John Boubede left Keddie after the murders and returned to Chicago, where he died in 1988. Police were called to the scene at around 8:05 that morning, having been alerted by the Seabolt family . When she opened the door, Sharp was horrified to find the bodies of her mother, brother John, and her brother's friend, Dana Wingate, covered in blood on the floor of the front room. As reported by ABC10, John Boubede died in 1988, and Martin Smartt died in 2006. Although Justin's dreams, and the details he provided during hypnosis, were chilling, it is unclear whether he actually witnessed the murders or the dreams simply echoed details reported by the media. [30] However, in the 2008 documentary, Sheriff Doug Thomas said he had personally interviewed Martin and that he had passed a polygraph examination. [19] She had been stabbed in the chest,[20] her throat was stabbed horizontally, the wound going through her larynx and nicking her spine, and on the side of her head was an imprint matching the butt of a Daisy 880 Powerline BB/pellet rifle. However, an anonymous call to the Sheriffs office reported the remains as belonging to Tina Sharp. Sue's two younger sons, Rick and Greg, as well as their friend Justin Smartt, were also in the house but were unharmed. Disturbingly, the motive for those murders is still unknown, as the Keddie police department never caught the real-life killer (s), and the case remains unsolved. A back view of cabin 28 where the family had lived for a year. Published October 18, 2021 Updated November 1, 2021 Between April 11 and April 12, 1981, Glenna "Sue" Sharp and three others were brutally killed in the resort town of Keddie, California. Many people believe that the police were either incompetent or corrupt and covered up the crime for some reason. Over the years, the Keddie Resort fell into disrepair, and in 2004, Cabin 28 was demolished. Investigators discovered two bloody knives, a hammer, and a plastic piece from a BB gun. 35 Years Later, New Clues May Solve Keddie Murder Mystery. It is unclear what evidence links Boubede to the mafia. [15], Sue was discovered lying on her side near the living room sofa, nude from the waist down[19] and gagged with a blue bandana and her own underwear, which had been secured with tape. [11], That same evening, Tina had plans to spend the night with the Seabolt family, who lived in adjacent #27, while Sue remained at home with Rick, Greg, and the boys' young friend, Justin Smartt. John, 15, was the oldest boy, while the oldest girl was Sheila, 14; Tina was 12; and the two younger boys were Rick, 10, and Greg, 5. Despite a thorough investigation and numerous suspects, the case remains unsolved to this day, leaving many questions . [12] Tina's jacket, shoes and a toolbox containing various tools were missing from the house,[6] which showed no indication of forced entry. In December 1983, detectives ruled out serial killers Henry Lee Lucas and Ottis Toole as potential suspects. New Evidence Revives Plumas County Quadruple Murder Case. The Sacramento Bee, May 7, 2016.Metcalf, Victoria. It is unclear when this happened or who did it. More evidence uncovered in Keddie murders case. The former Sharp home was condemned and demolished in 2004. [24] About 4,000 man-hours were spent working the case,[24] which Thomas described as "frustrating". On July 18, 1984, a lone gunman James Oliver Huberty entered a crowded McDonald's with a plan: "hunting for humans." He opened fire on the customers inside the fast-food chain, killing 21 and wounding 19 others. When Martin discovered this, he enlisted Bo, his friend, and known mob enforcer who had lived with the Smartts a mere 10 days before the Keddie murders, to take Sue out of the picture. Additionally, it gives context to Martins handwritten note that Marilyn gave to the Plumas Sheriffs Dept. [24] In his later account of events, told under hypnosis,[17] he claimed to have awoken to sounds coming from the living room while asleep in the bedroom with Rick and Greg. Tips or information about the Keddie murders can be given anonymously by calling the Plumas County Sheriff's Office at 530-283-6360; the Secret Witness program at 775-322-4900; sending a text. However, their friend Justin was not as sure. Unfortunately, many hours passed since her disappearance, and the chance of anyone finding her nearby was slim. PEOPLE Magazine Investigates After Show: Survivor Sheila Sharp on the 1981 Keddie Cabin Murders of Her Family For 35 years, Sheila Sharp has tried to repress the memory of finding the. She also worked a part-time job at the Quincy Elks Lodge, and with the little money she brought in, Sue rented Keddie Cabin 28 in the fall of 1981. Additionally, he