True Crime With Caledonian Kitty

(Jimmie Sue Finger Gambrel. Picture credit: donmcclellan)

This was quite a shocking case back in the 1980s so I'm surprised that there's not that much information about it online but it's a story that I've known about for years and I tried to gather as much research on it to share with you in this post.

As you read this story you'll probably be reminded of the Pamela Smart case which I covered a little while ago.

Before I go any further I just want to remind you that you can find me on social media here and if you would like to make a one off donation to my blog or set up a monthly subscription (so that you can have access to my weekly personal blog posts), you can do so here

So, let's get into the case...

[Cougar = slang for an older woman who seeks attention, relationships and sexual activity with younger men.] 

Michael Kettmann Jr was what some people would describe as an all American boy, he was young, handsome, did well at school and was popular with his teachers and classmates at North Cobb High School. He came from a close, well respected family and lived in Kennesaw, Georgia (USA). Nothing traumatic happened to him in his childhood, he was happy and was always close to his mother Blanche, he could tell her anything. Their relationship wasn't just like a mother and her son, they were also friends and Michael could always count on his parents to support him no matter what and he also got on well with his two sisters.

Michael was 18 years old and the future was looking bright, he seemed to have the world at his feet and there was quite a few girls who had their eyes on him but he was quite shy and sometimes he didn't know how to act around girls. His mother always brought him up to have manners and be respectful to women and he was. One girl, Angela had been getting on well with Michael for months and invited him to a party at her house as a way of getting closer to him. Michael wasn't much of a social person but he went along and didn't think there would be any harm in having a few drinks, just to be sociable and his other friends would be there.

During the party, Michael became transfixed on a girl who was dancing in quite a sexy manner, he couldn't take his eyes off of her and when he asked Angela who she was and what school she went to, Angela looked at him shocked and told him that the girl was infact, her mother, she just looked younger for her age.

The girl Michael was transfixed by was actually in her late 30s and was a married beautician and stylist. Her name was Jimmie Sue Finger and all the boys had a bit of a crush on her and it looked like Michael was to become another one of her admirers.

(Jimmie Sue Finger Gambrel. Picture Credit: donmcclellan)

As time went on, being in a small town, Michael kept running into Jimmie Sue and despite the age difference between the pair, it was obvious there was a strong attraction. Michael worked at a local food store in his spare time to help save for his college fund and Jimmie Sue would often pop in for her shopping. Michael would drop whatever he was doing and follow her around the store, flirting with her and carrying her groceries.

Jimmie Sue loved the attention and would laugh when she saw Michael falling all over himself trying to talk to her and impress her. Jimmie Sue was quite glamorous and very flirtatious with a zest for life, she was more like a teenager, despite her age and being married with a teenage daughter herself. With Angela, she would hang out with her and go to the movies with her like they were two friends. Rumours began to circulate that more was going on between Jimmie Sue and Michael and it was becoming a bit of an embarrissing point for Angela, it's hard to know what she must have felt knowing that the guy that she had a crush on, was actually more interested in her mother.

The rumours that were going around town were true, Michael and Jimmie Sue were seeing each other. It was all exciting and passionate for both of them and they would meet up at secret places together to have sex. Michael made Jimmie Sue feel like she was a teenager and she could forget her unhappy home life with her husband, Terry for a while.

When Blanche (Michael's mother) found out about the affair, she refused to believe it until her two daughters confirmed the truth. She confronted Michael which ended in a tense argument. Blanche and Michael rarely argued like this and he never kept secrets from her but ever since he started seeing Jimmie Sue, he was changing and becoming more distant from her and his family.

There was a lot of back and forth over the next few weeks of Blanche's discovery of the relationship. Michael would pretend that he ended things with Jimmie Sue but then Blanche would see them both in town kissing. Michael's parents also bought him a car as a way of trying to persuade him to stay away from Jimmie Sue and he would agree but again, they'd find out that he was still seeing her.

As things became even more hotter between Michael and Jimmie Sue, she began to open up to him about personal things and he would often have to comfort her after she would come to him crying, saying that Terry had hit her.

Jimmie Sue told Michael that Terry would beat her and had been sexually abusing Angela. Michael was horrified and told her to leave him, that he would run away with her. Jimmie Sue said that she couldn't leave him because he would take everything and make her life hell.

