CA CA - Sue Sharp 36, & 3 children, Keddie Cabin Murders, Plumas, 11 Apr 1981

[kristiec]

My very first post...

This case is actually what prompted me to join. I was hoping to find more info about the case here than on the cabin 28 website. I just heard about this crime in conjunction the movie Strangers and have been trying to find info about it since then. The other site seems to have a lot of people not answering questions and just making things more confusing. I am looking for any info on this. I am a true crime buff. And I have picked this as my next case to really sink into...but there just does not seem to be a wealth of good information out there. Anyone got any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[White Rain]

Of course, being a native Northern Californian, I had to investigate further to see if I could possibly make this journey. I did a search on 'Keddie Resort' and found a great article originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle that discussed the murders in detail and I forwarded the link to my friend Grey Wolf who had spent many of his formative years in the mountains, asking him if he'd ever been to Keddie. He replied that he had lived near Keddie and that he had been there a few time, and a classmate of his named Tina had been killed while he was there. He then read the link I had sent and wrote back, "Oh my god! This is the same story! I knew Tina!" I asked him if he could take me up there sometime soon so that we could explore the exterior (and perhaps the interior) of the haunted cabin. He agreed and, along with our compatriots K and C, headed up to Keddie on Sunday, September 2, 2001.

LINK

Those pictures are amazing!!!! I have never heard of this case until now but I am absolutely fascinated by it. Well, not in the gory way but yall know what I mean.
I wish with all my heart I could have seen the cabin with my own eyes.
I hope the poor victims will get justice one day. Those cabins were close by...someone had to have seen/heard something I would think. Someone knows what happened that night and who did it.

 

[thefragile7393]

It seems to me that there's little real info out there, just the newspaper articles. Bit of a hard place to start it seems like.

 

[flyboy]

It seems to me that there's little real info out there, just the newspaper articles. Bit of a hard place to start it seems like.

It's really a shame - that Cabin 28 site used to have a lot of good information about the case, but then it just seemed to get kind of.... scary on the message boards. I was instantly drawn into the story the first time I read about it. Can't remember exactly where I ran across it the first time, come to think of it. The message board there doesn't even seem to have a moderator anymore. There was a second site online for a while, but that one has disappeared.

Apparently, there's an independent documentary about the case floating around out there somewhere, as well.

There really is precious little info. about the case out there - I guess because it's older and a bit remote - but, ever since I started really becoming interested in both missing persons and unresolved cases, I was pretty instantly stunned by the number of fascinating, yet little-known cases that really exist out there.

 

[rccook555]

You can watch installments and deleted scenes from this documentary at this site. Also more pictures and related documents.
http://www.keddiemurdersmovie.com/

ETA:
There seems to be some difficulty with the movies playing directly from that sight today. (They have worked all week)
So here is the direct link to the youtube site where you can find all the video clips and deleted scenes from the documentary.
http://www.youtube.com/user/keddiemurdersmovie

 

[becklynn]

I always thought it was strange that Glenna was found with a towel on her someone had used to seemingly try to stop the blood. Did the murderer help her then kill her?

 

[rccook555]

Its been said that Justin tried to help her. But Justin also said he seen the killer come back in and cover her with a blanket.

 

[curious1]

I remember this. It was one of the first unsolveds that I really sank my teeth into long before finding WS. Thanks for bringing it to the forefront again. I agree with those who said the Groene crime reminded them of this. I thought the same thing when that first happened. It did make me wonder what the loser was up to and where he lived when the Keddie murders took place. Has anyone researched that to see if there could a connection?

 

[kristiec]

Where did the info come from about the towel? I have not been able to get ANY details about this. I tried to watch the documentary but I have stupid dial up...grr. I really am interested in this case. It is really scary that the people on that Cabin 28 board talk about some the things that they do...it seems that they know alot more than what they are telling. They never talk about the KNOWN details of the case..just speculation.

