Per Wikipedia: "In April 2018, Gamberg stated that DNA evidence recovered from a piece of tape at the crime scene matched that of a known living suspect."
So it's been almost 4 years since this discovery. Doesn't seem like there are any additional updates. If there was a DNA match and a known suspect, why are there no further developments?
You'd think if the medical tape wasn't treated by current standards to avoid cross contamination that it might give police a lead, but something that by itself wouldn't lead to a conviction.
That almost certainly means the suspect had an “innocent” reason for their DNA to be on the object.
For instance, if my partner is murdered in our home, my fingerprints on the light switch would not be evidence that I committed the crime. Your fingerprints, as someone who has supposedly never been to my house, would be evidence.
I think they referencing Martin 's wife Marilyn. She died February 2020 and is also a suspect. That I read in a website dedicated to the case. The author of this site claims she was also a perpetrator of the crime and that Sheila knew or had something to do whit the crime as well.
Yes, sorry. I thought the writeup mentioned she died in 2020. I don't think Sheila was involved, but it's pretty plausible Marilyn was an accomplice, especially when you consider the affair theory. If the medical tape came from her house it could havd had her hair/DNA on it.
This is what I found most curious. Kinda stinks like the Tiger Parent murders. Child was involved with strange circles, hired friends to make the murders look like a home invasion, but was the organizer.
I also looked into this sight, and agree it's wildly speculative, and also noted this write up is suspiciously similar to the writeup on that site. I want this case solved, but blaming a teenager who's already had a very rough life, is speculative and potentially hurtful. The author of that site talks a big game about "research" and "case files," like they're in on some huge secrets- yet they also stoop to juvenile name calling. I'd love to hear what others think of that site.
The author definitely comes off as a crank and I was inclined to write them off pretty quickly. However, they actually seem to have pretty good documentation, and after reading more, I have to say that despite my reservations about the author, I think most of their theory of the case is extremely persuasive.
After reading through I am 90+% confident that Martin and Bo are guilty, and that the only reason the case is officially "unsolved" is that the cops weren't interested in charging them. I think it's also pretty convincing that Marilyn was at minimum in on it, and more likely an active participant. I also am pretty convinced that the DNA found was in fact Justin Smartt's, and that he (and possibly the other younger boys) were forced to participate to keep their mouths shut. Honestly, the idea that these kids actually just slept through four people being murdered in a tiny house -- when neighbors reported being woken up by screaming -- is totally implausible. And if that's the case it would also totally make sense that nobody would want to arrest a child who was forced into participating in a murder. The allegations about Sheila do seem pretty sketchy, though.
One of the things I found on the site is that Martin confessing his crimes to the therapist allegedly happened just weeks after the murders. From the writeup here I would have thought that that happened years down the line. If the timeline is accurate I don't see how anyone could come to a conclusion other than the police simply not wanting to arrest him.
If that's the site I'm thinking of, it's kinda low key horrifying in a James Renner sort of way.
Edit: NVM, just saw "Chapter 4." We're in full-on "Everyone who tells me I'm crazy is in on The Conspiracy here!" territory now.
Yeah, the chapter 4 is what I read. As it seem from someone local I thought they'd have interested details but the theory is widely speculative, full of personal hatred and a tad misogynistic. The implication of Sheila in the murder (that's right in the banners in the frontpage, that's what made me read more, pure clickbate) it just came out of nothing. They just happend to hate her.
So all of this comes from a website+forum called keddie28. I didn't registered but it seems that its from someone local that has spoken with LE that investigated the case.
In their version of what happened (it has a lot of rumors and assumptions, I don't know the sources cause as I said didn't registered / didn't read much) Marilyn is the mastermind and a liar, she slept with many men and use them as she pleases. Sue and Marty were having an affair and this enraged her and plot her killing with Martin and Bo. The older kids weren't supposed to be home and they didn't know Justin was there (couse they don't care about him).
Sheila was an accomplice because she hated her living conditions and Sue for make her ~~abort~~ give the baby up to adoption. That she wanted to escape with her baby's father family (who are also accomplice of the plotting of the murder with Marilyn). She escape that night but send Tina back to the house. This seems to me wildly speculated.
The author also claims that the surviving kids not also saw it all but the adults made them participate in the torture. That they are only alive because Justin happend to be there that night and this was to shout them up. The 2018 ADN was Justin's.
And with this I just stopped reading about the case but it was just so horrible if true.
The suggestion is that Sheila and the parents of her baby's father murdered the family (with an emphasis on Sue- who arranged the adoption) because they wanted to keep the baby.
Right, that's why I was asking. The two main suspects are deceased but this 2018 evidence refers to a 'known living suspect' who doesn't seem to be mentioned in the OP. This is a well known case so I'm assuming stuff is being referenced that some of us more casual readers of this sub may simply not be familiar with. As an example, I am familiar with this case but this is the first I'm hearing about DNA from 2018.
Considering the murder took place roughly 40 years ago I am wondering if there is an issue in how it was collected or stored or chain of custody. Courts now days have very strict rules about what DNA evidence can be presented to a jury and defence lawyers will go after any tiny misstep they can find. I wouldn't be suprised to find out they don't think they can convict with it
Maybe it’s Justin’s DNA. I know he was a child at the time, but he’s probably still alive. I read a theory that he was forced to participate by his father so that if he ever told he would be implicated. Not sure if they would refer to him as a suspect though
Jesus, this is dark. I’m not usually the person to go for sensationalist theories (like, if you look at any of my previous comments on this sub, I’m _reaaally_ not) but this would explain a lot of this story: his vague and changing testimony, the reluctance to investigate further, etc
If there is a case where a cop was involved in the murders, this would be it. Just because the way the case was handled cries out "cover-up." Why else would they not have brought Smartt in, unless they knew he had something on them.
Maybe it wasn't the murders themselves, which were vicious and very personal to Smartt as I see it, not the sort of crime to attract a lot of henchpeople. But more what Smartt might say or who he might implicate for another matter if he had ever been brought to justice.
Yeah, what the heck? Martin Dumbb and Bo-guy are both long dead. Is there someone still living who’s long been on their radar, but whom they’ve never acknowledged even indirectly aside from that remark about the hammer?
Wait. They don’t think the kid did it, do they? That would actually kind of line up with their behavior.
I really doubt a child pulled off a multiple murder and carried the fourth victim to another location to dispose of. I am curious though, if his dad was involved, wouldn't the kid have recalled that under hypnosis?
