Mormon in chains sex case: The story of Joyce McKinney
LONDON — It has been 39 years since she committed the crime that cemented her name in history for a sex scandal that captivated Britain and America. But, Joyce McKinney’s life and story still captures worldwide interest.
“Madame Mayhem,” as she has more recently been coined, was the center of a 1970s court case known to many as the “Mormon in chains sex case” or “The Case of the Manacled Mormon.”
Her story was later documented in a novel titled, “Joyce McKinney and the Manacled Mormon” by Anthony Delano in 1978, covering her court case, and a documentary aptly called, “Tabloid,” by filmmaker Errol Morris, which centered around the media frenzy that followed.
Born in August of 1949 in North Carolina, McKinney entered beauty pageants and was described as “brilliantly intelligent.” She became Miss Wyoming in 1973 around the same time she moved to Utah and joined the Church of the Latter Day Saints.
It was there that McKinney met then-19-year-old Kirk Anderson, a mormon, in Salt Lake City in summer of 1979. The two had a short love affair, that ended when Anderson disappeared.
According to various media reports, Anderson had consulted his bishop, who assigned him to missions in England to escape the love-stricken woman.
McKinney moved to Los Angeles, and in February 1977 hired a private investigator to find her long-lost love, who she believed had been brainwashed by the Mormon church. When the investigator tracked Anderson down, McKinney, with the help of her devoted friend Keith May, traveled to England.
According to witness accounts, after locating Anderson, May had posed as a potential Mormon convert and booked an appointment with the soon-to-be victim.
According to Anderson’s version, he was taken at gunpoint into a car where McKinney was waiting disguised in a wig. McKinney and May then kidnap Anderson taking him to a cottage in Devon. On the third night of his captivity, Anderson told the court that McKinney had sex with him against his will. And only after promising to marry McKinney, did his kidnappers let him free.
But McKinney said he went willingly. In her version, the three went to the cottage in Devon, where McKinney said she enticed Anderson with food and backrubs, but said the man was impotent. She tied him up to arouse him.
Afterwards, McKinney said Anderson wanted to seal the deal and marry her and had volunteered to tell everyone about the “misunderstanding” then left.
Later on Sept. 19, 1977, Anderson had arranged a meeting with McKinney, which she believed to be their wedding day. Instead, McKinney and May were arrested enroute to the meeting point.
The press had a field day.
McKinney was freed on bail while she awaited trial. During that time, she lived the life of a celebrity of sorts. McKinney was seen at clubs with the likes of John Travolta and Keith Richards.
Then, she and May had fled England for America posing as deaf mutes, and succeeded.
No extradition proceedings were instituted by Britain, and the English court sentenced McKinney in absentia to a year in jail. Under the then-Sexual Offences Act 1956, due to the victim’s gender, there was no crime of rape committed, though indecent assault of a man applied.
Years later, McKinney would make headlines again for cloning her dog and suing “Tabloid” documentary director Errol Morris.
McKinney never did write the book of her life, but as long as Joyce McKinney lives and breaths, she may never be forgotten … she won’t let us.
“Madame Mayhem,” as she has more recently been coined, was the center of a 1970s court case known to many as the “Mormon in chains sex case” or “The Case of the Manacled Mormon.”
Her story was later documented in a novel titled, “Joyce McKinney and the Manacled Mormon” by Anthony Delano in 1978, covering her court case, and a documentary aptly called, “Tabloid,” by filmmaker Errol Morris, which centered around the media frenzy that followed.
Born in August of 1949 in North Carolina, McKinney entered beauty pageants and was described as “brilliantly intelligent.” She became Miss Wyoming in 1973 around the same time she moved to Utah and joined the Church of the Latter Day Saints.
It was there that McKinney met then-19-year-old Kirk Anderson, a mormon, in Salt Lake City in summer of 1979. The two had a short love affair, that ended when Anderson disappeared.
According to various media reports, Anderson had consulted his bishop, who assigned him to missions in England to escape the love-stricken woman.
McKinney moved to Los Angeles, and in February 1977 hired a private investigator to find her long-lost love, who she believed had been brainwashed by the Mormon church. When the investigator tracked Anderson down, McKinney, with the help of her devoted friend Keith May, traveled to England.
According to witness accounts, after locating Anderson, May had posed as a potential Mormon convert and booked an appointment with the soon-to-be victim.
According to Anderson’s version, he was taken at gunpoint into a car where McKinney was waiting disguised in a wig. McKinney and May then kidnap Anderson taking him to a cottage in Devon. On the third night of his captivity, Anderson told the court that McKinney had sex with him against his will. And only after promising to marry McKinney, did his kidnappers let him free.
But McKinney said he went willingly. In her version, the three went to the cottage in Devon, where McKinney said she enticed Anderson with food and backrubs, but said the man was impotent. She tied him up to arouse him.
Afterwards, McKinney said Anderson wanted to seal the deal and marry her and had volunteered to tell everyone about the “misunderstanding” then left.
Later on Sept. 19, 1977, Anderson had arranged a meeting with McKinney, which she believed to be their wedding day. Instead, McKinney and May were arrested enroute to the meeting point.
The press had a field day.
McKinney was freed on bail while she awaited trial. During that time, she lived the life of a celebrity of sorts. McKinney was seen at clubs with the likes of John Travolta and Keith Richards.
Then, she and May had fled England for America posing as deaf mutes, and succeeded.
No extradition proceedings were instituted by Britain, and the English court sentenced McKinney in absentia to a year in jail. Under the then-Sexual Offences Act 1956, due to the victim’s gender, there was no crime of rape committed, though indecent assault of a man applied.
Years later, McKinney would make headlines again for cloning her dog and suing “Tabloid” documentary director Errol Morris.
McKinney never did write the book of her life, but as long as Joyce McKinney lives and breaths, she may never be forgotten … she won’t let us.
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