said that Marilyn was his niece, which was also false. The case involves the murders of members of the Sharp family while they were vacationing at Keddie Resort in 1981. [27], On April 22, 1984, three years and eleven days after the murders, a bottle collector discovered the cranium portion of a human skull and part of a mandible at Camp Eighteen[17] near Feather Falls in neighboring Butte County,[28] roughly 100 miles (160km) from Keddie. [24][11] It was never explained why, with access to the Justice Department's and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) top forensic artists, law enforcement chose to use an amateur who sometimes volunteered to help local police. A GRAPHIC Look Back at the Keddie Murders On the morning of April 11, 1981, 14-year-old Sheila Sharp returned from a neighbor's house after a sleepover and stumbled upon the most disturbing and gruesome scene that she and the rest of Keddie, California, had ever seen. A person matching the description Justin gave became a primary suspect in the investigation Justins stepfather, Martin Smartt, also known as Marty. Marty, his wife Marilyn, and Marilyns two sons lived in Cabin 26 near the Sharps house just across the lane. Investigation Police arrived at around 8:00 am and began their investigation of the murders. As reported by Keddie28, they initially rented a trailer home owned by Sharp's brother. The trio had been stabbed, bludgeoned, and strangled to death. Listen Now For our friends in the Deaf and Signing community, you can view an ASL version of this episode HERE. A neighborhood boy, Justin Eason, would spend the night with Sues two youngest sons that evening. Great! The weapons included a steak knife that came from Sues kitchen. Stranger still, in an adjoining bedroom the two youngest Sharp boys, Rickey and Greg, as well as their friend and neighbor, 12-year-old Justin Smartt were found unharmed. Determined to find more survivors, Jamie crept up the back stairs. True Crime story of the Tiede family cabin murders. The discussion suddenly erupted into a violent attack. A recording of this call was found at the bottom of an evidence box at some point after 2013 by a deputy who was assigned the case. [6][16] Initial reports stated that the three young boys had slept through the incident, though this was later contradicted. "I've paid the price of your love & now I've bought it with four people's lives," ABC10 reports the letter said. Neighbors said that for the most part, she kept to herself but the family was integrating well. As she opened the door, she discovered three bodies on the living room floor of the infamous Cabin 28. [17] He later admitted to having briefly entered the home through the back door to see if anyone was still alive, potentially contaminating evidence in the process. WANTED: The Keddie Cabin Killer Episode Summary A family's brutal murder rocks a tiny California town and leaves behind too many unanswered questions. Like her son, her throat had been cut. Dmac does not agree on this point. A fourth victim, Sheila's younger sister, was missing. Despite the multitude of evidence and a few suspects, no arrests took place. Relatives of the victims and the public anxiously await the day when investigators bring justice to the killings of Sue, John, Tina, and Dana. However, none of the evidence helped the investigators find the killers or determine how she died. While under hypnosis, he described the killers as a tall man with blond hair and a mustache and a short man, who was clean-shaven with dark hair. Go to PEOPLE.com/PEN, or download the PEN app on Apple TV, Roku Players, Amazon Fire TV, Xumo, Chromecast, iOS and Android devices. The gruesome murder of a mother and three children 40 years ago continues to haunt investigators, who believe someone knows what happened, KXTV reports. This might explain why the Sacramento DOJ sent two allegedly corrupt organized crime special agents instead of agents from the homicide department. Various weapons were found at the scene, including a table knife, a butcher knife, and a bloody hammer. When she opened the front door to the living room, she discovered a massacre. Their throats were slashed, and they both had multiple stabbings and blunt force trauma to the head. In his dreams, he saw two men in the front room of the cabin. It would take the police hours to realize that a fourth victim, Tina, was missing. August 30 1984 Paradise Rapist. Although the identity of the murderer is still a mystery, new information has surfaced in the last decade and could help to solve the Keddie cabin murders. 