Hagwood, in his third year of office, had many priorities to contend with inside his department and in the county. Although a lot of potential evidence was collected and catalogued, very little worthwhile information was realized from the scene. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Many others suspect the police on the case may have been involved in a cover-up. Cabin 28 at the Keddie Resort, where the 1981 murders occurred. Investigators now seek any biological material including skin, hair, blood and other bodily fluids at crime scenes, according to Randy James in a 2009 feature on DNA testing for TIME. Plumas County Sheriff Greg Hagwood described what happened in Cabin 28 in. These were boys he went to school with. "They covered it up, is the way it sounds," Gamberg said. Brenda Brown, Ryan Becker, 2020 "Murder in California: Serial Killers and Unsolved Murders", Marques Vickers, 2019; References This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 06:27 (UTC). This was Cabin 27 where the Seabolt family lived. Apparently, as the suspects bludgeoned and stabbed their victims to death, none of the suspects were injured or left their own blood at the scene. Moving forward, DNA might still be retrievable from evidence collected at Keddie Cabin 28 if it hasnt been compromised and DNA testing facilities are notoriously backlogged. As I stood there, fighting to breathe, I couldnt help but think of Dana Wingate, and how she had been strangled to death in the house. It was discovered later that 12-year-old Tina Sharp was missing. It's been hard to cover up the emotions stirred by the 35-year-old mystery. Backpackerverse.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. The possible motive: Marty was married to Marilyn Smartt, the mother of Justin Smartt, who was one of the kids that was found alive in the cabin. Some of the evidence was ignored. Three of them were murdered that night, and one of the children remained missing until years later. He also said there are at least six people of interest. New evidence has surfaced in the infamous 37-year-old Keddie murders case. More than 35 years after a teenage girl came home to find her family brutally slain in their resort cabin, police say the cold case is heating up. He also compared the available evidence in 1981 to someone firing a shotgun loaded with evidence and no one followed up on all of it as it spread out like pellets. "It's very easy to say somebody's guilty when they're dead," he said. But knowing the details, the minutiae of the crimeit was not a pleasant place to be. The three were killed using knives and a hammer. It said, "I've paid the price for your love and now that I've bought it with four peoples lives, you tell me we are through? Marty was reportedly an abusive husband. The Crime Logs mission is bring awareness to crimes which are both solved and unsolved. Investigators: People Can Confirm the Killers' Identities, Chris Watts Is Sending 'Racy' Letters to Multiple Women from His Prison Cell: Sources, JonBent Ramsey's Murder to Be Investigated by Cold Case Team in New Probe Into Unsolved Killing, Serial Killers' Kids who Turned in Their Parents or Spoke Out About Growing Up with Them, 2 People Arrested After the Search for a Missing Child Leads to Discovery of Human Remains, Pride of Her Family': Aspiring Radiology Technician Is Fatally Shot During Confrontation on Road, Texas Family of 4 Was Massacred at Home in 2014 and Suspect Was Just Arrested Getting Off Plane, 4 Women Were Strangled to Death in Mo. Gamberg is having professionals analyze the tape recording comparing that male voice to recorded voices of others identified as potential or known suspects. Identifiable footprints were not recovered inside. Although someone had covered the body of the mother with a blanket, it did little to relieve the horrific scene the teen and law enforcement encountered. And also, as I'm growing older, what can I expect in my later years? It has been 40 years since the tragedy took place in rural Plumas County. This case is as screwed up as a soup sandwich, Gamberg said recently. "I was told the suspects were told to get out of town, so to me that means it was covered up," Sharp said. And as a deputy he knew what was and wasnt happening with the case. US residents can opt out of "sales" of personal data. The problem there is that its become disorganized. It wasnt followed, he said. Lone pools of blood on the living room floor and on the sofa pillow indicate the boys bodies were also moved and staged, Gamberg said. Man Who 'Targeted Young Women' Convicted of Decades-Old Murders with Help of Investigative Genetic Genealogy, She Saw Her Family Murdered by a Hammer-Wielding Stranger When She Was 3. But both Marty Smartt and "Bo" Boubede are now dead, questioned by law enforcement after the killings but never charged. Both left the area. In 1981, the gruesome murder of four in Cabin 28 of the Keddie Resort in Northern California has long been unsolved.or has it?. To keep this resource 100% free, we receive compensation for many of the products and services listed on the site. While two of the lead suspects Martin Smartt and his friend John Boubede are now dead, others are alive and have been identified, said Hagwood recently. "There's times I think, Gosh, should I go get hypnotized to see what I remember?" Why did LE agencies conspire to cover up this case? Although she was lying on her side, naked from the waist down, theres evidence that someone rearranged her from an indecent position. Blood was discovered on both bedroom doors and outside on the handrail of the steep back stairs. At one point, Thomas did say he gave one session of advice to the couple but it was before the murders. "Even still today I sit here and think, What would my life be like with her here?" Thats when Hagwood asked Gamberg, a private investigator, if hed like to take over the investigation. These were boys he went to school with. The second development was something else found in the same boxes of case files: the taped anonymous phone call that tipped off the location of Tina Sharp's remains. As Marty said in his 1981 confession, they were just collateral damage. Both now share a common goalsolving the brutal quadruple murder that sat largely untouched for many years. This case is getting old and unless new eyes come in it will go nowhere. How did Doug Thomas keep Gamberg out of the investigation if Gamberg was terminated in March 1981 and wasnt reinstated until 1983 (2 years after Thomas resigned)? It sounded like a door that rested on rusty hinges, if I had to pinpoint it, she nodded, brows furrowed. But it also recounts the killings and Sheila's theory that they were carried out by a neighbor, Marty Smartt, and his ex-con friend "Bo" Boubede, in part as revenge for