and do it. But I was not going to make it easier for him. And when I said no, what's the question?

Sorry? And you were a physically fit person, you said, you're the best shape you were in your an adult life at this point, And yeah, pumped with adrenaline. So you guys were both. He was hitting you, punching you. You were wrestling and fighting in this car.

Yeah, war'd you.

Once he pinned me down with my head like that, I was trapped. But when I said no, the next thing I know, and there's no The only explanation I have for this is some form of divine intervention, because there is no other nobody else was present. The next thing that happened was he was back over in his because he had been up out of his seat on top of the console trying to cut my throat. He's back over in his seat, the knife is in his hand,

I thought, this is it now. I didn't think this is it. You're gonna get away, You're gonna live. I thought, this is it.

You can make sure he doesn't get away with this. You know, you hear people say that that when they really think they're gonna die, they have these flashbacks, they think about things from their past. That for me, all I saw, and this always makes me this is this is one of the toughest parts. But I saw my elderly parents grieving because they never knew what happened to their daughter, and I just thought, you cannot let that happen.

To find me. So then we really started fighting, and I have permanent injuries to this day from that fight. And it was violent and it was.

I mean, both of us were just kicking and punching and anything we could get a hold of, and I kept my eye on the knife all the time. I wanted to make sure. I was just scared I was gonna fill that plunged into my stomach. So I was watching the knife, and I kept trying to use my left hand and jerk the.

Keys out of the ignition.

Because my thought was, I'm gonna jernk the keys of the Ignition. I'm gonna throw them out into the field, and he's not gonna be able to drive off. He's gonna be stuck walking. And we were in the middle of nowhere, So I'm desperately trying to jerk the keys of the Ignition and I couldn't. I couldn't get my hands on them. So then I started trying to kick open the door, and I couldn't kick open the door, so I was trying with my hands to open the latch.

I forgot the keys.

I'm still fighting with them, but now I'm like, just get out of this car.

And so we fight. I get my again.

We're on a farm on a kind of a dirt gravel road. I get my left foot out the door a little bit, start to leverage myself out.

He pulls me back in.

We fight some more, and I just keep thinking, that truck's gonna pass me, that truck's gonna pass me. I did it the second time. I got my foot out, he jerks me back in the third time. I don't know what I did different. I don't know what happened, but I was able to leverage my leg against the base of the door and just pull myself out with my legs and my one leg was trapped with my

And it was.

Difficult to put yourself in front of oncoming truck on a country road. My body I could feel my legs wanting to dive over into the ditch, and I just kept saying to myself, you're either going to die out here with him, or you're gonna get hit by a truck. And I choose the truck. I would much rather get

Where we are. I don't know where I am, and he I think, kind of, you.

Know, froze for a minute. But fortunately there's been a truck that I didn't see that drove past. They saw everything, and they voluntarily stopped. It was a husband and wife with their children, and they stopped and got out of the truck. And when I turned around and I saw this man and this woman standing in the middle of the road, it was like it was like I knew I was going to be okay. Like up to that point, I just kept thinking, if I run, Morrison's going to

You you were on the phone as I Aparton made the textas were called, the police were called. There was two phone call from Jeff and from these people that helped you, VICKI and Kredel Gibsons and this other man named David Rowe that we talked about a little bit later. So what was his behavior? What was Morrison's behavior once these people arrived intervened on your behalf? How did he play these three people? How did he act and what did he say?

It was so bizarre.

I don't know what I would have expected. But he sat in the car for a few minutes. The witnesses all hear me telling none one one of the story. I'm yelling at the same time I'm talking to them I'm yelling to them, be careful. He's got a knife. He tried to kill me, he tried to rape me. I was afraid for their safety and I wanted dim't understand that this is a violent guy and they need to be careful.

And for the first few minutes he sat in the car.

Then he gets out of the car and he starts talking to them and to them referring to himself as he says, don't don't you know who I am? I'm Morrison. He just refers himself as less and.

Don't you know Morrison?

And they all three stop and kind of look at each other and they're like, no, they could just it took everybody. We were all shocked that he comes out and he's like, look, don't you know me? And he starts telling them that I'm just tripping, that we're out there together, that I'm mad at him, I tried to steal money from him, that I've made all this up and they can just go on about their way. This is just a little squabble. And I said, again, be careful.

That he would rape me. What a treat that would be for me.

And he continues to talk to them, and so I believe it was Codell got out of the back of it is Codell or David got a pipe out of the back of their truck, and the two of them formed kind of like a wall between Morrison and myself, because once he got out of the car, he started walking towards him and then kind of around him like he was trying to get around them to get to me. So he continues to kind of shout stuff, and he he's showing it's a parent. He still wants to physically

To stay here. The police will sort it out.