7. Over the next few months, Sue worked hard to turn their new mountain community into a permanent home for her children. Three of them were murdered that night, and one of the children remained missing until years later. Victims,. It was later confirmed that Martin was close with this Sheriff. Deputy Hank Klement was the first to arrive on the scene and he reported blood everywhere on the walls, the bottoms of the victims shoes, Sues bare feet, the bedding in Tinas room, the furniture, the ceiling, the doors, and on the back steps. [19] Autopsies[21] determined that Sue and John died from the knife wounds and blunt-force trauma, and Dana died by asphyxiation. On April 12th, 1981, 14-year-old Sheila Sharp returned to her family cabin, Cabin 28 of the Keddie Resort Keddie, California after a sleep-over with a friend who lived in the same resort as her own families cabin. The Keddie Cabin murders is one of the most gruesome and mysterious unsolved cases in American history. Some evidence, such as a second bloody knife, turned up in a trash bin behind the Keddie general store. Rick and Greg claim they were asleep when the others were killed in the next room. A man discovered a human skull in the adjoining Butte County, about 30 miles from Keddie, in Plumas County. On Saturday, April 11, 1981, Sheila Sharp spent the night with neighbors, as she planned to attend church with them the following morning. On the floor lay her mother Glenna (Sue) Sharp36, her brother Johnny Sharp15, and Johns friend Dana Wingate17. However, the perpetrators did not leave behind any of their own blood. When it was eventually discovered that Tina Sharp was missing, the FBI arrived on the scene. [28] Near the remains, detectives also discovered a blue nylon jacket, a blanket, a pair of Levi Strauss jeans with a missing back pocket, and an empty medical tape dispenser. It seems possible that Marilyn learned about an affair between Marty and Sue. The Keddie Murders is an unsolved 1981 American quadruple murder that took place in Keddie, a former resort town in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada. Were they protecting their informant? One of the men had a hammer. The former Sharp home was condemned and demolished in 2004. For 35 years, Sheila Sharp has tried to repress the memory of finding the brutally murdered bodies of her mother and older brother in her familys cabin home in the Sierra Nevada Mountains a crime that remains unsolved. This was a couple years ago. A mom, son, and son's best friend were found murdered. [24] Plumas County Sheriff Sylvester Thomas, who presided over the case, later stated that Martin had provided "endless clues" in the case that seemed to "throw the suspicion away from him. Unfortunately, there is no record of this ever happening. [19] John and Dana suffered blunt-force trauma to their heads caused by a hammer or hammers. [29], In a 2008 documentary on the murders, Marilyn Smartt claimed that she suspected her husband Martin and his friend John "Bo" Boubede (erroneously reported as "John Boudee" by author Robert Scott)[a] were responsible for the murders. [9][6] Two hours later, around 3:30 pm, John and Dana hitchhiked back to Quincy, where they may have had plans to visit friends. Tina, on the other hand, went home around 9:30 and planned to sleep in her own bed. The Keddie Murders have been referred to as a cold case suddenly getting warm. It's an unsolved murder of a mother, two of her children and her son's friend. As reported by Timber Creek Talon, Marty also purportedly confessed to the murders during a therapy session. Sue and John had suffered similar types of wounds. [6] Sheila departed house #28 shortly after 8:00 pm to sleep over at the Seabolts, which she had never before done. Further, it came to light that Marilyn Smartt, Martys wife and mother of Justin, had left her husband on the day of the murder discovery. In addition to confirming Sue, John, and Dana were dead, the officers concluded they were murdered. On . A Net Inceptions project. The three youngsters were hanging out at the house since the afternoon. Sue had spent the later afternoon with Sheila and Tina. It matched the description of the one Marty gave in his interrogation. While the Seabolts tried to calm the distraught girl, their teenage son, Jamie Seabolt, went to Cabin 28 to see if anyone was still alive. Electrical cording and medical tape bound their wrists and ankles. It has been 40 years since the tragedy took place in rural Plumas County. Blood patterns indicated that her legs were initially splayed apart, but someone moved her and covered her body with a yellow blanket after the murder. The Keddie Murders is an unsolved 1981 American quadruple murder that took place in Keddie, a former resort town in the foothills of