Fatal Beauty

by Burl Barer

  It is difficult to say when something is a delusion, and when it is simply a different view. “For instance,” said neuropsychologist Max Coltheart, from Macquarie University, “it seems to me that if you believed two thousand years ago that the earth was round, that’s a delusion. It’s a delusion because nobody else believes it and you’ve got no evidence for it. It happens to be true, but you can have delusions that are true. The crucial thing is, do you have real evidence for this?”

  Rhonda’s delusions about pagan homosexuals performing human sacrifices in the underground refuge of translucent, little arachnids outstrip alien abductions in the absurd-delusion category. There is at least a scientific and sociological explanation for the delusion of alien abductions.

  If a person awakes from sleep feeling paralyzed, and has the sensation of floating up to the ceiling, they are experiencing a remarkably common phenomenon technically termed hypnagogia, or hypnogogia. Thirty percent of all people experience this combination of sensations, but some people are eager and/or willing to believe that these physical sensations mean that they are being abducted by aliens. For other people who have this experience, the idea of alien abduction never occurs to them.

  The explanation is very basic, and easy to understand: The people who claimed to have experienced alien abductions had believed in UFOs all of their lives. Their mental model of the world included invading and intrusive aliens. Someone whose mental model of the world doesn’t include visitors from other planets dropping by their bedrooms would never even think that the twin sensations of numbness and “floating” were related to visitations from outer space.

  You can explain to a person who holds such beliefs that there are other explanations, but it is unlikely that you will convince them that aliens, gremlins, ghosts or demons are not responsible. When related to religious beliefs, delusions are more difficult to deal with, because religions have long traditions, devout followers and continual reinforcement of a particular view of reality.

  Rhonda Glover’s delusions found their origins in a forced convergence of biblical passages, paranoia, grandiosity and local geography. In the long-standing tradition of mental patients personalizing sacred texts to bolster self-image and/or exceptionality, Glover envisioned herself on a mission from God to deal with Satan, now conveniently located in Austin, Texas.

  In a model of dualism unfamiliar to Jesus and His Disciples, Rhonda Glover had become the Lord’s “Terminatrix” in the battle between a good god and a bad god. The good god, not quite able to fend for himself, needed Rhonda Glover. She would save her son—save the world—and reveal the sordid truth. All she needed was someone willing to listen. She found willing listeners from the Austin Police Department’s homicide division.

  “What’s going to happen to me now?” asked Glover.

  “There is still some work to do,” replied the detective. “You will have to go through the legal process, and that would include appearing in court.”

  “Can I get a bond?”

  “Yes, but the judge has to agree to that. I can’t guarantee anything.”

  “I need to talk to an attorney,” said Glover. “I haven’t been allowed my phone call yet.”

  “I can’t give you one because you are in federal custody, and I have to abide by their rules. They’ll have to tell you what is going to happen from here, as far as the federal stuff goes.”

  Before Rhonda was transported to the Travis County Jail, she gave Walker written permission to search her Houston apartment and “retrieve certain things that she claimed would validate her story of pagan sacrifices, sexual abuse of children, murder and clones.”

  Detectives were authorized by her to seek out specific items, including DNA material in an Identigene box, and men’s shoes with what she believed was blood on them. “She told me to ask for Natalie, the manager,” Walker recalled. “We didn’t suggest any of this. It was all Rhonda Glover’s idea.”

  The deputy marshals came in, handcuffed Glover and removed her from the office. Glover was held on a million dollar bond. The interview ended; the investigation continued. “Our next destination,” said Walker, “was Hays, Kansas.”

  9

  Walker and Fortune drove to Hays first thing in the morning of July 29, 2004. “As soon as we arrived, we met with Trooper Doug Rule of the Kansas Highway Patrol. He was the man who actually arrested Rhonda Glover.”