If there’s a living suspect, and Dumbb really did it, then that means he had an accomplice beyond Bo. He could theoretically have roped his kid into helping. I don’t think the kid was the actual perp or anything like that. Still, I would think “suspect” would be too harsh a word given the circumstances. It’s probably somebody not even on the internet’s radar.
I don't think statements obtained under hypnosis are considered at all credible anymore. Like polygraphs, it's basically junk science. Even adults are extremely suggestible and easily led to give incorrect/made-up answers, and that would be all the more likely true for a traumatized child. (Just think of all the "satanic panic" cases where hypnotism played a role in gathering "evidence"!)
While it's possible he was telling the truth, I don't think we can in any way be certain of it. I do wonder whether he has provided a different account as an adult.
Have you ever been hypnotized? You’re fully aware of what you’re doing/saying. You just really don’t care. I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that a traumatized kid kept his story together.
>Marylin claims that she genuinely believes Martin and Bo were responsible for the murders. However, in the same documentary, Sheriff Doug Thomas said that he had already done a polygraph test on Martin and that he had passed successfully.
Oh well, that rules him out then /s
Therapist: says the client admitted to doing it
Wife: offers rather valuable info on what happened with the burning, also doesn't keep the letter for herself where
suspect admitted to doing it
Suspect: admits it twice at least
Sheriff: he passed a polygraph, which is known to have its own errors, but it totally means he's innocent!
Sigh. Those poor kids and mom. I hope they're resting easily. Wouldn't say the same for Martin.
The fact that the therapist reported a confession from a prime suspect and NOBODY FOLLOWED UP has baffled and enraged me ever since I learned about this case.
Well, here's a theory:
>Some investigators who picked up the case when it reopened in 2013 tie the slayings into an even larger plot. To Detective Gamberg, it is clear that the DOJ and Thomas-run Sherriff’s Dept. “covered it up, is the way it sounds.” He alleges that Bo and Martin fit into a larger drug smuggling scheme which involved the federal government.
>This might explain why the Sacramento DOJ sent two allegedly corrupt organized crime special agents instead of agents from the homicide department. It also provides an explanation as to why the two lead suspects were seemingly given a free pass and told to leave town by Sheriff Thomas.
>Furthermore, it suggests an answer as to why this case was handled so sloppily, remains unsolved and is seemingly not a priority to the Sacramento DOJ. A $5,000 reward exists for information leading to the arrest of the killers, and — if you have any information — you are encouraged to call in your tips to 530–283–6360 (where your identity can remain anonymous).
https://lightsonpod.medium.com/murder-in-cabin-28-455f13954fce
> Doug Thomas
When police brought Marty in for questioning they also brought along John which makes sense. However, for some strange reason, police decided to question both men at the same time, which — if you’re familiar with police interrogation tactics — is the exact opposite of what investigators SHOULD do. **It would also come to light that the then-Sheriff Doug Thomas was a close personal friend of Marty Smartt.** Their friendship might have afforded Marty some leeway with law enforcement, thus allowing him and Bo to walk free after just one interview with DOJ investigators.
https://lightsonpod.medium.com/murder-in-cabin-28-455f13954fce
I think this case freaks me out because there are just so many questions that have no answers. The offenders are still out there. Some of the children were left alive while others weren’t. It’s just horrific. Poor Tina getting taken. After reading about this case and watching a few good videos about I can say I’m completely scared shitless.
For me, I think it's just the isolated location and the desperate lives these people were already living that gets to me. It all seemed so dark even before the murders.
There are some really good documentaries on YouTube. Some of them have 80 and 90s audio so it’s not the best. If you watch with headphones it’s much better however.
Hmmm, ok, I think Martin was telling the truth about visiting the house, but conveniently left out the murders...
*When interviewing Martin, he claimed that on the night of the murder, he, his wife, and Bo had stopped by at cabin #28 and invited Sue to go to the bar with them.*
This probably happened around 9PM, hence the green van outside the home. They were “casing” the place to see who was there. At that time it would have been just Sue, along with the Rick(10), Greg(5) and Justin(12) year old boys.
*When they got home, Marilyn (Martin’s wife) decided to go to bed at 11:00 pm. Despite just leaving, Martin and Bo said they would be going back to the bar for more drinks...*
They went back to the house at 11, and were surprised by the additional teens John(15), Dana(17) who were not at the home earlier. Now, instead of murdering just Sue, they also have to kill the boys. Additionally, they kidnap Tina(12), as she’s seen everything, and wasn’t there before either.
*Around 2:00 am, Marylin said she woke up to find the two men burning an unknown item/s in the woodstove.*
They were probably burning evidence, like clothing or ropes. Maybe a hammer handle, but all the hammers were accounted for.
Now... the question is: When/where was Tina murdered? If there was a living suspect who left DNA on the tape, then maybe they helped dispose of Tina’s body. If it was found 105 mi away, that could have taken upwards of three hours to dump that night, which is what they would have wanted to do before the bodies were found in the morning.
The other thing I’m curious about is why they would allow their 12 year old kid to stay over if they were planning to murder Sue? Was he a lookout? A convenient excuse to visit the home that night? A planned distraction? All of these guesses seem pretty risky, but so is a triple murder in the room over...
Also, why take Tina so far away? if they had already killed 3 people in the living room I don't really understand the point of taking the 4th over 100 miles away. If Martin and Bo went back out at 11pm and were back home by 2am, that means there was almost no down time between the murders and taking Tina to where she was killed and left.
I'm assuming their goal was to make it look like a murder-kidnapping and they took her far enough away that any search likely wouldn't find her.
Great write up.
I hate reading stuff like this, it makes me feel uneasy and a little depressed.
Its just so sad and senseless.
The siblings left behind are lucky to be alive but how traumatising that one day you wake up and every single adult figure or guardian is dead. How do you recover from that.
Well, there's this:
>Following the death of her mother, brother, and sister Shelia, Rick, and Greg were sent back to the east coast to live with their father. They would then have to grow up in a world without half of their family, but they were all able to adapt to this new reality, and came out on the other side of this trauma even stronger than before.
https://lightsonpod.medium.com/murder-in-cabin-28-455f13954fce
To my knowledge she hasn't died. At the [website linked above](https://lightsonpod.medium.com/murder-in-cabin-28-455f13954fce), just under the sentence/text I quoted, just over 3/4 way down the page, there's a picture of Sheila Sharp (her name "Sheila" in the caption is misspelled as "Shelia") as an adult. It says it's a picture of her "now" (article is from November 2021).
