On January 11, the jury met for 5-1/2 hours and returned a verdict of guilty of first degree murder with a deadly weapon. The jurors admitted that they had been divided on the verdict. Sharon continued to maintain her innocence and was disappointed in the result as this jury, unlike the first one, had one female juror and she'd hoped the woman would be more sympathetic to her. Sharon was booked into the Jackson County jail to await sentencing. Her domineering personality proved to be no joke; she quickly established herself as a "queen bee" in her cell block and bullied other prisoners. She started a lesbian relationship with an ex-WAC named Margaret Hopkins. Eventually she was sentenced to life in prison and began serving her sentence at the Women's Correctional Institution in Tipton.

The defense tried to get her conviction tossed on shaky evidence and procedural errors. The trial judge rejected the appeal but the state supreme court reversed the ruling in March 1963. They ordered a re-trial and after she was initially denied bail, that was also overturned and she was freed on $25,000 bond. Sharon and her three children went to live with her mother while they awaited a new trial.

The second trial opened March 23, 1964, just over four years since James Kinne's demise. This trial would have an entirely male jury and it ended in a mistrial when it came out that a juror had been represented by a law partner of prosecutor Larry Gepford. The re-trial began June 29. Boldizs continued to argue that he wasn't sure if Sharon was joking or not when she wanted him to kill James. A female friend of Sharon's testified and also joked about bumping off her own husband "like Sharon did to hers" but her claim fell apart under cross-examination.