The conversation soon turned around to Jimmie Sue asking Michael if there was some way that he could get Terry out of their lives once and for all so that they could be together. She would tell him things like ''I've never wanted a man like I want you'' and would use sex to try and control him.

The atmosphere back at Michael's family home was tense and Blanche decided to call Jimmie Sue to warn her to stay away from her son. As you can imagine, the conversation wasn't exactly a friendly one and I have no details of the exact transcript but Blanche claimed that Jimmie Sue said:

''If you make any trouble for me honey, I'll drive nails in your son's coffin.'' 

Jimmie Sue later denied that this conversation ever took place. Another time, Blanche arranged to meet Jimmie Sue in a cafe to discuss the situation. That didn't go down to well either with Blanche becoming quite hot headed with Jimmie Sue and she walked out before the drinks even arrived.

Despite the trouble and grief it was causing his parents and the gossiping around town, Michael refused to forget about Jimmie Sue.

Jimmie Sue was starting to play mind games with Michael, he was besotted with her and she was in control of him. She wanted rid of Terry, wanted to be free of him but also wanted to keep the house and the money. According to Michael, there was only one thing for it in her eyes, someone would have to kill Terry and she wasn't going to do it herself.

Continued in part two...

(Jimmie Sue Finger Gambrel. Picture credit: dignitymemorial.com)

Continued from part one...

According to Michael and the evidence to suggest the case, Jimmie Sue and Michael planned to have Terry killed. When a hit man failed to do the job (he just took the money as Michael paid him up front), Michael took matters into his own hands but his plan was just to scare Terry.

On the night of February 22nd, 1986, Michael arranged to meet a 16 year old female friend (called Elizabeth Rizzi) at McDonald's. Elizabeth knew about the whole situation and agreed to be part of the plan but she was under the knowledge that this was all being done to just scare Terry. 

When Michael arrived at the McDonald's, he changed into dark clothing in the men's bathroom and told Elizabeth to drive him to a nearby school where he removed the licence plates from her car. They then drove to Terry and Jimmie Sue's house, Elizabeth dropped Michael off a little bit away from the house and she carried on until she was right outside the door. 

Elizabeth went to the door and Terry answered, she told him that her car had broken down. Terry said he would come outside and take a look at it and went to get some jumper cables. When Terry came outside and walked towards the car, Michael walked towards him with the gun pointed right at him. Terry shouted ''Please, God, no, don't''  but Michael fired five or six shots until there was nothing left in the gun. With Terry laying on the ground he jumped in the car and he and Elizabeth drove off.

Michael told Elizabeth to drive with the lights off for a few blocks before putting them back on and they carried on driving to a lake where they stopped. Elizabeth was panicking but Michael told her that everything was fine, Jimmie Sue was in on the whole thing and that she was now financially secure and free of Terry. He put the licence plates back on and threw the gun in the lake. They both drove back to McDonald's where Michael changed his clothes again.

Michael was stopped the next day by the police and Elizabeth was questioned. It was no secret in the town that Michael and Jimmie Sue were having an affair so Michael was the prime suspect. He told the police that he hated Terry and that whatever punishment he got for the killing would be just what he deserved.

In the beginning, Michael claimed that Jimmie Sue had nothing to do with Terry's murder and that it had all been his idea. There was nothing the cops could do if he was unwilling to tell them about her part. Michael was found guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. He still maintained his love for Jimmie Sue. 

Blanche was heartbroken and determined to get to the truth, she felt that Jimmie Sue was more involved than she was letting on, even the cops believed that. 

Seeing Michael (who had not long graduated and had his whole life in front of him) behind bars was traumatic for Blanche and together with her family they had to witness Jimmie Sue carry on with her life, getting married to another man and spending Terry's life insurance money whilst Michael sat behind bars.

Jimmie Sue was said to have visited Michael in prison just a few times ''to keep the flame alive'' , in other words, keep him quiet and he was so loyal to her even though he faced a very long time behind bars, he was so willing to protect her.

Blanche came up with a plan which some people, even the cops found crazy, she was going to try and get close to Jimmie Sue. Blanche hoped that one day, Jimmie Sue would slip up and say something that would reveal her part in Terry's death.