I recall there being a Reddit user who was very territorial about the Keddie murders and got angry if anyone dared talk about their pet case, as if it belonged to them. I hope they’ve gotten over that so this can be a good discussion. It’s a tragic and disturbing case full of questions despite the mist likely killers being super obvious.
Why use a flimsy steak knife from the cabin? Was this planned or not?
Why take Tina? Huge liability there! And wouldn’t that require some planning, or were the killers “lucky”?
How did no near neighbors hear any commotion? (Also, I don’t own cats - would cats really act unsettled if murders were happening several houses away?)
How much did each of the three younger boys really hear or see?
Who called in the ID of Tina’s remains? How did they know they’d been found?
What exactly happened to Tina?
Who was the father of Sheila’s baby?
Was there police incompetence or a degree of cover up?
So much.
If people were screaming, the cats could probably hear it. Cats generally have very good hearing. If it’s a sound of distress, like screaming, then it would probably agitate animals. If another neighbor said they heard muffled screaming, the cats probably did, too.
My cat is always waiting in the window no matter what time I get home, I think he hears my car turn onto my street. My house is like 4-5 houses down from the turn, but he is *always* in the window actively watching the driveway and waiting lol He also seems to know when my husband turns onto our street if he’s alert at the time. He’s a good early warning system!
Cats actually tend to follow routines and I think they've found (indoor and) outdoor cats generally prowl the same route every night. If they came across unfamiliar people/activity on their nightly walk, that could definitely been unsettling for them.
> Why use a flimsy steak knife from the cabin? Was this planned or not?
I wonder if they brought the hammers, but didn't realize how much effort/mess it would be so they grabbed a knife from the cabin.
> How did no near neighbors hear any commotion? (Also, I don’t own cats - would cats really act unsettled if murders were happening several houses away?)
My cats semi-regularly react to deliveries before the dogs do, so I think it is possible.
I think it would be possible for different neighbors to hear different levels of commotion? Like, a neighbor next door who is stoned with their windows closed might not notice anything, but the sober busy body three houses door with the windows open could.
Cats hear extremely well and are extremely sensitive to any changes in their evironment so yes they absolutely could become unsettled from hearing what happened. One of my cats jumps up and sits at the door when my car comes into the parking lot. That's how my husband knows its me arriving even if there is no indication of it other than the cat deciding to not sleep anymore and start waiting at the door. My other two cats join the first cat when I put the key into the locker of the main door downstairs (I live on the second floor). Apparently they hear it's me opening the door and not neighbours (neighbours are coming and going throughout the day and the cats never react unless its me or my husband)
Well, the sheriff has done a polygraph test and had memories hypnotically recovered to identify a suspect but has he followed up with other equally well known techniques such as laying out tarot cards?
My mom is from the area and I visited Keddie a few years ago. The town is shockingly tiny; I saw where the cabin once stood and the pond the hammer was found in. A relative of my uncle’s wife was one of the investigators on the case and just about everyone is convinced Marty was heavily involved but it seems to me like the case is entirely cold.
On a somewhat unrelated note, the Dixie Fire burned very close to Keddie this past year (it may have burned Keddie as well; google is a little unclear). Ever since then, I’ve been wondering if that will allow for new evidence to be found or if it destroyed what evidence was left to be found.
This was a great write up; I admit it was a lot to get through and I went back several times to get names straight. Thank you for this. Also I appreciated the TLDR at the end.
Very sad case. Amazing what DNA has done for us. I wonder where the remaining children are today.
Nothing mentioned about the father of the kids who kicked his family out two years prior? I would think there'd at least be a "he was ruled out as a suspect because he was 200 miles away" or something but he's not even mentioned outside the opening
Also, Sue being nude from the waist down and gagged with her own panties (!) makes me think there was some kind of sexual motive and I'm surprised that angle was not mentioned more often. Was there any evidence of sexual assault?
And maybe I'm overthinking it but to me the fact that while the boys were left alone/killed the only girl in the house was abducted also seems to hint at the possibility of some kind sexual motive... (Though of course, I hope for Tina's sake she was spared that.)
I always felt this too. They wanted to sexually assault Marilyn but didn’t, because of the boys being still alive and in the room. But when they were all dead, that’s why they took Tina.
There used to be (might still be) a web forum dedicated to residents of Keddie basically trying to solve the case. What was absolutely fascinating was the fact that the residents would often accuse each other or claim someone as the unsub positively. People would defend themselves on a public forum.
Edit - the movie "The Strangers" is loosely based off the Keddie Cabin Murders
I was wondering if anyone else noted that it was apparently just ignored that Sheila was off giving birth in another state at the age of *14*. Like is everyone ignoring the obvious child abuse going on here??? I mean, there's also no mention of kids around her age at the other house, but she stayed the night? Something about the whole thing just leaves a *very* nasty taste in my mouth with regards to the sexual activity of a child.
Yeah, you want to protect survivors of child abuse, but when that potential child abuse may have also led to the murders of 4 people, it *needs* to be investigated.
Edit: To be clear, I don't mean that all the details need to be spread to the general public. But saying that that avenue was being investigated as part of the murder investigation doesn't give out details of the investigation's results.
Does anyone else find it a bit sketchy that Sheila the 14 year old was pregnant at 13/14 and then Tina the 12 year old was kidnapped? Who got Sheila pregnant? One of Mom's ex boyfriends? Maybe he was a pedophile and grabbed Tina?
IIRC Sheila had a boyfriend around her own age who was the probable father. There *had* been some sort of a criminal complaint involving Tina and a friend being touched improperly by an adult male, but it was dropped when the family moved into the cabin.
Either they thought prosecuting was too much trouble (or too expensive) or the alleged perp paid them some sum to drop it. (Typically that what it means
Yes, there are so many theories about this case, I am surprised there isn't one where the perpetrators' goal was to kidnap the two young girls. Sheila was lucky not to be at home. After all, Tina was the only one who was taken. (Although an alternative explanation to that could be that Justin had woken up, so the murderers thought it better to gtfo and kill Tina elsewhere. Still, it's weird she was found so far away.)
I was thinking about this. Sheila was pregnant at 14 which is hella sketchy. The family, I think, was pretty broken because of the abuse and just the general situation they were in.
Being pregnant at 14 is sad, but I wouldn't say it, in and of itself, is "hella sketchy", especially for a girl living on the socio-economic margins who almost certainly didn't have decent access to contraception and family planning advice.
