I Spoke to Joyce Mckinney in 2019 and This is my Take on The Whole Situation
It’s hard to imagine life before Covid. We were as a people, more outgoing. Venturing outside for a random trip with friends or family carried little risk and dating was as normal as downing a tall glass of OJ. Put simply, life was much more comfortable prior to 2020. We were essentially free to do whatever the hell we wanted, whenever the hell we wanted. In early 2019, I had a taste of what this kind of freedom entails and the potential dangers that come with it.
I planned on writing this back in 2020, but struggled for multiple reasons. While some stories may be interesting to read, sometimes you have to ask yourself whether or not it’s right to delve into something both historically unsettling and possibly fake (I’ll go deeper into that later on). Furthermore, since those early months of 2019, I’ve evolved, mentally speaking that is. Attitudes change and opinions morph with age and experience. Nevertheless, taking into consideration the sensitivity of the subject matter and all those involved, I’ve decided to finally write about this peculiar encounter that will most likely stay with me for a very long time.
In February 2019, while seeking out actors for a short film I was working on, I received a Facebook message from a man claiming to be a friend of the infamous blonde bombshell and one-time beauty queen, Joyce Mckinney. For those unaware, On September 19th 1977, Mckinney was accused of the rape and kidnapping of young American Mormon missionary, Kirk Anderson. The alleged assault took place between the 14th and 17th of September in the leafy county of Devon, UK. This elusive Facebook individual claimed that the true story of what transpired between Mckinney and Anderson had yet to be told and that if I was interested, I should contact him. Naturally, your first instinct would be “DELETE”, but for whatever reason I was intrigued and proceeded to message him back. Within hours, I was on the phone with a bubbly mature woman with a southern accent. It was very surreal. My only frame of reference of this weird scenario was the vhs collection of old american movies I used to have lying around in the house. That’s exactly what it felt like. An 80s american movie based in the south with the one variable being me; a black british dude, sitting on the couch in a modest house, smack bang in the middle of South East London. Life sure is strange.
Mckinney was surprisingly friendly and her jovial demeanor was not characteristic of your stereotypical criminal. Once we had exchanged pleasantries, I asked her to start from the beginning and she was more than happy to oblige. She talked about her early life and her experience in the Mormon church. Before long, she was narrowing in on the supposed love of her life, Kirk Anderson.
Due to the sensitivity of the subject matter and all those involved, I won’t spend too long going over Mckinney’s past and the alleged crimes committed, but based on what she told me, she met Kirk while studying at Brigham Young University and things developed from there. Throughout my short lived communication with her, it was made abundantly clear to me that she was struggling. She was no longer that bright-eyed southern firecracker that once graced the front page of British magazines. No, in 2019, Joyce was just an elderly woman, perhaps trapped by the mistakes of her past, and still desperately trying to redeem herself in the eyes of the public and those that continue to view her as a villain.
The irony of this whole thing is that many people do not know of Mckinney or have simply forgotten who she is. In a world where commodified communication is the new hustle, 10 second tiktok videos are all the rage and sayings such as “all the rage” are considered “cheugy”, Mckinney is no longer a person of interest. Yes, today there does seem to be a weird obsession with true crime. Netflix literally offers up a new crime docu-series every few months and new true crime podcasts seem to be released by the hour on youtube and all “streaming platforms”. Mckinney, however, appears to have slipped through the cracks. She was either too difficult to put in a box, or not exciting enough for a 4-part drama. The passage of time renders everyone obsolete I guess. I myself didn’t have a clue about Mckinney back in 2019 and was googling information about her seconds before we connected via phone.
On one occasion, Joyce asked me to get the word out about her living situation which I attempted to do, but naturally, without solid evidence that I was actually talking to her, no one was in the slightest bit interested. The question of ID proved to be a minor point of contention between Mckinney and I. In order for me to be taken seriously, I needed some kind of photographic evidence that proved I was in fact talking to Joyce and not a random catfish or true crime enthusiast. Till this day, I guess I’ll never know the full truth, but based on my own personal research and evidence, everything points to it being her. I’ve also since realised that I was not the first person Joyce contacted. Stories can be found all over the internet about people interacting with Mckinney either in person or remotely.
The story of Mckinney is both fascinating and chilling. Outside of the alleged crime, she was a very creative person, a keen writer and someone who seemingly wanted to change the world for the better. So where exactly did things go wrong? A few months after Mckinney and I drifted apart, I stumbled upon an article. It was about Mckinney but it wasn’t good news.
‘A suspect has been charged in the fatal hit-and-run of a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor in Valley Village.
Police said Joyce Bernann McKinney was driving a 2006 white GMC pickup when she fatally struck Gennady Bolotsky, who was walking his dog in a marked crosswalk at Magnolia Boulevard and Wilkinson Avenue on June 17.
McKinney, 68, is facing felony charges including assault with a deadly weapon, hit-and-run with injury and vehicular manslaughter, the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division said in a release Wednesday.’ (LA Times, Alexa Diaz, July 3 2019)
43 years after her first brush with the law, Mckinney was in the spotlight again and this time, there was no escape. There have been minimal updates since this article was published but according to Whittier Daily News:
‘Judge Harrison declared McKinney mentally unfit to stand trial and ordered her housed in a mental-health facility.
McKinney was taken to the Metropolitan State Hospital, a sprawling, leafy 162-acre facility nestled in the heart of Norwalk.
In February, a judge in Van Nuys ruled, once again, she was not competent. McKinney’s next hearing is scheduled for August. (Whittier Daily News, Josh Cain, April 2 2020)
No one is born with dark intentions. No one is born wanting to cause or inflict harm upon their fellow human being. It tends to be our environment and upbringing that shapes who we are and why we behave in ways that can not only be detrimental to ourselves but other people. Back in 2019, when I asked Joyce about her childhood she stated that it was pleasant and thus it would be incorrect of me to assume otherwise. I only hope that going forward, Mckinney is able to find some stability in her life and that one day, when all is said and done, she’s able to find that redemption she’s looking for.