And I am. And again, I know this doesn't make sense probably to your listeners, but this whole time, I keep thinking they're gonna leave.

They're gonna leave. This is dangerous. They don't know if he's got a gun, and they're just gonna leave me here with him. So I begged them and sobbing.

Can hear me talking to the nine oneer an operator and then looking at them and saying, please don't leave, Please don't leave. If you leave me, he'll kill me. And I'm because I'm afraid they're gonna leave. I'm wanting to tell them, you know, the police are almost here. The police are almost here. And I keep saying, when are they coming? When are they coming?

So we start to hear sirens.

You can't see any lights, but it's from a it's from a distance. So we're out in the country and you can hear. You start to hear the sound of the sirens rolling over the hills and come up and meeting us on the road. And when we all hear that sound, we stop and everybody looks, and Morrison gets really nervous and he starts looking around. He goes back to the car and he pulls out a bag. I bagged it to that moment, I had not, but I

You saw some things in that bag, you weren't certain, but there was a couple of things you saw for sure certain. What what did you see in that green bag?

Well, again, first my thoughts, he pulled that and when it so, it startled me and I was focused on that bag and it appeared to have a roll of duct tape and a hammer and some rope, and I just thought, that's what he was going to do to me behind that barn.

That's that's that's it.

Unfortunately, that bag was never found. I begged and begged for somebody to look for it. I went out and looked for it the following Monday, but he had run off into the tree line. And law enforcement starts streaming in kind of one at a time. You know, it's it's a it's a rural area. They don't get a lot of kidnapping calls active ones. So volunteers are coming in, police, sheriff's deputies, they're trying to gather get organized. I'm freaking out.

And I remember I turned.

Around and looked kind of almost behind me, and I was like what, and he said, you were kidnapped, and I just thought who would kidnap me? Like I still, even though I just had lived it, I was still not able to call it what it was or see what it was. I just found myself either completely terrified or in trial practice mode. How he was either terrified and sobbing or looking at the scene trying to see what we needed for a trial, and there just didn't

And he.

Asked me a couple of questions, and ems kept wanting to check me out. I was bleeding and I didn't want him to touch me. I didn't want to be touched, and they kept saying. They kept trying to coax me into the ambulance. They said, please let us check you out. We just we just need to make sure that you're okay.

But I couldn't.

I was more interested in what's going on with the search. Are they going to find him?

Where is he? Is he close to me?

Because all I knew was he disappeared in some trees. I didn't know where he was.

So I'm watching.

The Bourbon County Sheriff's deputies and they they did an excellent job. They very quickly, so I could see their cars all kind of came into a circle. So I thought, okay, he must be they think he's in that circle. And they found him and I heard them radio the trooper and I said, we found him. He's you know, he's he's kind of hidden himself and he won't come out.

So I walked.

Car and I just glanced beaucept did not want to look at him, and I just said, yeah, that's him. And as I turned to walk away, I could see how the queer of my eye. He starts wagging his head no, and he's screaming, why are you doing this to me? Why are you making this up? Why are you doing this to me? And I just snapped and I ran towards that car and was beating on the window. I called him and said things that I shouldn't say

Now let's talk about what happens. We need to sort of move along a little bit towards and not cover every ridiculous thing that his defense attorney and he contends, needless to say, what this book really entails a lot of is your fight to be able to gather in for evidence to assist the police. You were an attorney, so obviously no, you know what credible, valuable evidence and what kind of evidence is necessary for the type of

They charged them with resisting arrest, which is a misdemeanor, and it had nothing to do with me. It was that infuriated me, which I mean, it's fine to charge him with that, But they charged him with a misdemeanor resisting arrest. They charged him with sexual assault, a lower

So hard he dug a divot out of that stone.

That was one of the pieces of evidence I had to beg somebody to collect, but I expected him to be charged rightfully. So with attempted rape, I wanted them to consider attempted murder. I wanted them, but they got kidnapping, which on its own, kidnapping in Kentucky is only and I say only because when you believe somebody's going to kill you, when they get out of prison, ten to

I did my own research.

So they charged him with one significant charge, which was the kidnapping. The sexual charge, which was I thought, very weak.

And then.

A misdemeanor, and with certain crimes, if you charge them, there can be no eligible there's no eligibility to be released until you serve at least eighty five percent of the time, which again these other charges would have carried that, but what they charged him with didn't. So that night at the hospital, when the trooper told me what they charged him with, I said, don't get your blue book. I'll walk through the elements. I will show you that

Like great, Like that's great. So I got out of the hospital bed.