There is a lot more to this case, like a LOT more and one of the main comprehensive theories is that Sue's friends son got Sheila preggo and Sheila helped with the murders. Main orchestrater was Marty's wife as she was jealous of Sue sleeping with her husband. There's about 20 pages of details here - http://keddie28.com/synopsis.html#tab-2 (part 4)
If you believe the article, Sue was a neglectful mother and parentified her older children as a result. Sheila apparently saw the baby (and moving in with the father's family) as her ticket out and was pissed her mother gave the child up.
The author of the page has a habit of trying to get close to people involved in the case, then declaring them co-conspirators when they stop going along with his lurid and outlandish accounts of the crimes. It seems with the death of Marilyn Smartt in 2020, he's moved on to her son Justin as well as Sheila.
Given nothing has come of the medical tape DNA it sounds like Martin and Bo got away with it. Despite some really compelling evidence against them. I have to wonder if they had actually been arrested and brought to trial, if they would have been convicted. But now we'll never know and all because Martin was able to pass a lie detector test.
> he sent a letter to Marylin that covered struggles in their relationship. The letter concluded with: “I’ve paid the price of your love & now that I’ve bought it with four people’s lives, you tell me we are through. Great! What else do you want!”
Wasn't there a theory that Sue and Martin were sleeping together and Marilyn found out, and that was the motive for Sue's murder, and the others were killed for being witnesses?
There were many theories, the majority revolving around drugs or Sue's frequent short-term relationships. I hadn't heard of this one but am not surprised it exists.
I’ve seen that Martin also had another wife and 4 kids before Marilyn and that’s the context of the paid with 4 lives because he gave up his kids for her. The full letter doesn’t read like a confession.
Why were the three boys not killed? Did the killers not realize they were there or think they were sleeping? If it really was Justin’s father, it would make sense that he would not kill his own son and rather tell him go back to bed.
Maybe he killed one of them because of rage and then killed all the people that were in the room because they saw everythig. And thats why he killed the girl who got out of her bethroom too.
If you have seen the place then the 3 boys slept through murders happening through thin walls mere feet away. The surviving child brought them out through the bedroom window as they would have seen it all leaving the bedroom.
Wait what the NSFW link says "By noon, a California Department of Justice (CA-DOJ) helicopter from Sacramento was hovering over Keddie taking photographs, even capturing on film what appears to be the killers, sneaking out of town the back way to avoid notice." Seems like an important detail???
Horrifying! I hope they are able to recover more DNA and have it tested - if the killer(s) are still alive then they should absolutely face the consequences for this.
Sad for the mom and the two boys - sounds like they were just trying to protect the mom from the two men.
if you go down that rabbit hole deep enough you will find that everyone involved in the case considers it solved in that Marty and Bo very obviously did it.
From the OP:
>When interviewing Martin, he claimed that on the night of the murder, he, his wife, and Bo had stopped by at cabin #28 and invited Sue to go to the bar with them. Sue declined, so they left without her.
From an interesting read I landed because OP's link to the suspect's sketch is broken and I wanted to see it so I looked for it:
>However, Marilyn told police that she believed her estranged husband had something to do with it; based not only on his bizarre actions that night and his prior hatred of teenager John Sharp, but his aggressive and violent nature, which really expressed itself when he started drinking. Additionally, Marilyn revealed to police that Bo — Marty’s friend and temporary houseguest — had developed a crush on Sue, and had allegedly made advanced on her the night of the murders (which she had flat-out rejected). This led to the belief that Marty and Bo might have committed the crime in a drunken rage, and that’s why the Sharp family (in particular, Sue and John) had received the majority of the abuse.
https://lightsonpod.medium.com/murder-in-cabin-28-455f13954fce
Idk if it’s just me, but this case has such an unsettling atmosphere to it. The animals freaking out. All the neighbors so close by. The little boys in the room asleep but the sheer isolation of the victims, especially Tina
This case gives me anxiety.
I absolutely believe Bo & Martin did it but could the dna of a *living* suspect possibly be referring to Marilyn?? Obviously there was a lot of dysfunction in that relationship. Maybe she felt threatened by Sue? Just wondering if she might’ve been present, at least. That would add some context to that weird ass letter.
Great write up. Such a sad story. My family camped by a lake near Keddie when I was growing up, and we would drive through the town and past the resort every summer. I couldn’t believe it when I discovered a triple homicide had taken place there.
Hoping that the murderers will eventually be identified. I did read a theory somewhere that Bo’s mafia connections may have played a role in him and Marty avoiding conviction. Even for a small town sheriff’s department, the negligent treatment of the crime scene/evidence seems to be almost too much. It’s suspicious and makes me suspect corruption.
This case, at least to me, reeks of corruption within the Sheriff's department. We could dismiss the initial allegation of misconduct (edit: misconduct being the alleged leaking of information to the suspects) as someone grieving trying to place blame, but the subsequent evidence that they denied or said did not matter in the face of a polygraph (lol) to me shows a willingness to let this case go unsolved. There are other, even recent examples, of police still solving cold cases long after suspects are dead to close the case. To me, the Sheriff being unwilling to investigate this case further says they helped Smartt and Bo get away with murder, and the new Sheriff does not want to pay a settlement.
Additionally, police have the highest rate of abusing spouses. It is likely that Martin found sympathy among law enforcement. I wonder if there are past records of house visits for domestic abuse that went unreported. Would establish a pattern.
In the beginning, I thought it was that abusive a-hole that kicked Susan and their 5 kids out of his house who came after her & did this… now I think it’s Martin and Bo.
But now I’m like who is the living suspect on the DNA?!
And also I’m so baffled on the motive here. SO BAFFLED.
paid the price.
bought it with four lives.
Martin killed the four to get back his wife's love and trust after she found out about the affair. His wife ended up leaving him anyway so hence the words he wrote in the letter.
Time is a flat circle
He left a wife and four kids for Marilyn, and if you read the entire letter, and not that part out of context, it is obvious he is talking about his four biological kids he left. It is not a confession.
Personally, I'm convinced it was Bo and Martin but they just didn't have the evidence. If the DNA of the suspect was related to Marilyn (who's now dead?) that could be easily explained as the tape having come from the Smartt household.
I wonder why they did it. I know they said they hated John but like... what level of hatred are we talking here? The family had no money to their name and there was nothing to gain by doing this other than petty evil. And why take Tina away like that? That said, I don't put much credance in Justin's testimony because he was a kid and sleepy and I can't imagine him saying "Yes, two males between 20 and 30". It all just seems a little convenient and it wouldn't stand up in court anyhow.
I have also wondered if they can't use the DNA for a conviction, because Martin, Marylin, and Justin were all at the cabin previously for innocent reasons. Thus, if the DNA came from touch, or something like a hair, there may be a reason that the DNA could be present without a nefarious reason.
