On April 12, 1981, in Keddie, California, the Sharp family and some friends went to sleep in cabin 28 in the Keddie Resort Lodge. What occurred next would shock the county and is a crime that is still actively being worked on today. Four people sleeping in the Keddie Cabin were brutally murdered.
Three murdered at Keddie Cabin 28
As mentioned before, four people were killed in Keddie. Three of which were found dead inside Cabin 28. Their bodies were found by Sheila Sharp, who unlike the rest of her family, had slept at a friend’s cabin next door. Sheila found the bodies of her mother, Sue Sharp, her 15 year old brother, Johnny Sharp, and Johnny’s 17 year old friend, Dana Wingate. Sheila’s 12 year old sister, Tina, was missing from the scene, but her remains would be found at a different time. A fact that we’ll touch on later.
Strangely, Sheila’s two younger brothers, Greg, age five, and Rick, age 10, were found in the cabin in a bedroom asleep and safe. In the same room, also found asleep and safe, was the boys’ friend, Justin Smartt. When you look at the scene of the crime, it’s tough to fathom how they could have slept through such a tragedy.
Johnny, Dana, and Sue were all bound to some degree by electrical wiring. These weapons were found at the scene. A bent steak knife, found on the floor, a bloodied butcher knife, and claw hammer, both found on a small wooden table near the entryway to the kitchen. Blood splatters were found on the walls and ceiling, suggesting the kind of force used.
Here’s some background on Sue Sharp and her children. Sue Sharp had left a broken and abusive marriage and was described as a quiet woman who loved her kids. In 1980, Sue moved her kids to the Keddie area, where they lived in relative poverty. Let’s return to the body of Tina Sharp, the one Sharp sibling missing from the cabin.
Tina’s skull would eventually be found due to an anonymous tip called in to the police. On the third anniversary of the murders, the skull was found about 50 miles away in a whole other county. Aside from the timing, which is undoubtedly suspicious, what’s truly dubious is the fact that the caller identified the skull as Tina’s. But how could the caller have known that based on the skull alone?
Keddie Cabin Murder Theories
- The only two suspects are Marty Smartt and his roommate Bo Boubede, who lived two cabins down from the Sharps.
- Marty Smartt was married to Marilyn Smartt, the mother of Justin Smartt, who was one of the kids that was found alive and well in the cabin. Marty was reportedly an abusive husband and there are reports that Sue Sharp had been counseling Marilyn on her marriage. When finding out about Sue’s interference with his marriage, Marty reportedly went ballistic about it. Marty reportedly left for Reno, Nevada soon after the murders. Law enforcement at the time felt that the killer was “more than one person”. Hence them throwing Marty’s roommate, Bo, who was an ex-con, into the case as an accomplice.
- Despite there being much more to this case, at the time, the investigation strangely stopped there. There was evidence that seemingly went unnoticed and people of interest that may not have been vetted properly. The father of Dana Wingate, the friend of the Sharps that was also killed, said in 2001 that the police had “stumbled over each other and fouled up the case” and he isn’t alone in that line of thinking. As many suspect the police on the case may have been involved in a coverup.
- Former sheriff, Doug Thomas, who was sheriff at the time of the murder, is accused of a coverup in many online theories, which alleged that he was a close friend to Marty Smartt at the time. Sheriff Thomas did say that he gave one session of advice to the Smartt couple, which took place before the murders. However, Marilyn Smartt does not recall the meeting with her husband, Marty, and the sheriff. But said that the two were not friends to her knowledge. Though, some consider Marilyn Smartt a conspirator as well.
- Former Sheriff Doug Thomas recently addressed these accusations. “There was no shortage of suspects, but suddenly now everybody 35 years or so later have all figured out what happened, and that all of the investigating officers were corrupt. It’s laughable is what it is. Martin Smartt was not a friend of mine. At one point he and his wife were having marital problems and they came to my office when I was sheriff and wanted me to counsel them.”
- In 2013, the case was reopened by current Sheriff, Greg Hagwood and Mike Gamberg, both of whom had personal connections to the victims of the case. Here’s what Sheriff Hagwood had to say about the police coverup theory. “It has brought to light some amazing timelines, histories, and what some may call coincidence. Others may look at it more accusingly. I don’t put anything outside the realm of possibility.”
- The first development happened when Gamberg organized boxes of case reports and evidence from the case that had been shoved aside. What he found was a letter written by Marty Smartt to his wife, Marilyn, reportedly written soon after the murders. It reads, “I’ve paid the price for your love and now that I’ve bought it with four people’s lives, you tell me we are through. Great. What else do you want?” Marilyn doesn’t recall receiving the letter. However, she did recognize her ex-husband Marty’s handwriting.
- The second development was something also found in those boxes of case files. Gamberg found the taped anonymous phone call that tipped off the location of the remains of Tina Sharp. The audio of that 911 call is now being compared with audio of suspects, looking for a match. Though it’s worth mentioning that the tape was never voice-analyzed at the time. Here’s current investigator Sheriff Hagwood on that tape. “Why that sat in a sealed evidence envelope, never opened, I don’t have the answer to that. But we have it now.”
- The third development came from Gamberg speaking to Marty Smartt’s former therapist in Reno, Nevada. Apparently, Marty had confessed to the murders in a session. The therapist reportedly told Gamberg that even he was surprised that the investigators at the time of the murders hadn’t used the confession against Marty.
- The fourth development was the discovery that a man had found a steel blue-handled claw hammer near a pond near Keddie. The hammer matched the description of one that Marty had told investigators he’d lost. As of late November 2016, it was being tested for DNA or blood residue as a possible additional murder weapon.
- Here’s Sheriff Hagwood on the current status of the case. “There are people locally who know more than they’ve said and I believe we’ve identified some of them and we know who they are, and we know where they are, and I have every confidence that they either participated after the fact, or they have first-hand information.” It’s worth mentioning that Hagwood said that there are at least six of these people of interest, all of which are alive.
- In regards to the killers being Marty Smartt and Bo Boubede, Hagwood said this. “It’s a theory that we are working to the degree possible to conclude or dismiss. There’s a disproportionate amount of evidence and information that tends to point in that direction.”
- As of now, nobody has been charged. Though you can rest easy knowing that Hagwood and Gamberg continue to dig deeper on what really happened that one night in Cabin 28. Here’s one final thought from Sheriff Hagwood. “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.” Sheila Sharp, one of the surviving members of the Sharp family, said this of Hagwood. “Finally, I have somebody who cares. In the last three years, he’s done more than the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office has done in the previous 32 years.”
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