  “I was advised,” reported Rule, “of a possible murder suspect driving a white RV, with Indiana plates, in the area. I found a matching vehicle at the Golden Ox truck stop. [I] ordered the driver to step out, and it was Rhonda Glover. She was placed in custody on the outstanding federal warrant. Her son was in the RV, and I verified that he was unharmed. After that, Social Services took custody of the boy, and placed him in temporary foster care.”

  Trooper Rule told detectives that the RV was a white Gulf Stream motor home with the aforementioned Indiana plates. “He also gave us the VIN number from his handwritten report,” said Walker, “and told us where the RV was stored on West Fifty-fifth in Hays, Ellis County, Kansas. Rule arranged for a Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent, Delbert Hawel, to process the vehicle for us. ”

  Agent Hawel, Detectives Walker and Fortune, and Trooper Rule convened at one o’clock that afternoon with the county attorney Tom Drees. “Mr. Drees reviewed the draft of the search warrant affidavit,” said Walker. “He made a few minor changes, and then graciously assisted me in preparing a return order to have any evidence seized in Ellis County, Kansas, returned to Travis County, Texas.”

  Under Kansas law, Texas law enforcement could not actually execute the search warrant, although they could be present to assist. Agent Hawel, a Kansas peace officer, would be the one to execute the warrant.

  If this sounds like a tedious and time-consuming process, that is because law enforcement personnel must be the first to abide by the law. Violations of law in the process of a criminal investigation can have horrific consequences.

  The affidavit, warrant and return orders were then presented to Judge Edward Bouker, of the 23rd Judicial District, Ellis County, Kansas. At 2:32 P.M., Judge Bouker approved the affidavit, and a search warrant was issued for the 2002 Gulf Stream.

  “Agent Hawel left to pick up some equipment to process the RV,” recounted Walker. “Fortune and I followed Trooper Rule to the Ellis County Drug Enforcement Unit. The building was inside a fenced area with a locked gate. The building itself was also locked and alarmed.”

  Once inside, Walker saw a motor home with the license plate confirming it was Rhonda Glover’s. “It was the only one in the building,” commented Walker, “and Rule said that it was the one that she was in when he arrested her.”

  There was an evidence seal on the RV’s entry door. “I put that there myself,” said Rule, “and I had custody of the keys as well. I drove the RV to the impound area, and I’m the only person who’s entered it. I didn’t search or tamper with anything. Once I got it to the impound building, I locked the door and sealed it.”

  Agent Hawel showed up fifteen minutes later and executed the warrant five minutes after that, starting with overall photographs. On site with Fortune and Walker for the search were Hawel, from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation; Doug Rule, of the Kansas Highway Patrol; and Deputy Scott Braun, who was with Rule when Rhonda Glover was arrested.

  When Agent Hawel opened the exterior compartments on the sides of the RV, Walker noticed minor collision damage on the left-hand side. After photos were completed, Hawel began searching the RV’s exterior compartments.

  “In the forward compartment, right side,” said Walker, “there was some luggage. In a black bag were several items of interest, including two photographs of James Joste with a male child.”

  The first cursory search also yielded a pink floral dress, two pairs of open-toed sandals and, in another bag, a short black top with a black halter top. “Then we broke the seal on the RV. Using the keys provided by Trooper Rule, Hawel unlocked the door, entered an
d took overall photos of the interior.

  “When I looked inside the door,” said Walker, “I saw a brownish stain on the floor next to the entry step, on the right side of the RV below the passenger seat. I asked Agent Hawel if he had any Hemosticks to test for blood, but he did not. I asked for a swab of the brownish stain.”

  Walker collected the rental contract for the RV. “The license plate wasn’t correct, but the name on the contract was Rhonda Glover. The RV was large, approximately the length of a bus. The interior was as follows—driver’s seat and controls left side front, with swivel driver’s seat. On the forward dashboard there were several maps, none of which were marked with a route. There was a Styrofoam cup in the drink holder of the dash that had cash in it. There was a pack of Marlboro Light 100's on the dash as well.”