On a side note: In my apartment complex we have a laundry room that looks like a cabin...like THE cabin..now everytime I go there I get the chills:chicken:

 

[michelle]

This story makes my hair stand up.

 

[Jen_in_Indy]

You can watch installments and deleted scenes from this documentary at this site. Also more pictures and related documents.
http://www.keddiemurdersmovie.com/

ETA:
There seems to be some difficulty with the movies playing directly from that sight today. (They have worked all week)
So here is the direct link to the youtube site where you can find all the video clips and deleted scenes from the documentary.
http://www.youtube.com/user/keddiemurdersmovie

Thanks for those links. Those videos are amazing and seem to have the most information out there on the net. I'll be interested in seeing the rest of the installments when they are posted.

 

[KarlK]

What the documentary conveys, in essence, is that LE likes Marty and Bo for the murders but can't prove anything because they lack physical evidence and the only witness (Justin) is blocking something. It's obvious that the sheriff was in over his head with this crime, he sort of alluded that he had never had to investigate a homicide before this event, seeing as this happened in one of the smallest counties in California, population-wise. But the FBI and the DoJ couldn't come up with anything either.

There is surprisingly little forensic evidence mentioned about these murders. It would be interesting to know when exactly did the FBI become involved and to what extent was the crime scene compromised once qualified investigators arrived on the scene to secure it... if that ever was done that is. I was 18 in 1981, old enough to remember that in many small towns the concept of a crime scene investigator was that of a Polaroid toting cop who liked to take pictures of birds while not on duty and was therefore considered qualified because it was all about pictures. If local cops couldn't solve a major crime they would simply hand over photos of the crime scene to whoever was taking charge, state police or the FBI. Not much to work on but then again major crimes happening in small towns are often easy to solve without resorting to sophisticated forensics. I get the impression that the sheriff initially thought it would be a piece of cake, and may have been negligent as a result.

The theory of the culprits being whoever picked up Johnny and Dana hitchhiking doesn't seem to be popular. It's difficult to study the crime without knowing much about Marty Smartt and his buddy Bo, all we have is what his ex-wife tells about him which isn't that much, and that the night after the murders he was acting weird and appeared to be "high on something" according to a friend. But what was the community's opinion of him before the murders? Was this guy considered deranged? Odd? Violent? Did he have a criminal record? That remains vague.

 

[becklynn]

The murders are not drug related. They are so similar to Joseph Duncans murdering the Groene family it is eerie. The little girl was taken just like Shasta and Dylan and the family killed. The kids that lived probably lived because of their young age.
The people that say they have info should go to LE if they really know anything. Otherwise I'd say they just want attention.

 

[gigi103]

The documentary can now be seen in its entirety at keddiemurdersmovie.com. I really recommend it. I think it's well done and this story is really fascinating and heartbreaking. I agree with other posters... The discussion area of the site can be frustrating and occasionally unnerving. I think this guy "Craig" who posts obsessively and claims to have dropped the boys off that night is basically an attention-seeker with nothing to contribute. The brother of one of the "accused" posts a lot and his posts can get heated. Recently one of the survivors, Sheila (the daughter who discovered the bodies in the morning after being out at a sleepover), has been posting. Her POV is the really heartbreaking part for me... There were 3 boys in the house who survived--2 were her brothers, a third was a friend--and they claim to have seen and heard nothing. The friend's story has gone back and forth over the years, but her brothers maintain they slept through it which seems totally impossible. I think she knows that, too, but doesn't want to press them. I understand the theory (another member posted) that the target was Tina (abducted from the home; found dead years later) and this is a crime similar to the Shasta and Dylan Groene case. Where that theory breaks down for me is how much torture was involved. It's not necessary to torture Glenna and 2 young boys to abduct Tina. I almost want to believe drugs are involved because it's too hard to imagine someone *not* under the influence doing something so awful. The connection to the movie "The Strangers"? I don't see it. The movie seems to me to be almost a remake of a movie based on a Romanian case... It came out a year or so ago. I think it was called "Them."