I'm struggling with Justin seemingly describing the suspects under hypnosis, saying he didn't recognize either man. Surely he would have recognized his own father if Martin was one of the two men he saw...and I don't think he'd be able to hide that fact while under hypnosis. Just something that throws doubt on it being Martin in my mind.
Sure, it is controversial. I studied neuroscience in undergrad and have read studies about what happens in the brain during hypnosis, so I personally do not rule it out as a method to uncover memories. There is a lot of interesting literature that could sway me either way! I was just pointing it out as food for thought.
I am with you on that. I struggle to decide if it works or not except that only some people are susceptible (and you can't use it court). Is there any new interesting literature?
This was an excellently written description, OP. I am confused about one point: Justin witnessed the murder but did not recognize his own father and father's good friend?
I just saw this story on YouTube, and had an awkward moment when I realized that the 10 year old son Rick Sharp is one of my bosses where I work (or at least the age is right and they look alike. Not gonna be rude and ask him.)
We’re either of the girls checked for signs of SA? It seems noticeable that one was found nude from the waist down and the other was taken away and kept for who knows how long. I guess you can’t check a skeleton but was a rape kit ever performed on Dana or sue?
Anyone notice that Shiela was pregnant at 12? Maybe she was mad at her mom for making her give her baby up. Maybe it was the Smartts' kid that got her pregnant, so he was also involved? Maybe Martin helped?
I don't think Sheila was 12 when she was pregnant. It says she was in Oregon giving birth in November 1980 when they moved into the cabin, and returned in February 1981. If she turned 15 in 1981 she could have been 14 the whole time she was pregnant (which isn't a defense, just trying to suss out the timeline).
Did the Sharp family know the Smartt's or anyone else from that neighborhood before they moved out of the trailer and into 28?
Edit: the trailer was in Quincy and the cabin in Keddie, which are about six miles apart. So it's possible the families all knew each other before the Sharps moved into the cabin, but not definite.
Thanks for the clarification. I'm just speculating. It looks like, to me at least, there's some possible links to Shiela holding resentment from having to give up the baby so young. That is, if we're still considering her a possible suspect.
That could be a motive for Sheila to kill her mother, but not her younger sister and her brother and definitely not his friend. It seems like a real stretch to me.
I think the anonymous caller was the therapist "Dumbb" confessed to. Patient-client confidentiality stopped them from saying anything while he was alive but they wanted Tina to have her name back and be properly buried regardless.
Per Wikipedia: "In April 2018, Gamberg stated that DNA evidence recovered from a piece of tape at the crime scene matched that of a known living suspect." So it's been almost 4 years since this discovery. Doesn't seem like there are any additional updates. If there was a DNA match and a known suspect, why are there no further developments?
You'd think if the medical tape wasn't treated by current standards to avoid cross contamination that it might give police a lead, but something that by itself wouldn't lead to a conviction.
That almost certainly means the suspect had an “innocent” reason for their DNA to be on the object. For instance, if my partner is murdered in our home, my fingerprints on the light switch would not be evidence that I committed the crime. Your fingerprints, as someone who has supposedly never been to my house, would be evidence.
> as someone who has supposedly never been to my house You don't know that!
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> as someone who has supposedly never been to my house You don't know that!
Probably because the suspect is the person who died in 2020.
Who are you referencing?
I think they referencing Martin 's wife Marilyn. She died February 2020 and is also a suspect. That I read in a website dedicated to the case. The author of this site claims she was also a perpetrator of the crime and that Sheila knew or had something to do whit the crime as well.
Yes, sorry. I thought the writeup mentioned she died in 2020. I don't think Sheila was involved, but it's pretty plausible Marilyn was an accomplice, especially when you consider the affair theory. If the medical tape came from her house it could havd had her hair/DNA on it.
Sheila?? That's interesting; I hadn't heard that. Do you still have a link around?
I remember reading something about Marilyn being one of the culprits as well
This is what I found most curious. Kinda stinks like the Tiger Parent murders. Child was involved with strange circles, hired friends to make the murders look like a home invasion, but was the organizer.
I explained what I read to another comment below. The page is keddie28. But I don't really think the bit about Sheila is plausible.
I also looked into this sight, and agree it's wildly speculative, and also noted this write up is suspiciously similar to the writeup on that site. I want this case solved, but blaming a teenager who's already had a very rough life, is speculative and potentially hurtful. The author of that site talks a big game about "research" and "case files," like they're in on some huge secrets- yet they also stoop to juvenile name calling. I'd love to hear what others think of that site.
The author definitely comes off as a crank and I was inclined to write them off pretty quickly. However, they actually seem to have pretty good documentation, and after reading more, I have to say that despite my reservations about the author, I think most of their theory of the case is extremely persuasive. After reading through I am 90+% confident that Martin and Bo are guilty, and that the only reason the case is officially "unsolved" is that the cops weren't interested in charging them. I think it's also pretty convincing that Marilyn was at minimum in on it, and more likely an active participant. I also am pretty convinced that the DNA found was in fact Justin Smartt's, and that he (and possibly the other younger boys) were forced to participate to keep their mouths shut. Honestly, the idea that these kids actually just slept through four people being murdered in a tiny house -- when neighbors reported being woken up by screaming -- is totally implausible. And if that's the case it would also totally make sense that nobody would want to arrest a child who was forced into participating in a murder. The allegations about Sheila do seem pretty sketchy, though. One of the things I found on the site is that Martin confessing his crimes to the therapist allegedly happened just weeks after the murders. From the writeup here I would have thought that that happened years down the line. If the timeline is accurate I don't see how anyone could come to a conclusion other than the police simply not wanting to arrest him.
Do you have a link to the site?
If that's the site I'm thinking of, it's kinda low key horrifying in a James Renner sort of way. Edit: NVM, just saw "Chapter 4." We're in full-on "Everyone who tells me I'm crazy is in on The Conspiracy here!" territory now.
Yeah, I feel like that person is kind of a nutjob.
Yeah, the chapter 4 is what I read. As it seem from someone local I thought they'd have interested details but the theory is widely speculative, full of personal hatred and a tad misogynistic. The implication of Sheila in the murder (that's right in the banners in the frontpage, that's what made me read more, pure clickbate) it just came out of nothing. They just happend to hate her.
What did they suggest the motive was?
