Practice to Deceive

couldn’t deal with was a beautiful woman with whom he was passionately in love.

Peggy Sue Thomas was very young when she married for the second time, but she seemed content helping Kelvin with his personal trainer profession and taking care of her baby girls.

Peggy Sue met Kelvin when they were both in the navy. They had two beautiful little girls together, and Kelvin always had Peggy’s back—even long after their divorce when they were both with other people.

Peggy Sue always had a tendency to gain and lose weight. She was very heavy just before her second daughter was born when she, her half sister Brenda, and Kelvin attended a county fair. Brenda loved Peggy, but she was afraid of her, too.

Peggy Sue Thomas was a chameleon. She could easily go from plain and plump to a woman the media called “Drop-Dead Gorgeous.” It was an eerie nickname, all things considered. Vickie Boyer

Brenda Gard, Peggy Sue’s half sister, was emotionally fragile, and family tragedies seemed to hit her harder than her siblings—especially when there were so many secrets. Even so, she was prepared to testify against someone close to her. Rhonda Vogl

Even in her midteens, Peggy Sue Stackhouse fancied herself a seductive glamour girl.

At almost six feet tall, Peggy Sue was a natural at basketball. She was also well coordinated and was chosen to play on an all-male team. She continued to play, coach, and work out at her old high school with girls much younger than she was. Rhonda Vogl

Wedding photo of “Sweet Sue” Mahoney and Neil Mahoney. After the Mahoneys suffered a terrible loss, Peggy Sue Thomas and Jim Huden met at a funeral wake and began a hot affair, one that would lead one day to more tragedy.

She was tall and statuesque, and Peggy Sue Thomas shone as she competed in the Ms. Washington pageant. She won and went on to another pageant in Las Vegas.

When she was in her thirties, Peggy Sue Thomas became a beauty pageant winner, a femme fatal, and embraced her “fiery red” period. She even had it on her license plate. Police file photo

Peggy Sue was skilled in many areas—aircraft mechanic, beautician, basketball star, beauty queen, and entrepreneur.

After divorcing Kelvin Thomas, Peggy Sue moved to Las Vegas and was a very successful limousine driver. She kept files on what shows her clients liked, what they drank, the restaurants they preferred. She was beautiful, and most of her client list asked for her as their chauffeur.

Her sisters said that Peggy married Tony Harris, a preacher, just to make her father angry. Whether it was because Tony was black and Jimmie flew the Rebel flag, or for some other reason, no one knew. At any rate, the marriage didn’t last long.

Jim Huden and Peggy Sue Thomas. Both had loved before, but their affair was so passionate that they seemed meant to be together . . . at first.

When Brenda Gard realized that her younger half sister was trying to totally control her life, she moved out of Peggy’s Las Vegas home and headed back to Whidbey Island. Although it looks as if the sisters are drinking milk, they are really White Russians. Peggy drank a lot, but she could hold her liquor most of the time. Brenda Gard

Mary Ellen Stackhouse, Jim’s first wife, bore him six children. They were a very happy navy couple living in California in 1963 when a silent stalker broke into their home. Jim was far across the country attending training sessions.

Jimmie Stackhouse when he married his first wife, Mary Ellen. He built them a split-level house in San Jose, near Moffett Field, where he was stationed. Looking back, one has to wonder how many lives were impacted when Mary Ellen died.

The Stackhouse children were all adorable, and their mother sewed their clothes and costumes for holidays. From left to right, back row: Tom, Rhonda, Mary Ellen, Jim, and Brenda. Kneeling in front: Lana and Michael. Robby hadn’t been born yet. Rhonda Vogl

Mary Ellen took her children to see the Easter Bunny. Left to right: Tom, Mike, Brenda, and Lana in about 1960. The pictures of their early lives were hidden from the children and their questions about where their mother was went unanswered. Jimmie thought it was best. Rhonda Vogl

After the heartbreak he suffered in San Jose, Jimmie Stackhouse asked for a change of duty to Whidbey Island, Washington. He hired Doris Alton as a housekeeper and married her a year later. They had a single child together—Peggy Sue Stackhouse—who had red hair like her