 

[mamam]

Like kristiec, I also joined this site because of Keddie. I lived nearby when it happened, so believe me, it's true, unfortunately.

Here's the thing- there is evidence in state custody waiting to be processed by the crime lab. They have generously agreed to keep it and analyze any remaining material, as soon as they can get to it. It's been years, and sadly, it's never made it to the "front of the line". It's frustrating beyond belief to think that money is all that stands, (theoretically), in the way of solving this case! An effort has been made by several parties to interest crime shows into funding the testing in hopes of leading to a conclusive ending to this nightmare.

It's not like they don't have suspects, surviving DNA or anything to go on. This CAN be solved.

 

[missacorah]

The body of Tina is still missing. Only her skull was found. I wondered if the body could have been found but not recognised as Tinas - any of you folks good at the Unidentified Cases could have a look - I am hopeless at any of that!

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

Of course, being a native Northern Californian, I had to investigate further to see if I could possibly make this journey. I did a search on 'Keddie Resort' and found a great article originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle that discussed the murders in detail and I forwarded the link to my friend Grey Wolf who had spent many of his formative years in the mountains, asking him if he'd ever been to Keddie. He replied that he had lived near Keddie and that he had been there a few time, and a classmate of his named Tina had been killed while he was there. He then read the link I had sent and wrote back, "Oh my god! This is the same story! I knew Tina!" I asked him if he could take me up there sometime soon so that we could explore the exterior (and perhaps the interior) of the haunted cabin. He agreed and, along with our compatriots K and C, headed up to Keddie on Sunday, September 2, 2001.

LINK

http://www.asylumeclectica.com/asylum/sightseer/us/ca/keddie/keddie8.jpg

you did capture something, depending if you want to believe it or not.
in the tree, on the right........i see the girl and the boy above her..........you have to look, you see the girl first half way up the tree, the boy is above that.........I wish i could have been there that day with you......and walk through that front door after all that time that past......you can almost feel the energy inside.......stare at the picture awhile......it is actually, a very good picture.

forgot to add...
the mother is there with them........you can see her side view, between the daughter and the son...........
​

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

http://www.asylumeclectica.com/asylum/sightseer/us/ca/keddie/keddie8.jpg

you did capture something, depending if you want to believe it or not.
in the tree, on the right........i see the girl and the boy above her..........you have to look, you see the girl first half way up the tree, the boy is above that.........I wish i could have been there that day with you......and walk through that front door after all that time that past......you can almost feel the energy inside.......stare at the picture awhile......it is actually, a very good picture.

forgot to add...
the mother is there with them........you can see her side view, between the daughter and the son...........

​

...
Someone would have made a notice, of the other thing in the picture that is showing
And I will say now that this is an EXTRAORDINARY photo!
If you look at the Roof......You will see the capitalize initials of
TJ
the top of the letters are connected, because in spirit they are still connected.
But you can see clearly, the Tand J
which stands for
Tina and John.
Not everyone, has an ability to capture spirit on film, and its up to spirit as to rather they want to be caught or not.......In this case, its obvious, that on this day, at the time this picture was taken from the car, spirit decided to allow the capture.
And without knowing, i would say this picture perhaps, was taken as you were leaving the area, and not as you were arriving, but unsure........but if that is the case, then this was there way of saying Goodbye as you were leaving....
Its what you want to believe, if you believe at all.
thanks for sharing this photo!!


​

 

[Salem]

Like kristiec, I also joined this site because of Keddie. I lived nearby when it happened, so believe me, it's true, unfortunately.

Here's the thing- there is evidence in state custody waiting to be processed by the crime lab. They have generously agreed to keep it and analyze any remaining material, as soon as they can get to it. It's been years, and sadly, it's never made it to the "front of the line". It's frustrating beyond belief to think that money is all that stands, (theoretically), in the way of solving this case! An effort has been made by several parties to interest crime shows into funding the testing in hopes of leading to a conclusive ending to this nightmare.

It's not like they don't have suspects, surviving DNA or anything to go on. This CAN be solved.