So Blanche and Jimmie Sue started spending time together whilst Michael was in prison, the more Blanche got to know Jimmie Sue, the more she could see what she was doing, trying to keep Michael sweet with endless promises that came to nothing, running around town without a care in the world when her son's life was in tatters. 

Blanche tried to get through to Michael and tell him what was happening but he didn't want to know at first, it took a long time before it started to sink in that he had been used and finding out about Jimmie Sue marrying another man really got to him. Jimmie Sue stopped coming to see him, didn't write to him as much. It was like she had forgotten him and was out there living her life. 

Blanche managed to persuade Jimmie Sue to come with her to visit Michael, she told Jimmie Sue that Michael was getting nervous and thinking about talking to the cops again so of course Jimmie Sue went to the prison, unknown to her, she was being recorded. Michael asked her questions about the night Terry was killed and she answered in a way that told the cops she knew and was part of the plan. She didn't pull the trigger but she knew it was going to happen and Michael claimed that she harassed him into doing it.

Jimmie Sue was arrested and found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder. She spent the rest of her life behind bars and died at the age of 61 in 2011, reportedly due to complications from heart surgery. She was due to have a parole hearing in 2013. 

Michael ended up serving 7 years in prison and was released in 1993. He went on to marry and had a child.

(Stay The Night, the TV movie based on the case. Picture credit: wikipedia.org)

Jimmie Sue maintained her innocence and said that her affair with Michael only lasted 3 months. She claims she had no knowledge of what he was going to do that night. She said that she felt guilty for having the affair and that it had ended a year before Terry's death. 

Terry Finger apparently confessed to the sexual abuse of one of his daughters and was a violent man according to family members.

Whilst I was doing my research on Jimmie Sue I was surprised to see the outpouring of grief at her death. A memorial to her has been set up online and I've read comments where people have mentioned how supportive she was to them in prison and even people who claim to be relatives saying that nobody knows the full story. 

At the end of the day she didn't pull the trigger but there was evidence that she was in an abusive marriage. I wish there was more information online about this case and her side of the story. The TV movie ''Stay The Night'' was based on the case, Barbara Hershey (one of my favourite actresses) played the role of Jimmie Sue and Blanche said that the TV movie was 99% accurate. I'm sure the relatives of Jimmie Sue may disagree on a few things.

It's clear from her memorial that she was a well loved mother and grandmother so she could have made a change in prison, was she ever 100% guilty? I would have been interested to hear more of what she had to say. I do feel sympathy for the abuse she and her daughter suffered in her marriage. 

With Michael, I felt sorry for him being sentenced to life at a young age but he only served 7 years after testifying against Jimmie Sue. Looking back, the TV movie ''Stay The Night'' (I don't know why they chose that title of all titles) was one sided and Blanche seemed to be happy with the outcome but could that be a mother just wanting to show her son in the best light? He did fire the gun five or six times that night and didn't seem to be that shaken up after the murder. 

It's a tricky case, you could have sympathy on both sides, some people may think that Michael is 100% guilty, some might think that Jimmie Sue is to blame for all of it. What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below or elsewhere on social media.

Blanche was only 65 when she passed away in 2005. 

I'm surprised that there's no blogs about this case, maybe because it happened in the 1980s and ''Stay The Night'' came on TV in 1992. I tried to track down a copy of the movie (I watched it years ago and it was really good) but it's really difficult for me to get hold of it in the UK.

Do I think that Jimmie Sue should have been released? To be honest, yes. From what I have read, the fact that she remarried and her children and grandchildren as well as friends saw her as an inspiration and thought a lot of her showed me that it's quite possible she transformed whilst she was in prison or she could have been like that before?It's difficult to tell with the lack of information but by the tributes left, you could see that she was a well liked and well loved person.

UPDATE: The fantastic movie based on this case is now available on YouTube, free to watch here

Further reading & sources:

- Jimmie Sue Gambrel | Memorial
- Michael Kettman Jr | Court Documents
- Stay The Night (1992) | Wikipedia
- Stay The Night | YouTube Clip
- Stay The Night | YouTube Clip
- Stay The Night | YouTube Trailer

- Stay The Night: Full Movie