And went and demanded a full drug screen, hair, blood, urine, whatever they could do to go back as far as they can go back, because I have never done drugs, and to me, that was I was thrilled that he said that, because it was easy to disprove.

So from that point.

Forward, I started drafting emails. The friend that I mentioned earlier, Steve Shoring, that's the defense attorney. He sent letters to the office. We're saying, you know, we think it could be more significant charges. Here's the evidence, please collect this. I paid for my I made car payments and insured my car for a year, even though I had it parked on my family farm. Because the car was the crime scene, nobody looked at it, nobody took photos.

I took photos.

I'm the ones who requested photos of my injuries be taken, and all the photos shown at trial were photos that I took. Nobody else took them. So I spent the first several months three months after this happened, I didn't sleep. Every night, I would push my dresser in front of my door in my house.

I had all new windows, put in, new locks, exterior lights.

Bought a new gun, did some training, didn't go anywhere without a gun, only went to my house and to work. I stayed home for five days after it happened. Then I went back to work, but I never went anywhere without my gun, and I almost never slept. And I was so exhausted and so tired of asking somebody to pay attention to this case. After multiple calls that I still have saying called here, this person knows this, here's a piece of evidence, I still have my shirt.

I still have my necklace.

Please come look at my car. You'll see how violent it was. You can see the mice damage the inside of my car. You know, anything and nothing was happening. And you know when you when you go to bed every night and you wake up every morning more tired than you were when you went to bed, and you're literally just waiting for someone to kill you. Because the last thing he said to me when I was pulling out of the car, when I was running out towards that truck, was it doesn't matter if you get away,

He's going to come back.

So I'm doing everything I can, you know, without interfering in the case. I'm trying to build it and think about it. I'm talking to my friends and our lawyers, and I was like, you know, what's going on. Why can't I get anybody to pay attention to this. So at some point I was sitting in my office looking out the window, and I had noticed they were bringing some inmates in from another county to come to come to court in Scott County and it just clicked and I thought, Okay, here's my answer.

My office.

I went over to the courthouse. I was trying to figure out how the backstairs work where they bring the inmates. On my way back to the office, I ran into one of the sheriff steputings and asked them, when you transport prisoners, you know what steps do you bring them up?

That was my hope.

I was just trying to buy myself some time that if he was able to make bail, that at least I would have warning and he would be then in the Scott County jail and I could do whatever I had to do.

To keep myself safe.

So after months of this, I thought, the only thing I can do to stop living with this constant fear is to just take care of things myself.

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Noill we necessary daily where every I lost in terms conditions eighteen plus, so.

I came up with a plan.

Now, luckily you talked yourself out or we're talked out of this plan, and you fought more justice the conventional way, the way you knew. But this is a great demonstration of the incredible fear, the real tangible fear that this man would kill you. As a bail hearing, you realize that he was living with his grandmother three blocks away. His grandmother was calling you to basically say, listen, you got my son all wrong or my grandson all wrong.

Well, I'm not allowed to know what happens in grand jury. It's all secret, other than I'm allowed to know what charges come out of it.

I had asked that they.

Present attempted rate and attempted murder and some other charges. I was told old by the prosecutor that they had presented it and the grand jury wouldn't invite. So I asked to hear the tapes because I didn't believe them, because just the statements from the Gibsons alone, without without me being without my statements being considered, their statements would have been enough for that. And once I demanded to hear the tapes, I was told there was a mistake.

Said, well, what did they say about the rape or the you know, the murder.

And he said, well, I didn't talk about that, and I'm like, well, if you're the only witness, he said, well, they didn't ask me questions about that, and so he I knew that it hadn't been presented, but he said there was only one question that was asked and it was a woman and she asked why did she let him in her car?

And that question, I think is what drove me to consider.

Taking justice into my hands because I just kept thinking, they'll never convict to my kidnapping. They're going to blame me, They're going to think, you know, and so I just

Let's get to the trial, because we have a lot of story to go to explain for the audience to hear. We have on the line the former judge Rob Johnson, judge presiding at this trial. Unfortunately, the line seems to be not very good, and I want to make sure that people get the story. So Sharon, I'm going to get you to continue with this trial, telling me what happens at this trial and well the plea agreement and

Well, the Friday before the trial was supposed to start. On the following Wednesday, I got a call to come in and meet with the prosecutor's office and I was so exc I thought, Okay, they're going to prep me, we're going to talk about questions, We're finally going to do this. And they brought me in and they told me about a.