Northern California's Sierra Nevada mountains. Historic Memories reports Keddie was once a bustling town with a busy railroad terminal. Where is the Body of the Legendary King Gorm of Denmark. From the ground level in the back of the house, a flight of stairs led up to the main living area. Keddie Murder Victims (Clockwise): Sue Sharp, John Sharp, Dana Wingate, and Tina Sharp. Secondly but more importantly there is his reasoning process. They also found a bloody fingerprint on the handrail leading down from the back door. All rights reserved. Several new leads were announced in the 21st century, including the discovery of a hammer in a pond in 2016, as well as announcements regarding the discovery of new DNA evidence. Three dead: Sue (36), John (15), and John's friend, Dana Wingate (17). Detectives also discovered that the telephone had been left off the hook, and the lights had been shut off with all the drapes fully closed. Working together the result was both fascinating and spooky. It is true that longtime cold cases can find warmth even after several decades. Gamberg was a young deputy when the Keddie cabin murders occurred. Great! Her friends dad retrieved the three unharmed boys through their bedroom window so they would not have to see the scene. 'People Magazine Investigates' Features Man's 24-Year Wrongful Prison Sentence: 'Never Thought It Could Happen', People Magazine Investigates Offers New Clues on Keddie Cabin Murders, Giving Survivor 'A Little More Hope', 'People Magazine Investigates After Show' : How Solving Keddie Murders Is 'Personal' for Investigators, Inside the Keddie Cabin Murders: Daughter Remembers Finding Mom and Brother Dead at Age 14, A Daughter's 35-Year Fight For Justice: Sheila Sharp Longs to Know Who Murdered Her Family in Their Cabin, Horror in the Woods: 'People Magazine Investigates' Looks at the Keddie Cabin Murders Cold Case, Inside the Search for the Keddie Cabin Killers 35 Years After a Family Was Slaughtered, WATCH: Heartbreak Leads to Hollywood Horror in Exclusive 'People Magazine Investigates' Clip, Behind the Murder of JonBent Ramsey, Featured on 'People Magazine Investigates'. Her brother, who would help her and the children start a new life, lived in Quincy, California, about 150 miles north of Sacramento. The oldest boy, John, and his buddy, Dana, had spent the day in Quincy. On April 11th, Sue's daughter, Sheila Sharp came home to find her family slain in their cabin. About the Cabin 28 Keddie Murders Case: The morning of April 12, 1981, Glenna Sue Sharp and her kids, Tina and John, and John's friend, Dana Wingate, were brutally murdered inside house #28 in Keddie, California. Sue Sharps surviving children left California to live with an aunt. In a letter, Marty purportedly said: Ive paid the price of your love and now that Ive bought it with four peoples lives, you tell me we are through. Justin said both men were wearing glasses. [8], On April 11, 1981, around 11:30 am, Sue, Sheila, and Greg drove from the residence of their friends, the Meeks family, to pick up Rick, who was attending baseball tryouts at Gansner Field in Quincy. Marilyn moved out of Cabin 26 the day after the murders. [29] He later criticized the quality of the initial investigation, saying: "You could take someone just coming out of the academy and they'd have done a better job. Mysteriously, the recording was at the bottom of an unopened evidence box. Miraculously, her two younger brothers Rick, then 10, and Greg, 5, along with another friend, were found asleep and unharmed in an adjacent bedroom. He admitted that he had a problem with his temper, and Marilyn had claimed that he tried to run her and her son over. Nevertheless, authorities were determined to follow any possible leads. What else do you want? What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch, Cabin 28 at Keddie Resort, 1981. Accept Read More, The Disappearance of the Five Sodder Children, Brutal Murders on Germanys Hinterkaifeck Farm, Burke and Hare: Merchants in the Cadaver Market, John Paul Gettys Ransom: When Money Trumps Family. [21] Carla McMullen, a family acquaintance, later told detectives that Dana Wingate had recently stolen an unknown quantity of LSD from local drug dealers, though she was unable to provide proof of this claim. The entire site has since been abandoned. You May Also Like: The Disappearance of the Five Sodder Children. The statement from Martys letter, What else do you want?, sounds like Marty is asking,In addition to what you already asked for, what more do you want me to do? The back door left ajar. Please note that there is a lot of misinformation published online about the Keddie murders. until 2013 when the