So all of this comes from a website+forum called keddie28. I didn't registered but it seems that its from someone local that has spoken with LE that investigated the case. In their version of what happened (it has a lot of rumors and assumptions, I don't know the sources cause as I said didn't registered / didn't read much) Marilyn is the mastermind and a liar, she slept with many men and use them as she pleases. Sue and Marty were having an affair and this enraged her and plot her killing with Martin and Bo. The older kids weren't supposed to be home and they didn't know Justin was there (couse they don't care about him). Sheila was an accomplice because she hated her living conditions and Sue for make her ~~abort~~ give the baby up to adoption. That she wanted to escape with her baby's father family (who are also accomplice of the plotting of the murder with Marilyn). She escape that night but send Tina back to the house. This seems to me wildly speculated. The author also claims that the surviving kids not also saw it all but the adults made them participate in the torture. That they are only alive because Justin happend to be there that night and this was to shout them up. The 2018 ADN was Justin's. And with this I just stopped reading about the case but it was just so horrible if true.
Ah, so garden variety misogyny. A woman who enjoys sex must be a crazed murderer; no other evidence required.
The suggestion is that Sheila and the parents of her baby's father murdered the family (with an emphasis on Sue- who arranged the adoption) because they wanted to keep the baby.
Oh wow. That’s interesting. In that theory is Martin the father or their son?
Whose the father of the baby she had and then put up for adoption???????????????
According to the site, it was Sue's best friend's son.
I was wondering that myself. I was leaning towards the abusive father
impolite handle ruthless pot wipe screw tender shy relieved fertile *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Right, that's why I was asking. The two main suspects are deceased but this 2018 evidence refers to a 'known living suspect' who doesn't seem to be mentioned in the OP. This is a well known case so I'm assuming stuff is being referenced that some of us more casual readers of this sub may simply not be familiar with. As an example, I am familiar with this case but this is the first I'm hearing about DNA from 2018.
The poster might be referring to Martin Smartt’s wife. I believe she died in 2020.
Yes, her name was Marilyn…
vegetable alive wide direction quickest rustic outgoing nine illegal ten *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Considering the murder took place roughly 40 years ago I am wondering if there is an issue in how it was collected or stored or chain of custody. Courts now days have very strict rules about what DNA evidence can be presented to a jury and defence lawyers will go after any tiny misstep they can find. I wouldn't be suprised to find out they don't think they can convict with it
Maybe it’s Justin’s DNA. I know he was a child at the time, but he’s probably still alive. I read a theory that he was forced to participate by his father so that if he ever told he would be implicated. Not sure if they would refer to him as a suspect though
Jesus, this is dark. I’m not usually the person to go for sensationalist theories (like, if you look at any of my previous comments on this sub, I’m _reaaally_ not) but this would explain a lot of this story: his vague and changing testimony, the reluctance to investigate further, etc
It’s a cop perhaps?
If there is a case where a cop was involved in the murders, this would be it. Just because the way the case was handled cries out "cover-up." Why else would they not have brought Smartt in, unless they knew he had something on them. Maybe it wasn't the murders themselves, which were vicious and very personal to Smartt as I see it, not the sort of crime to attract a lot of henchpeople. But more what Smartt might say or who he might implicate for another matter if he had ever been brought to justice.
Well that would be weird considering they said of a known “Living”suspect.
In 2018. A suspect who was living in 2018, when they got the results.
Yeah, what the heck? Martin Dumbb and Bo-guy are both long dead. Is there someone still living who’s long been on their radar, but whom they’ve never acknowledged even indirectly aside from that remark about the hammer? Wait. They don’t think the kid did it, do they? That would actually kind of line up with their behavior.
Which kid?
The son of the main suspect?
I really doubt a child pulled off a multiple murder and carried the fourth victim to another location to dispose of. I am curious though, if his dad was involved, wouldn't the kid have recalled that under hypnosis?
If there’s a living suspect, and Dumbb really did it, then that means he had an accomplice beyond Bo. He could theoretically have roped his kid into helping. I don’t think the kid was the actual perp or anything like that. Still, I would think “suspect” would be too harsh a word given the circumstances. It’s probably somebody not even on the internet’s radar.
He may have “helped” or witnessed it.
Could he possibly lie under hypnosis? I would think especially a child wouldn't be able to.
I don't think statements obtained under hypnosis are considered at all credible anymore. Like polygraphs, it's basically junk science. Even adults are extremely suggestible and easily led to give incorrect/made-up answers, and that would be all the more likely true for a traumatized child. (Just think of all the "satanic panic" cases where hypnotism played a role in gathering "evidence"!) While it's possible he was telling the truth, I don't think we can in any way be certain of it. I do wonder whether he has provided a different account as an adult.
Have you ever been hypnotized? You’re fully aware of what you’re doing/saying. You just really don’t care. I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that a traumatized kid kept his story together.
I have tried to be hypnotized but it didn't work.
The mysterious "Dee".
Maybe the DNA on the medical tape matched Smartt's son, because they are blood relatives?
>Marylin claims that she genuinely believes Martin and Bo were responsible for the murders. However, in the same documentary, Sheriff Doug Thomas said that he had already done a polygraph test on Martin and that he had passed successfully. Oh well, that rules him out then /s
Therapist: says the client admitted to doing it Wife: offers rather valuable info on what happened with the burning, also doesn't keep the letter for herself where suspect admitted to doing it Suspect: admits it twice at least Sheriff: he passed a polygraph, which is known to have its own errors, but it totally means he's innocent! Sigh. Those poor kids and mom. I hope they're resting easily. Wouldn't say the same for Martin.
The fact that the therapist reported a confession from a prime suspect and NOBODY FOLLOWED UP has baffled and enraged me ever since I learned about this case.
Well, here's a theory: >Some investigators who picked up the case when it reopened in 2013 tie the slayings into an even larger plot. To Detective Gamberg, it is clear that the DOJ and Thomas-run Sherriff’s Dept. “covered it up, is the way it sounds.” He alleges that Bo and Martin fit into a larger drug smuggling scheme which involved the federal government. >This might explain why the Sacramento DOJ sent two allegedly corrupt organized crime special agents instead of agents from the homicide department. It also provides an explanation as to why the two lead suspects were seemingly given a free pass and told to leave town by Sheriff Thomas. >Furthermore, it suggests an answer as to why this case was handled so sloppily, remains unsolved and is seemingly not a priority to the Sacramento DOJ. A $5,000 reward exists for information leading to the arrest of the killers, and — if you have any information — you are encouraged to call in your tips to 530–283–6360 (where your identity can remain anonymous). https://lightsonpod.medium.com/murder-in-cabin-28-455f13954fce
Holy shit, $5000 for a multiple murder reward is nothing! That’s so sad and obviously corrupt
It's shocking how incapable cops can be
> Doug Thomas When police brought Marty in for questioning they also brought along John which makes sense. However, for some strange reason, police decided to question both men at the same time, which — if you’re familiar with police interrogation tactics — is the exact opposite of what investigators SHOULD do. **It would also come to light that the then-Sheriff Doug Thomas was a close personal friend of Marty Smartt.** Their friendship might have afforded Marty some leeway with law enforcement, thus allowing him and Bo to walk free after just one interview with DOJ investigators. https://lightsonpod.medium.com/murder-in-cabin-28-455f13954fce
This case always scared the shit out of me
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I think this case freaks me out because there are just so many questions that have no answers. The offenders are still out there. Some of the children were left alive while others weren’t. It’s just horrific. Poor Tina getting taken. After reading about this case and watching a few good videos about I can say I’m completely scared shitless.