Letter that.

Morrison had written in jail and he was writing it to his attorney. Basically, it's his version of the story, and he had one of the cellmates signed it as a witness, and that cellmate told the jailer. So the jailer affects a copy to the prosecutor's office because it's not privileged when a third party.

Find it.

So I got to read it and he basically admitted to everything. And then the prosecutor asked me, keep in mind, this is a year later so a year had already passed if I would accept a five year offer on this case, which would mean he literally would be available to be let out of jail the same day because he would only serve of that five years, which again they didn't explain that to me. I had to figure that out on my own. So I had a pretty

Nothing less than that. And the only reason.

A life sentence was available was because this guy had a Lenky Fellon pass. So he's what in Kentucky we call it a persistent felony offender. So even though kidnapping only was ten to twenty years, being a persistent felony offender bumps it up to twenty to life, So twenty then becomes the minimum on just that one chart. So of course five years was nothing I would even consider, and I explained to them.

He tried to kill me, He's going to kill me. No, I'd rather lose a trial than agree to five years.

So they gave me a copy of that letter, I asked for it. I went, spent the weekend at Keiko's, made huge exhibits, stuff passed out to the jury, drove back Monday, had to borrow friends g because then it was were too big for.

My car, and dropped him.

All of the proces years off that I wanted to be prepped, and didn't hear much other than show up at the courthouse at noon on Wednesday. So I'm driving to the courthouse at noon on windy day. Again, haven't been prepped, don't have a clue what I'm going to be asked, don't know anything about what's about to happen.

And I get a call from the.

Trooper and he said, the prosecutor and the defense have agreed to twenty years, but the judge won't take it unless you agreed. And I said twenty years and he says yeah, And I said again, very aggressive no, And I hung up on him. And of course, and Steve, the same friend that I keep mentioning, he was driving me and he said, Sharon, he said, they're not prepared. They're not going to pursue the sex charge. It's a

Came back and.

I don't know.

If you want to hear Judge Johnson's perspective.

On it, I would say him, I'd like, I said, his line has been compromised, so I'm going to have to get you to tell his side.

Out of this, Okay. So we show up.

Several months later for what's for the sentencing saying and the judges what's interesting A lot of people don't understand is judges have no idea what goes on in the case other than what's shown to them in the courtroom. They don't know about the investigation. They don't know my story. They only hear it as it's played out in trial. And since since he entered a for agreed to twenty years, there was no trial. So judges get what's called a they get a report. A PSI is what it's called it.

Well.

I had his attention. He was leaning up over the bench trying trying to hear what I was saying.

Steve was like, you've got to speak up. The judge can't hear you. So finally I get out.

Basically, I want you to give him as much as you can give him. Twenty years isn't enough. He's going to come back and kill me. He tried to kill me once. Please do whatever you can to keep me safe. I was like, you're the only one who can keep me safe.

And the judge.

Commented on the sentencing report, the defense and their arguments and said something to the effect that he's one of the most dangerous men that he's seen in his courtroom. He's had a long list of victims of before me and now me, and that if he's out of prison, he's concerned there'll be other victims to follow, and that this was going to stop, and this is going to stop today, and that he has now been sentenced to life in prison.

And I couldn't believe it.

It was.

Definitely a life changing moment for me.

I didn't even hear I don't even know what happened after that. Steve took my friends and I out to lunch after because I just kept saying, Steve, I don't know, I don't understand what happened. And we sat down at lunch, and you know, Steve explained, even though it's a life sentence, he's available for parole in twenty years, because in Kentucky life doesn't mean life, it means twenty years. But at least, you know, if he had been given a twenty year sentence,

So we left that day.

I thought, finally, finally I get my life back. Finally I don't have to take a gun with me into the grocery store to the church I don't have I can actually drive with my windows down or sit on my back porch, which I've done none of those things for a year. And a few weeks later I get noticed that Morrison has filed emotion to withdraw his plea and claims that he had no idea what he was doing on that day, and you know, to speed things

They were not going to do it.

So then we start what I call the second trial, and there's motions and motions, and they the defense tries to get the judge removed, the defense tries to change it to a different venue. They try all types of different things, and we head into the trial, which I would say to you there was a strong probability that there would have been a not guilty verdict if it weren't for the outstanding witnesses that I had. The defense did a really good job picking me apart, picking apart

You cannot make them.