I lived in Quincy when this happened. My son played with Tina on occasion. My babysitter had a daughter about Tina's age and Tina came to visit her sometimes. I spent an afternoon (just one) playing dressup with Tina and my babysitter's daughter. We had such fun.

I did not know the Sharp's personally although Glenna (Sue) did some work for my family on occasion and Johnny had a crush on my cousin or vise versa.

The Sharps were a good family struggling with reduced circumstances. As in all families with economic worries, living in economically stressed areas, there were some ups and downs. But Sue did her best by her children.

This case haunts me. I firmly believe Joe Duncan has a connection to the case. Duncan would have been about 18 years old when this happened and all accounts seem to indicate that he was locked up in a sex offender rehab facility in Washington State. However, I corresponded some (minimally) with Captain Fantastic, a crime buff, that was doing some serious research into Duncan's history. The Captain told me that Duncan did have some furloughs from the rehab facility and that he (the Captain) was trying to obtain info through the Public Records Act. As far as I know it has never been ascertained that Duncan could have made it to Keddie on one of these furloughs - but I continue to believe that he was there. I don't think he acted alone, but I am sure it is where he learned the game plan he used when he attacked the Groene's. And if he was not there, he talked to a perp that was there - maybe in one of the many facilities he was in.

I don't think Marty Smartt or Bo were actually involved. They know more than they let on. LE has indicated that both took polys and passed. Marty passed away sometime back and no one is real sure where Bo is these days.

LE has indicated that DNA was submitted in 2001 to the database, with negative or no results. I do think LE has an idea who committed these crimes and as is stated above - it really seems to come down to the money. Plumas County refuses to investigate because of costs and so far the County has not been able to find a District Attorney with the balls to push this case forward.

My opinion only of course but I pray that someday the Sharp children will have justice for their family members.

Salem

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

I lived in Quincy when this happened. My son played with Tina on occasion. My babysitter had a daughter about Tina's age and Tina came to visit her sometimes. I spent an afternoon (just one) playing dressup with Tina and my babysitter's daughter. We had such fun.

I did not know the Sharp's personally although Glenna (Sue) did some work for my family on occasion and Johnny had a crush on my cousin or vise versa.

The Sharps were a good family struggling with reduced circumstances. As in all families with economic worries, living in economically stressed areas, there were some ups and downs. But Sue did her best by her children.

This case haunts me. I firmly believe Joe Duncan has a connection to the case. Duncan would have been about 18 years old when this happened and all accounts seem to indicate that he was locked up in a sex offender rehab facility in Washington State. However, I corresponded some (minimally) with Captain Fantastic, a crime buff, that was doing some serious research into Duncan's history. The Captain told me that Duncan did have some furloughs from the rehab facility and that he (the Captain) was trying to obtain info through the Public Records Act. As far as I know it has never been ascertained that Duncan could have made it to Keddie on one of these furloughs - but I continue to believe that he was there. I don't think he acted alone, but I am sure it is where he learned the game plan he used when he attacked the Groene's. And if he was not there, he talked to a perp that was there - maybe in one of the many facilities he was in.

I don't think Marty Smartt or Bo were actually involved. They know more than they let on. LE has indicated that both took polys and passed. Marty passed away sometime back and no one is real sure where Bo is these days.

LE has indicated that DNA was submitted in 2001 to the database, with negative or no results. I do think LE has an idea who committed these crimes and as is stated above - it really seems to come down to the money. Plumas County refuses to investigate because of costs and so far the County has not been able to find a District Attorney with the balls to push this case forward.

My opinion only of course but I pray that someday the Sharp children will have justice for their family members.

Salem

where they ever able, to find the identity of the person/persons whom gave them a ride up there, after hitch hiking to the area?.....or at least a description of the vehicle involved.......just curious.........thank you........perhaps, after 2001 someone was entered into the database.....and perhaps may show up today, even though back then, they have nothing in the DNA database?......
ALL ASSUMPTIONS ON MY PART.