Inside the dark curse of beauty queens with contestants accused of rape and torture and others gruesomely murdered | Local News

THE shocking death of a former Miss America contestant’s husband this week has sparked an outpouring of grief for the young family.

Thomas Hand, 37, and his wife, former Miss Mississippi Christine Kozlowski, 33, were preaching in Montgomery, Alabama when he was shot.

6

6

Kozlowski, pregnant, and Roman, the couple’s two-year-old son, witnessed Hand’s death, a close friend told The Sun.

Jerimiah Walker, 17, was arrested at the scene and is charged with capital murder.

But Kozlowski’s heartache is certainly not the first time a pageant queen has had her life marked by tragedy.

Here, The Sun explores the dark curse of beauty queens with contestants accused of rape and torture and others gruesomely murdered.

BOYFRIEND ‘TORTURE’

In 2010, Kumari Fulbright was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and torture of her ex-boyfriend.

The former University of Arizona law student was named Miss Desert Sun beauty a year earlier.

Her shocking mugshot stunned fans after she appeared completely unrecognizable from her pageant days.

Fulbright was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping and aggravated assault, according to reports at the time.

Her ex Joshua Conway spoke out in 2016, telling Fox 17 about his hours-long abduction nearly a decade earlier.

Conway said, “They hit me, they whip me and they say really sick stuff to me.”

“KILLED BY A PRIEST”

Irene Garza has been found dead aged 25 after her body was found in a canal.

She had won Miss All South Texas Sweetheart two years earlier in 1958.

Garza had been sexually assaulted and choked after confessing, police said.

It wasn’t until 2017 that Catholic priest John Feit was convicted of murdering the Texas schoolteacher, reports the Associated Press.

Feit, who was 28 at the time of his death, came under suspicion early on, telling police he heard Garza’s confession – in the church rectory, not the confessional – but denying having it killed.

Prosecutors presented evidence that elected officials and church officials suspected Feit of killing her, but wanted to avoid prosecuting him because it could harm the reputation of the church and elected officials politically.

CHILD ABUSE IMAGES

In 2017, Meghan Alt pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography and lewd acts with a minor, reports the LA Times.

The former Ms Orange County – who was crowned in 2014 – was sentenced to 300 days in county jail, records show.

Prosecutors said she took explicit photos of a four-year-old girl before sending them to a Marine for money.

Alt had also participated in Ms. California.

ACCUSED OF RAPE

Former Miss Wyoming World Joy McKinney reportedly followed Mormon missionary Kirk Anderson from Utah to Britain in the late 1970s.

She was accused of kidnapping him at gunpoint before raping him.

The incident achieved infamy and became known as the “Mormon Sex in Chains Case”.

McKinney told a magistrate in 1977 that the sex was consensual.

Anderson said: “I didn’t want that to happen. I was extremely depressed and upset after being forced to have sex.”

After being released on bail, McKinney reportedly fled to Canada.

6

6

6

6