In 1977, beauty queen Joyce Bernann McKinney caused a global media frenzy after allegedly kidnapping and raping her former boyfriend for 3 days. The story surrounding this incident remains a subject of public fascination to this day.
The Bizarre Incident
One autumn day in September 1977, police in Devon, England received a bizarre report and plea for help from a 21-year-old American man named Kirk Anderson.
Kirk claimed that 3 days earlier, he had been kidnapped by a woman named Joyce Bernann McKinney when standing in front of a church’s doorstep in the Ewell suburb of Surrey. The kidnapper held a gun to his head and forced him into her car with the help of an accomplice.
He was then driven to a small cottage Kirk was renting in Devon. Here, he was held captive, handcuffed to a bed, and sexually assaulted and raped repeatedly over the next 3 days.
Kirk insisted it was his own personal hell. The sexual relations were not consensual but forced upon him. “I did not want that to happen. I was totally distraught and sickened by being forced to have sex,” Kirk said.
Kirk claimed the only way he could escape was by promising to marry his captor. Of course, this was a lie – at that point he had no other choice.
Believing him, Joyce released Kirk from his bonds and let him go. As soon as freed, Kirk immediately ran and went straight to the police station to report the incident.
The Surprising Suspect
The story quickly made national headlines across the UK, captivating public attention. But people were astounded to learn that the woman accused of kidnapping and assaulting Kirk was actually a beauty queen.
Joyce Bernann McKinney was born in 1949, an only child raised in a small North Carolina town. From an early age, Joyce was a bright, beautiful girl. She became Miss Wyoming and competed in the 1973 Miss America pageant. That same year, she moved to Provo, Utah to attend university there. Joyce earned a fine arts undergraduate degree from East Tennessee State University, before pursuing a master’s and doctorate in dramatic arts at Brigham Young University.
Based on Kirk’s accusation, police set up a sting for Joyce and her alleged accomplice by having Kirk agree to meet them. On September 19, 1977, the two were arrested and charged with kidnapping and assault, though they vehemently denied the allegations.
At this point, Joyce told a very different story from Kirk’s account. And that story remains a subject of fascination to this day.
Conflicting Stories
While the 21-year-old man Kirk Anderson insisted that he was kidnapped, held captive, and raped for three days by the beautiful beauty queen Joyce Bernann McKinney, Joyce told a different story.
Joyce met Kirk in the mid-1970s when they both attended Brigham Young University in Utah. Joyce was 25 years old at the time, while Kirk was a 19-year-old student. Although Kirk was 6 years younger than Joyce, the two did not feel the age gap. They dated for a short time.
One day, Joyce told her boyfriend that she had become pregnant but had a miscarriage. This made Kirk feel guilty all the time. At that time, Kirk was a member of a religion and had gone to confess his sin of pre-marital relations. Kirk then left the United States.
Joyce believed that Kirk wanted to marry her but his religion did not approve because she was not a member. Although Kirk secretly left without a trace, Joyce found out that he had gone to England.
Joyce then hired a private investigator. This person discovered that Kirk was living and working in the Surrey area. With this information, Joyce rushed to England with the intention of rescuing her lover and persuading him to reconcile their relationship. She believed he had been “brainwashed” by his sect. Joyce believed she could help Kirk through sexual intercourse. Accompanying her was a 24-year-old friend named Keith May.
Joyce claimed that when she contacted and appeared in front of Kirk, he was willing to get into her car. At the rented house, Kirk also voluntarily participated in sexual activities with Joyce.
And for Joyce, it was not just about sex but also about love. In court, the beauty queen said she loved Kirk so much that she “was willing to ski naked down Mount Everest with a chrysanthemum on her nose if he asked.”
Obsessive Love
In addition to asserting her love, Joyce also stated that it was impossible for a woman to rape a man. The relationship between the two was consensual.
According to Kirk, Joyce ambushed him outside where he worked. This woman had pointed a gun at him and forced him into a car where her accomplice was waiting. They then drugged Kirk and covered him with a blanket to hide him throughout the journey to the rented house in a remote area about 320km away.
However, under English law at the time, a woman could not be charged with rape when the victim was a man; this case was only considered an act of indecency.
After Joyce was temporarily imprisoned in Holloway Prison in London for three months, the court released her on bail due to her deteriorating mental health.
On April 12, 1978, Joyce and Keith fled England. They landed in Canada, using fake passports to enter the country and then the United States. To conceal their identities, they disguised themselves with wigs and glasses, pretending to be deaf and mute.
In a trial in absentia for the kidnapping charges against the duo in June 1978, the judge sentenced them to one year in prison for failing to appear in court.
On July 18, 1979, Joyce and Keith were arrested in the United States for passport fraud and received suspended sentences. Neither of them was requested for extradition by British authorities.
However, Joyce’s obsession with her ex-boyfriend did not end there. In 1984, Utah (U.S.) police arrested Joyce for stalking Kirk, even though he was now married with children. Joyce told the police that she only wanted to talk to Kirk and see how he was living.
