Naman Shrestha
‘Evil Stepmothers: Newlydead’ focuses mainly on the horrific and unexpected demise of a well-to-do optometrist — Dr. Perry Nelson. After he went missing for over a year or so, his body was found, and although it did not reveal much about the manner of his death, some sinister truths about it soon came to light after an investigation of another crime linked to the murder of Perry. Thanks to the exclusive interviews with the loved ones of the victim and the experts who worked on the case, the episode provides more insightful details about the case.
Dr. Perry Nelson Was Found Dead More Than a Year After His Disappearance
Born on June 28, 1933, to Esther Martha Lutenberg Nelson and Perry E Nelson, Dr. Perry Edson “Buddy” Nelson Jr. grew up in a supposedly close-knit family alongside his sister Brenda “Grammy” Nelson Sommer. He did well in his academics and went on to become an optometrist. Perry tied the knot with Melissa, and the pair welcomed two daughters, Tammi and Holly, into their world. Being a religious man, he invited Pastor Thomas Ransier and his wife, Sharon Douglas, to his humble abode, and from the very beginning, sparks began to fly between Perry and Sharon. He even offered her to be a receptionist at his clinic, and that made them even closer to each other.
Both of them filed for divorce against their respective partners to be with one another. Soon, Sharon got pregnant with Perry’s child, so they got married in 1977 before giving birth to their first son, Logan. A few years down the line, the couple gave birth to their daughter and named her Brandy. Life seemed to be going fine for the family, but on July 22, 1983, Perry disappeared after he left home to attend an optometry convention out of town and never returned.
More than a year later, on August 12, 1984, his body was found by a rafter in Clear Creek Canyon in Jefferson County. Although the investigators found that he had a head injury, the evidence was not conclusive enough to declare it as foul play. Thus, his death was ruled as accidental drowning, but most of his loved ones did not believe that to be the case. A few years down the line, Dr. Perry Nelson’s murder case was revisited when a significant revelation came across the desk of the police.
Dr. Perry Nelson was Killed by His Second Wife
As the police dug deeper into Dr. Perry Nelson’s marriage with Sharon, they found out about her controlling and manipulative nature. When Perry married her, his daughters moved in with their biological mother, Melissa, on the West Coast. Wanting a change of scenario, Holly decided to move in with Perry and Sharon in Colorado. Holly and Sharon started bonding and got close to one another like best friends. Despite being underage, Holly was offered to drink alcohol by Sharon and turned it into a habit without the knowledge of Perry. Her stepmother ratted her out to the school concerning her alcohol consumption, due to which she got expelled.
Due to the entire debacle, the relationship between Perry and Holly deteriorated, and she moved back in with her mother. During the last few months of their marriage, Perry and Sharon experienced apparent financial tension due to the latter’s extravagant lifestyle. Instead of controlling her expenses, Sharon manipulated Perry into stopping supporting her daughters financially as they were grown-ups. Soon, the couple met a nearby resident, a self-employed contractor named Gary Adams. He had a wife and two children of his own, but he got involved in a steamy affair with Perry’s wife.
As they fell in love with each other, Sharon came up with a sinister plan to get rid of her husband for good so that they could get the insurance money and live happily ever after together. On the night of July 22, 1983, Perry was accompanied by Gary in his car. The latter made him park the car near Golden, Colorado, using an excuse to use the restroom. He returned to the car and asked him to help him find the wallet he had just dropped. Finding the right opportunity, Gary grabbed a large piece of rock and hit the back of his head. Then, he disposed of his body in the nearby creek and got rid of his car, making it seem like an accident.
After getting his portion of the insurance money, Gary refused to divorce his wife. The lovers parted ways in a rather bitter manner. When Perry’s body was found, the authorities did not connect it with Sharon and Gary. But a few years later, in 1988, Sharon and Gary were linked to the murder of the former’s new husband, Glen Harrelson, a firefighter. Apparently, she had rekindled her affair with the contractor soon after marrying Glen and plotted another murder. But this time, there were enough incriminating pieces of evidence against her.
While investigating the firefighter’s death, they noticed that Sharon’s previous husband, Perry, had also died under mysterious circumstances. So, the detectives brought her in for questioning. In the beginning, she played all innocent, but later, she gave in and blamed the murder of Perry as well as Glen on her lover, Gary. She testified that he shot Glen in the head and burned his house to get rid of the evidence. After the confession, both Sharon Nelson and Gary Adams were arrested on November 20, 1988. The two co-conspirators were charged with two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy and solicitation to commit first-degree murder.
Sharon Douglas Died While Serving Her Sentence, While Gary Adams Remains Incarcerated
Sharon Douglas and Gary Adams pleaded guilty to the charges against them in order to avoid the death penalty. She even admitted that she played a significant role in the plotting of both murders and confessed that she paid Gary $50,000 from the insurance money she received after Perry’s death. In 1989, Sharon was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering her two husbands, with a possibility for parole in 2029.
Meanwhile, a year later, in 1990, Gary Adams came clean to the authorities and received a life imprisonment sentence. He will be eligible for parole in 2030. Currently, Gary is incarcerated at Limon Correctional Facility at 49030 CO-71 in Limon, Colorado, serving his sentence and awaiting his parole eligibility date. On the other hand, Sharon Douglas reportedly died in prison in 2017. The cause of her death has not been disclosed to the public.