case was reopened with new investigators Plumas Sheriff Greg Hagwood and Special Investigator Mike Gamberg. In the evening, the two girls went to the Seabolt family house next door in Cabin 27, just 15 feet away. There were four victims: Sue Sharp, her son John, her daughter Tina, and John's friend Dana. Richard (along with Mike Hamilton) is the person who spread the rumor around school (reported by Joey C) that Martin and Boubede killed Sue and the boys and "took" Tina. Killers Von Taylor, and Edward Deli, were ex-cons, and on the run from their half-way house. The first member of LE to arrive, shortly after 8 am, was PCSO Deputy Hank Klement, who did a quick search of the cabin, confirming the murders. Meanwhile, Sheriff Thomas had resigned from the investigation three months in and take a job instead at the Sacramento DOJ. One reportedly had a mustache and long hair and the other was clean-shaven with short hair but both in glasses. The cabins telephone had been left off the hook and all of the lights had been shut off as well as the drapes closed. Forty years after the incident, the quadruple murder in the woods still baffles the nation. Authorities interviewed neighbors and the boys who were inside the house when the attack occurred, but there were no eyewitnesses. It's debated whether it was the murders themselves that led to less interest in renting in the once-busy area, or if it was the allegedly poor management of the cabins themselves that led to fewer people being willing to live there. When they returned to the bar much later, they were wearing suits, as if they had spent the evening at a business meeting. The survivor was noticed cowering in the back of an SUV parked in EQ (East Quincy) outside the apartment where the killers were staying. The anonymous counselor told him that in May 1981, Martin Smartt had confessed to killing Sue and Tina Sharp. This happened 41 years ago in Keddie, California. Following his arrest in 1996, police looked at the . Sue and John had suffered similar types of wounds. A fourth victim, Sheilas younger sister, was missing. [24] John Boubede, who allegedly had ties to organized crime in Chicago,[29] died there in 1988. Although the counselor initially reported Martys statements to the police not long after the killings, the police did not log the information as evidence or follow up with this information. "Keddie murders", Wikipedia "The Martin Smartt 'love letters'", kmik, The Great Zodiac Killer Hoax of 1986 . Young John was closest to the front door, face-up, his hands blood-covered and bound with medical tape. Martys counselor at the Veterans Administration in Reno told police that Marty confessed to killing Sue and Tina but not the two boys. The Keddie Cabin Murders. According to the story, Marty said he was angry that Sue had convinced Marilyn to leave him. Sheila Sharp who discovered the victims of the Keddie Cabin 28 murders in 1981, when she was 14 hopes the cold case finally will be resolved By Jeff Truesdell Published on November 25, 2016. On April 11, 1981, Glenna "Sue" Sharp, a 36-year-old mother of five children, settled down for the night at Cabin 28, in Keddie, a small community surrounded by mountains in Northern California. Most descriptions of Marty say that he was an unsavory individual with a criminal record and a mean demeanor. Keddie Cabin 28 Murders Welcome David Craig McNarie! The two had only met weeks before the killings while Boubede was receiving treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder at the nearby Veterans Administration Hospital. ET) on Investigation Discovery, One of the main things I have a hard time with is getting close to people, for fear that somethings going to happen, Sheila says in an exclusive clip from the after show. It was believed that Martin and Sue were having an affair and that Sue was supposedly counseling Marilyn to leave her husband, who she had said was abusive to her. On April 11, 1981, Sue and the kids were in and out of Cabin 28 throughout the day. During the interrogation after the murders, Boubede told police that he worked as a police officer in Chicago for 18 years. Sue packed her children up and moved across the country from North Carolina to the Golden State. Jamie witnessed the carnage, the aftermath of murder. The murders took place in house No. In 2013, the Plumas County Sheriff, Greg Hagwood, hired Mike Gamberg as a Special Investigator. What is known is that this 37-year-old crime is far from a cold case, as new evidence sheds light on what may have occurred at Cabin 28 in Keddie, California. Stabbed. 