  Opposite the driver’s chair on the right side was the entry area with steps, noted Walker. “On the right was a passenger’s swivel chair. It was below this chair that I had observed the brownish stain. Between the driver’s and passenger area was a walkway to the living area of the RV. The carpet was tan-colored, and the walkway portion was covered in plastic. ”

  Hawel started searching from the back of the RV to the front, and he found another brownish red spot in the bathroom area, and a sock nearby with a similar stain. Then he opened a drawer to the left of the bathroom vanity, and inside he found several wigs. “They all had similar-colored dark brown hair,” recalled Walker, “and I requested samples from each of them. Agent Hawel found a brown key fob with two keys on it. One of them looked like a house key, possibly to the Mission Oaks house.”

  In a sack in the bedroom closet was a black leather Glock holster, and in the right-side closet, rear of the galley refrigerator and forward of the bedroom, there was a paper bag stuffed up in the top left corner of the closet. “An unusual place,” commented Walker. “In the bag were a black short top and a pair of black jeans. These clothes matched the description of the clothing Ms. Glover changed into at Red’s firing range on July twenty-first.”

  Walker also tagged as evidence a pair of yellow shooting glasses located in the passenger compartment, plastic bags with three .22-caliber expended cartridge casings, six 9mm casings and one .45-caliber casing. “There was also a black leather Bible with pages marked for passages on those that commit murder and manslaughter,” recalled Walker. “I found a large amount of cash in a handbag on the rear left side of the kitchen area in a cabinet. The money was later turned over to Kansas Highway trooper Rule to secure.”

  One peculiar item of interest found in the RV was a U.S. Postal Express envelope. Inside was a letter written to the RV rental company, and a large amount of cash. The letter stated that it was written by a friend of Glover’s named Katherine Banks, and that Glover had been involved in a fatality collision on a motorcycle accident and that she was recovering. The money was sent to cover the rental expenses for Glover not returning the RV on time, and it covered the rental fee for an additional three days.

  “Even if Ms. Banks exists,” commented Jeff Reynolds, “Rhonda Glover was not in a fatality accident with a motorcycle or anything else. It would seem that Rhonda wrote that letter herself to buy time and explain why the RV hadn’t been returned.”

  Inside the mobile home was a brown purse, the rental documents for the RV, various other receipts and a card for the Wig Mart in Houston. There were also wigs seemingly matching the one described by those who had seen Glover in Austin at the time of Joste’s murder. Evidence was shipped to Austin, and in the secure evidence-viewing area, detectives opened the paper sack containing the brown purse. Inside were several items, including a perfume bottle, coins, and a fired 9mm shell casing, which was packaged separately. This item was then submitted to ballistics for testing.

  On the day they searched the RV, it had been exactly eight days since Rhonda Glover pulled the trigger on her Glock 9mm, killing her son’s father. She didn’t tell Ronnie the true circumstances of his father’s death. She told him that his dad had died of a heart attack.

  “Ronnie is going to grow up knowing that his mother killed his father,” commented Bryan Case, Travis County assistant district attorney, “and not only that, but someday he is likely to find out the real circumstances under which it was done, the manner in which it was done. It is going to be horrible for him.”

  Sherlyn Shotwell, a woman who had devoted so many years to dealing with her daughter’s problems, now concerned herself with the emotional well-being of her grandson. “There is a special place in heaven for women such as her,” said Fred Wolfson. “She has devoted her entire adult life to meeting the needs of others.”

  “When her grandson reaches puberty,” commented counselor Leonard Buschel, “he will predictably struggle with a love/hate relationship with his mother, and the loss of his father will affect him even more when the full implications of his mother’s act sink in. There will be tremendous anger, resentment and frustration—much of it inner directed or misdirected. Counseling to deal with these issues is more available now than ever before.”