Sheila's mom siding with Marty's wife in a marital dispute. The mystery endures about who brutally murdered the Sharp family single mom Sue Sharp, 36; her son Johnny, 15; daughter Tina, 12; and Johnny's friend Dana Wingate, 17 in the small Sierra Nevada community of Keddie, California. Also note how close the cabin is to its neighbor. Outside of organized crime, that basically never happens, and even within the world of organized crime it is probably quite rare to have so many people in on a hit. The girl's skull was found in the woods three years later, some 50 miles away in another county. Self care and ideas to help you live a healthier, happier life. Just three years after reopening the case, Gamberg was talking to the media about new evidence that was recovered namely a hammer that matches one Smartt said went missing before the murders, and a hunting knife, recovered in Keddie. In the rural town of Keddie, California, a mother and three children were attacked on Saturday, April 11, 1981. Sharp's oldest daughter, Sheila, had been at a sleepover when she returned to the family home, Cabin 28, to find her murdered family. Cabin 28 had already been demolished, but she decided to check out the site regardless. And a crime that was committed so many years earlier doesnt have the priority recent crimes receive, he said. He reportedly left for Reno, Nevada after the murders. What has made this case particularly hard to organize is that the original case history log who did what and on what date is gone. "Great! WANTED: The Keddie Cabin Killer Episode Summary A family's brutal murder rocks a tiny California town and leaves behind too many unanswered questions. Updated 2/11/2020 - Sue Sharp, her son John and his friend Dana were found in the Sharp family cabin beaten and strangled to death in the family room. It was discovered on the once cheerful, ivy patterned wallpaper and on some bedding in the bedroom Sheila and her sister, Tina, shared with their mother. My kids don't know who my mom is. There is not an expiration date on homicides, and to the extent that we have surviving siblings and family members, it is our fundamental obligation to them to understand who did this and why, Hagwood said in 2016. Unsolved Mystery of the Keddie Cabin Murders by Joe Turner 1 Listen to this article. On April 11, 1981, 36-year-old Glenna "Sue" Sharp, her 15-year-old son John, and his 17-year-old friend Dana Wingate were murdered in Cabin 28 at the Keddie Resort, in Keddie, California. Others may look at it more accusinglyI don't put anything outside the realm of possibility.". Deputy Hank Klement was the first to arrive on scene. First published on May 2, 2016 / 11:47 PM. 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. "I struggle with that. Its here he would roll up his sleeves and begin going through the evidence. Locals describe it as a beautiful woodsy town, one with a strong sense of community. It contained a tape recording of an anonymous caller to Butte County dispatch. Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. In the larger community of Quincy, with a population of just under 2,000, Sheriff Hagwood was a schoolmate of victims Johnny and Dana, and the summer before the murders they'd all worked together as teenagers on a painting crew. People: 5 Things to Know about the Keddie Cabin Murders and the New Hunt for the Killers. Why did both DOJ and sheriff Doug Thomas skate these key suspects when LE noted they were lying, and Marty FAILED his polygraph? His ankles were firmly tied with electrical cord that linked him to John whose ankles were also bound. Dee Mack, Are you related to Angelique or Angels Mother Hester Mack then later Hester McCormick? The case was unsolved for two decades after investigators interviewed dozens of people, analyzed evidence and executed several search warrants. According to Gamberg, right after the murders, Sheriff Doug Thomas contacted the DOJ in Sacramento. Its known that Sue Sharp was home with her daughter Tina, 12, and her two sons, Rickey, 9, and Greg, 5. When he opened the front door he saw the bodies on the green-carpeted floor, according to Gamberg. As a martial arts instructor at the time, he taught both Johnny and Dana, and says Dana was at his home the day before he died. They said I said it was Johnny. What occurred next shocked the country: The Disturbing Murders at Keddie Cabin . His home was just a short distance away in Cabin 26. Years of No Answers and a Theory of the Crime. Another person of interest also lived in Butte County. * Watch our new true crime show, People Magazine Investigates, which continues with an episode on the Keddie cabin murders on Monday at 10 p.m. As she got older and contemplated a career in law enforcement, she became more interested in the case. The sheriff at the time of the murders, Doug Thomas, is accused of a cover-up in many online theories. And I have every confidence that they either participated after the fact or they have first-hand information. Apparently Marty had confessed to the murders in a session. * Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Tina's (the sister whose body was not found in the cabin) skull had been found due to an anonymous tip called into the police on the. Her skull had been found 50 miles away in a different county. Marilyn claimed to never receive the letter. Those who were inside Cabin 28 the night and/or early morning hours of April 11 and 12, 1981, were somewhat prepared, according to Gamberg. ET on Investigation Discovery. "There are things that were done--but I think most importantly there are things that were not done that are hard to explain," he said. When he was reinstated, Thomas kept him out of the investigation. Sheila's sister was missing her remains were found in the woods three years later. "Not knowing where she'd been for three years, or even what happened to her, it's been really, really tough.". The only way this decision by DOJ makes sense is in considering the background of one of the suspects. Obsessed with travel? Some also consider Marilyn a conspirator as well. And both Hagwood and Gamberg can pinpoint their errors and omissions. It would take those at the scene at least several hours to realize that fact. But the unsolved murders of a woman, two teenage boys and a girl still haunted him. Search, watch, and cook every single Tasty recipe and video ever - all in one place! great article! Everybody was suspicious of everybody and afraid of everybody else, he said. DNA taken from a strip of white medical tape consistent with that used to bind the victims hands and ankles, and to cover the mouth of one victim, has revealed much as the Plumas County Sheriffs Office moves forward in its efforts to solve the quadruple murder case. 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