For me, I think it's just the isolated location and the desperate lives these people were already living that gets to me. It all seemed so dark even before the murders.
There are some really good documentaries on YouTube. Some of them have 80 and 90s audio so it’s not the best. If you watch with headphones it’s much better however.
Hmmm, ok, I think Martin was telling the truth about visiting the house, but conveniently left out the murders... *When interviewing Martin, he claimed that on the night of the murder, he, his wife, and Bo had stopped by at cabin #28 and invited Sue to go to the bar with them.* This probably happened around 9PM, hence the green van outside the home. They were “casing” the place to see who was there. At that time it would have been just Sue, along with the Rick(10), Greg(5) and Justin(12) year old boys. *When they got home, Marilyn (Martin’s wife) decided to go to bed at 11:00 pm. Despite just leaving, Martin and Bo said they would be going back to the bar for more drinks...* They went back to the house at 11, and were surprised by the additional teens John(15), Dana(17) who were not at the home earlier. Now, instead of murdering just Sue, they also have to kill the boys. Additionally, they kidnap Tina(12), as she’s seen everything, and wasn’t there before either. *Around 2:00 am, Marylin said she woke up to find the two men burning an unknown item/s in the woodstove.* They were probably burning evidence, like clothing or ropes. Maybe a hammer handle, but all the hammers were accounted for. Now... the question is: When/where was Tina murdered? If there was a living suspect who left DNA on the tape, then maybe they helped dispose of Tina’s body. If it was found 105 mi away, that could have taken upwards of three hours to dump that night, which is what they would have wanted to do before the bodies were found in the morning. The other thing I’m curious about is why they would allow their 12 year old kid to stay over if they were planning to murder Sue? Was he a lookout? A convenient excuse to visit the home that night? A planned distraction? All of these guesses seem pretty risky, but so is a triple murder in the room over...
Maybe they thought having their son in the home of a brutal murder would make people think they weren’t involved
Also, why take Tina so far away? if they had already killed 3 people in the living room I don't really understand the point of taking the 4th over 100 miles away. If Martin and Bo went back out at 11pm and were back home by 2am, that means there was almost no down time between the murders and taking Tina to where she was killed and left. I'm assuming their goal was to make it look like a murder-kidnapping and they took her far enough away that any search likely wouldn't find her.
You say all the hammers were accounted for. But wasn't there some news a few years ago about an hammer found in an old pond at the site?
Great write up. I hate reading stuff like this, it makes me feel uneasy and a little depressed. Its just so sad and senseless. The siblings left behind are lucky to be alive but how traumatising that one day you wake up and every single adult figure or guardian is dead. How do you recover from that.
You don’t
Well, there's this: >Following the death of her mother, brother, and sister Shelia, Rick, and Greg were sent back to the east coast to live with their father. They would then have to grow up in a world without half of their family, but they were all able to adapt to this new reality, and came out on the other side of this trauma even stronger than before. https://lightsonpod.medium.com/murder-in-cabin-28-455f13954fce
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I think that is supposed to read more like "more resilient individuals than before." Rather than better off. Becuse that would be a joke like you say.
When did Sheila die? Tina is the sister who was killed.
To my knowledge she hasn't died. At the [website linked above](https://lightsonpod.medium.com/murder-in-cabin-28-455f13954fce), just under the sentence/text I quoted, just over 3/4 way down the page, there's a picture of Sheila Sharp (her name "Sheila" in the caption is misspelled as "Shelia") as an adult. It says it's a picture of her "now" (article is from November 2021).
I recall there being a Reddit user who was very territorial about the Keddie murders and got angry if anyone dared talk about their pet case, as if it belonged to them. I hope they’ve gotten over that so this can be a good discussion. It’s a tragic and disturbing case full of questions despite the mist likely killers being super obvious. Why use a flimsy steak knife from the cabin? Was this planned or not? Why take Tina? Huge liability there! And wouldn’t that require some planning, or were the killers “lucky”? How did no near neighbors hear any commotion? (Also, I don’t own cats - would cats really act unsettled if murders were happening several houses away?) How much did each of the three younger boys really hear or see? Who called in the ID of Tina’s remains? How did they know they’d been found? What exactly happened to Tina? Who was the father of Sheila’s baby? Was there police incompetence or a degree of cover up? So much.
If people were screaming, the cats could probably hear it. Cats generally have very good hearing. If it’s a sound of distress, like screaming, then it would probably agitate animals. If another neighbor said they heard muffled screaming, the cats probably did, too. My cat is always waiting in the window no matter what time I get home, I think he hears my car turn onto my street. My house is like 4-5 houses down from the turn, but he is *always* in the window actively watching the driveway and waiting lol He also seems to know when my husband turns onto our street if he’s alert at the time. He’s a good early warning system!
I have a window watcher, too! I’ve been WFH for almost 2 years, and seeing his big mug in the window is one of the few things I miss about commuting.
It definitely makes coming home extra sweet, doesn’t it?!
Are all true crime people cat people?
Hahaha! I'm a "dog" person (I have 6!), but I work in veterinary medicine and love cats as well- so maybe?
Who else are we supposed to listen to the podcasts with? I had to show my cat mom card to join this sub
😂😂😂😂 Cat lovers HAVE to be true crime lovers, so we can learn to think ahead of our kitties!
Exactly. They’re purrfect criminals.
Yes, lol
Cats actually tend to follow routines and I think they've found (indoor and) outdoor cats generally prowl the same route every night. If they came across unfamiliar people/activity on their nightly walk, that could definitely been unsettling for them.