Well, I'm just stubborn, I guess because on Cross I decide I'm going to talk about it. And I did, and I was desperately wanting that charge because I wanted as much time as possible. I just kept thinking, the minute this guy gets out of prison, he is going to come back for me. I need as much time as I can get. So on Cross, they're saying to me things like, you know you were so traumatized that

So this is my clue.

Like, show me the medical records so that we can take care of this problem. Because if I was on the jury, I would think this poor woman, she was so scared she doesn't even remember that she drove her own car to the hospital, like it would completely discredit me. Well, nobody cleaned it up when they got up to do redirect, didn't ask me a thing about it. So when I got off the stand, I thought I just lost the case. They're going to think that I was so that they're

Say?

What I did say, which was she's somewhere in Bourbon County and someone's trying to kill her. So he did an outstanding job. Codell and Vicki Gibson, they were outstanding witnesses.

Did you have a quess result?

And the result?

Well, I knew that the jury had recommended life, and you would think I would walk in the room fairly confident because he'd given him life before and the jury recommended life. But this is just you know, when it's your when it's your life, there's no I waside once again. I stood in front of him and I shook and

And he again.

He meant, you know, at this point he'd heard the trial, so he knew the evidence, and he knew the witness' testimony, and even the expert that the defense brought in spoke that the defendant was manipulative and calculating. And so he again sendenced him to life and said that he found him to be a threat to society and there weren't going to be any more victims after me, and he send them to life. And again I've melted.

Down in the webt And two years later his appeal was.

Exhausted with the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court, thankfully this time upheld it. And so I have till March of twenty twenty six to.

Not have to look over my shoulder.

What happened January thirtieth, two thousand and eight, Bourbon County. You tell us what your aspirations were, what happened in that.

Regard January thirtieth of two thousand and.

Eight, eighteen pardon me, oh, okay, that's.

Okay, well, I drove to Frankfurt and filed papers to run for the Commonwealth Attorney's office. The office that prosecuted my case is were not called district attorneys in Kentucky. It's the Commonwealth attorney, right and these I ran against the men that prosecuted my case. So I filed to run against them. I called them and said, I appreciate the things that you did do, but as you know, I was horrified by the longest of things that weren't done,

To a million dollars full cash. Nobody ever told me.

I missed years of sleep thinking he could get out any day. And if I had known that, I would have I would have never planned to kill him.

I didn't.

I wouldn't think I had to, But just little things like that, they just weren't attended to. So I filed the rhyme I campaigned. The campaign was rough because of the very people that you know were supposed to have prosecuted my case attacked me and they said I was lying about this the case. So I posted the Supreme Court ruling and said, read it for yourself, you know, read it for yourself. And I won a significant margin. And since that time, I've been running the office and

I keep in mind, I.

Have been in all of this man because he was an excellent judge, and I avoided him, had spent ten minutes around him all these years. But he had been our circuit judge for twelve years and then he moved up to the Court of Appeals for two years, and his election and they was the same as mine. But he lost his Court of Appeals campaign. That wasn't just a completely different ballgame. That was eleven counties as opposed

And no, he's not gonna get paid anything, but wouldn't that feel great to work for the community.

And he said he'd consider it, and a few days later he called me back and said he'd take the job. Then we started working together in December of eighteen and the best part of the story is November eighth of twenty nineteen, exactly a year later he proposed and we are now engaged. So I get to marry.

My hero.

That's incredible, incredible story.

Absolutely you.

Before I let you go, I wanted to mention the website www own your moment dot org that may help others that you have it's important to include in your book and also real true stories. There's a film and TV development company that has a little film clip online. Tell us a little bit about if you have a website for this book, or how people might be able to contact you, your Facebook page, do any of that? Tell us how they might contact you or find more about this book.

There is you can It's on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. And there's a video that a professional film company made for me and they're sharing used author page on Facebook and it's got the video with a fifty second video it's my actual nine to one one calls. It's very compelling that they can find out more about me on Facebook and on your Moment is really for people crime victims. And one of the best things I ever did was read Gavin de Becker's book, The Gift of Fear. Everybody

Absolutely, so I sorry, go ahead.

I just would strongly recommend that he does an outstanding job teaching you what to look for. And then I try to break it down and a more simplified version using my story as an example.

Right, and it's an incredible story. Indeed, thank you very much, Sharon. Kidnapped by a client, the incredible two story of an attorney's fight for justice, Sharon Muse, and I want to thank very much former Judge Rob Johnson had technical problems with his phone line, but thank you very much for Rob Johnson being available for this interview. Thank you very much, Sharon Muse for you kidnapped by a climate. You have a great night.

Good night, yes, sir, thank you, good bye,