  According to Rhonda and Jimmy’s son, the story told in the media basically made this entire horrific event into a cliché in which his mother was portrayed as a gold digger and his father as a sucker for beautiful women. He insisted that this was not the case, and that Rhonda Glover was not after his father’s money. After all, he pointed out, if money was her motivation, all she had to do was take him to court the day her son was born, and compel him to pay child support—no doubt a large sum of money.

  He also asserted that the public did not know that he was the true victim in this case, as he was there through the entire madness of what his parents were going through. He saw everything, day in and day out. By his own admission, he saw things that a child should never have to see in an entire lifetime, much less at the ages of six to ten years of age. His side of this story was never heard, and he was never allowed to tell what both his parents had put him through with all of the drugs and insanity that he was forced to live with every day with them as his parents. Still a minor, Ronnie must follow the guidance of his guardians. He hoped to tell the entire story some day from his perspective, in hopes that it might help others heal from similar trauma.

  According to research by a team of doctors and psychologists in the United Kingdom, children seemed to find it less difficult to accept the death of the father at the mother’s hands than the reverse. This might be due to complexities in attachment and identification with the mother as a victim of chronic domestic violence, either real or represented.

  “If the mother repeatedly tells the child that Daddy is mean and evil,” commented Donna Mc-Cooke, “even if he isn’t, the child will obviously see themselves, and mom, as victims.” These children may be more difficult to treat for post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological problems, as their symptoms may be less evident to their caregivers.

  Children might not grieve for the loss of a father perceived, rightly or wrongly, as violent and dangerous. They might even be relieved at his death and instead grieve for the loss of their mother by imprisonment.

  The further removed in time the mother’s arrest is from the incident, the more shocked and numb the children seemed to be, stated the British study, whether or not they witnessed the killing. In five cases where the mother killed the father, the crime was not immediately detected …

  When a father kills a mother, the children’s contact with the father usually comes to an end. When a mom kills a dad, the child/mother contact continues in 95 percent of the cases. Contact with the mother tends to reduce over time. All current research seems to contradict the common practice of turning the child over to relatives of the person who did the killing.

  “Returning the children to the perpetrators or their relatives in cases where the father killed the mother,” stated crime researcher Travis Webb, “has not been associated with a positive outcome for the children. Also, kids whose father killed the mother have worse outcomes when t
hey have many different foster placements. When it comes to children whose mother killed their father, those placed with the mother’s relatives after the killing are poorer in terms of health, schooling and longer-term social and emotional adaptation than those who were placed in foster care. None of the children where one parent killed the other did well when returned to the care of the perpetrator or their relatives.”

  Children of mothers who killed their fathers may also do less well in therapy, as keeping loyal to the killer—their mother—makes it difficult to acknowledge angry or sad feelings. Rhonda Glover repeatedly stated that she wished she could be a mother to her child, and perhaps there exist mother/child relationships post prison that have some semblance of health. So far, researchers have not found any. We doubt, wrote the UK research team, that a man or woman who has killed can be an effective parent; deal with unspoken fears, compliance or rebellion; and provide a reliable model for dealing with aggression.

  Mental-health-care professionals believe it is their duty to advise civil courts that are asked to return children to a parent who has killed that they must consider not just the debt to society, nor the risk of further homicide, but the need of the children for competent, trustworthy parenting.

  “Competent” and “trustworthy” are not adjectives associated with Rhonda Glover, and her parenting skills already resulted in her loss of parental custody of her only child.

  “Rhonda’s son is no dummy, and he hasn’t been totally in the dark about his parents,” commented Fred Wolfson. “He knows what it was like being with his mother and father when they were both at their most delusional. After all, she ran off with him more than once when she was not taking her medications. He is a bright young man, and his biggest challenge isn’t going to be dealing with this tragedy—the challenge is to avoid the illusion of exceptionality. There are plenty of people who have faced horrific situations, tragedies and nightmares. That doesn’t reduce the pain, but he is not alone.”