12-year-old Tina Sharp is missing. More confounding is that the three youngest boys were not only untouched but allegedly unaware of the event, even though a woman and her boyfriend in the cabin next door awoke around 1:30 a.m. to what they described were muffled screams. It was evident that Sue had put up a fight during the attack, as she had defensive wounds on her arms. Tina had briefly joined her sister at the neighbors before returning home to her mother, two younger brothers, and one of the neighbor boys, Justin Smartt. He also told investigators that his stepson, Justin, might have seen something on the night of the murder without the killer detecting the boy. When the DOJ was alerted to this confession in 1981, they dismissed it as hearsay.. KEDDIE (CBS13) Investigators believe they may have found one of the weapons used in a 35-year-old murder mystery. Near the remains detectives also found a childs blanket, a blue nylon jacket, a pair of jeans with a missing back pocket, and an empty surgical tape dispenser. True Crime April 12, 1981. The bodies of Sue, John, and Dana were found on the morning of April 12 by Sue's 14-year-old daughter, Sheila, who had been sleeping at a friend's house. (Whelan). [10] Tina, who had been watching television at the Seabolt residence, was told by Sheila that Sue wanted Tina home by 10 PM, so Tina returned to #28 around 9:55 pm. At the time John was 15, Sheila was 14, Tina,12, Rick, 10, and Greg was 5 years old. Because she was a minor, the initial search for her involved the FBI, but, for some unknown reason, they quit investigating after about a month. It's been forty years since the Kebbie Cabin Murders happened in a rural area of Plumas County. [24], Based on Justin's descriptions, composite sketches of the two unknown men were produced by Harlan Embry, a man with no artistic ability and no training in forensic sketching. When she opened the door, Sheila found the scene of a massacre. Was this why detectives never adequately investigated Boubede? Local investigators wrote it off as an upturned burial skull of a native american, but two months later, they got an anonymous call claiming that the skull belonged to Tina Sharp. The murders took place in cabin 28, during the late evening of April 11, 1981 and/or early morning of the 12th. "[24] In addition to interviewing the Smartts, detectives interviewed numerous other locals and neighbors; several, including members of the Seabolt family, recalled seeing a green van parked at the Sharps' house around 9:00 pm. I killed the woman and her daughter, but I didnt have anything to do with the [boys], he purportedly told the counselor. . Tina was then allegedly taken out the cabins back door by one of the men. It read: Ive paid the price of your love & now that Ive bought it with four peoples lives, you tell me we are through. The Keddie Cabin Murders took place on April 12, 1981; Sue Sharp, two of her children, and her son's friend lost their lives. Four people were killed in a small California resort town, including Sue Sharp, her son John, daughter Tina, and John's friend Dana. Inside The Unsolved Shooting Of Brooklyn's Hip-Hop King. Composite sketch of the Keddie murder suspects. Therefore, it appears they did not have a chance or chose not to fight back. Even though Marilyn admitted in a 2008 documentary that she thought her husband his friend Bo was responsible, Sheriff Doug Thomas contradicted this and stated that Martin had successfully passed a polygraph test. Watch the People Magazine Investigates After Show, available now on the new People/Entertainment Weekly Network (PEN). Their throats were slashed, and they both had multiple stabbings and blunt force trauma to the head. Keddie murders revisited part 1: New evidence discovered links living suspect to grisly scene - Plumas News The Sharp family's home shortly after the infamous murders took place in 1981. Although the cabin Sharp rented from Mollath was run down, it provided her and her family with more room. Unfortunately, the town's attempt to reinvent itself fell short. Geography [ edit] According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 0.6 square miles (1.6 km 2 ), all of it land. This would account for Marilyn leaving her husband the day of the murder discovery. It would also explain why the Smartt boy and the other Sharp boys in the adjoining room were spared. A fight ensued,[24] after which Tina entered the room and was taken out of the cabin's back door by one of the men. Tape secured the gag in place. In 1979, Glenna "Sue" Sharp left her abusive husband and moved herself and her five children from Connecticut to Quincy, California. Eliminated as a suspect, despite actually confessing to the Keddie murders, was Robert Joseph Silveria Jr., the so-called "Boxcar Killer".