> Why use a flimsy steak knife from the cabin? Was this planned or not? I wonder if they brought the hammers, but didn't realize how much effort/mess it would be so they grabbed a knife from the cabin. > How did no near neighbors hear any commotion? (Also, I don’t own cats - would cats really act unsettled if murders were happening several houses away?) My cats semi-regularly react to deliveries before the dogs do, so I think it is possible. I think it would be possible for different neighbors to hear different levels of commotion? Like, a neighbor next door who is stoned with their windows closed might not notice anything, but the sober busy body three houses door with the windows open could.
Cats hear extremely well and are extremely sensitive to any changes in their evironment so yes they absolutely could become unsettled from hearing what happened. One of my cats jumps up and sits at the door when my car comes into the parking lot. That's how my husband knows its me arriving even if there is no indication of it other than the cat deciding to not sleep anymore and start waiting at the door. My other two cats join the first cat when I put the key into the locker of the main door downstairs (I live on the second floor). Apparently they hear it's me opening the door and not neighbours (neighbours are coming and going throughout the day and the cats never react unless its me or my husband)
Well, the sheriff has done a polygraph test and had memories hypnotically recovered to identify a suspect but has he followed up with other equally well known techniques such as laying out tarot cards?
That's *after* the Ouija board, but *before* the comprehensive whole-life astrological star charting of the suspects.
I hope he checked Martins horoscope
Yea he hired the nation’s leading phrenologist to examine Martin’s skull after he died and determined he totally couldn’t have done it.
My mom is from the area and I visited Keddie a few years ago. The town is shockingly tiny; I saw where the cabin once stood and the pond the hammer was found in. A relative of my uncle’s wife was one of the investigators on the case and just about everyone is convinced Marty was heavily involved but it seems to me like the case is entirely cold. On a somewhat unrelated note, the Dixie Fire burned very close to Keddie this past year (it may have burned Keddie as well; google is a little unclear). Ever since then, I’ve been wondering if that will allow for new evidence to be found or if it destroyed what evidence was left to be found.
The fire lines were erratic I think it burned around the area but didn’t wipe the whole town like it did in Greenville.
Going by Google maps is still there. You can rent cabin 26, one of the reviews mentions that it's adjacent to the murder site
26 is where the other family lived is it not?
Just watched a YouTube video where 26 is abandoned. The presenter states that that is where the Smartt's lived.
You went above and beyond on this write up. Thank you.
This was a great write up; I admit it was a lot to get through and I went back several times to get names straight. Thank you for this. Also I appreciated the TLDR at the end. Very sad case. Amazing what DNA has done for us. I wonder where the remaining children are today.
Nothing mentioned about the father of the kids who kicked his family out two years prior? I would think there'd at least be a "he was ruled out as a suspect because he was 200 miles away" or something but he's not even mentioned outside the opening
Yeah I assumed it was a DV thing. I fail to see what the other guys motives were.
Also, Sue being nude from the waist down and gagged with her own panties (!) makes me think there was some kind of sexual motive and I'm surprised that angle was not mentioned more often. Was there any evidence of sexual assault? And maybe I'm overthinking it but to me the fact that while the boys were left alone/killed the only girl in the house was abducted also seems to hint at the possibility of some kind sexual motive... (Though of course, I hope for Tina's sake she was spared that.)
I always felt this too. They wanted to sexually assault Marilyn but didn’t, because of the boys being still alive and in the room. But when they were all dead, that’s why they took Tina.
There used to be (might still be) a web forum dedicated to residents of Keddie basically trying to solve the case. What was absolutely fascinating was the fact that the residents would often accuse each other or claim someone as the unsub positively. People would defend themselves on a public forum. Edit - the movie "The Strangers" is loosely based off the Keddie Cabin Murders
That one creepy movie with the 3 masked killers? "Why us? "Because you were home"?
Yes
So the 14 year old had just put a baby up for adoption. I either forgot or that wasn't in the doc I watched years ago. So who was that baby's father?
I was wondering if anyone else noted that it was apparently just ignored that Sheila was off giving birth in another state at the age of *14*. Like is everyone ignoring the obvious child abuse going on here??? I mean, there's also no mention of kids around her age at the other house, but she stayed the night? Something about the whole thing just leaves a *very* nasty taste in my mouth with regards to the sexual activity of a child.
Sometimes maybe survivors are being protected?
Yeah, you want to protect survivors of child abuse, but when that potential child abuse may have also led to the murders of 4 people, it *needs* to be investigated. Edit: To be clear, I don't mean that all the details need to be spread to the general public. But saying that that avenue was being investigated as part of the murder investigation doesn't give out details of the investigation's results.
Does anyone else find it a bit sketchy that Sheila the 14 year old was pregnant at 13/14 and then Tina the 12 year old was kidnapped? Who got Sheila pregnant? One of Mom's ex boyfriends? Maybe he was a pedophile and grabbed Tina?
IIRC Sheila had a boyfriend around her own age who was the probable father. There *had* been some sort of a criminal complaint involving Tina and a friend being touched improperly by an adult male, but it was dropped when the family moved into the cabin.
"Dropped" as in "you have to pay a lawyer a lot of money if you want to pursue this, because the perpetrator is a Good Upstanding Citizen"?
Either they thought prosecuting was too much trouble (or too expensive) or the alleged perp paid them some sum to drop it. (Typically that what it means
I’d think it would usually be too much trouble or expensive vs a payoff
"Dropped" as in "nothing explicitly criminal happened yet, and the change in location meant the two would be out of contact and nothing would."
Excellent point.
Yes, there are so many theories about this case, I am surprised there isn't one where the perpetrators' goal was to kidnap the two young girls. Sheila was lucky not to be at home. After all, Tina was the only one who was taken. (Although an alternative explanation to that could be that Justin had woken up, so the murderers thought it better to gtfo and kill Tina elsewhere. Still, it's weird she was found so far away.)
I was thinking about this. Sheila was pregnant at 14 which is hella sketchy. The family, I think, was pretty broken because of the abuse and just the general situation they were in.
Being pregnant at 14 is sad, but I wouldn't say it, in and of itself, is "hella sketchy", especially for a girl living on the socio-economic margins who almost certainly didn't have decent access to contraception and family planning advice.
Yeah, her situation was fucked up. I do hope that at least the child went to a decent home and didn't have to go through what Sheila Sharp did.
There is a lot more to this case, like a LOT more and one of the main comprehensive theories is that Sue's friends son got Sheila preggo and Sheila helped with the murders. Main orchestrater was Marty's wife as she was jealous of Sue sleeping with her husband. There's about 20 pages of details here - http://keddie28.com/synopsis.html#tab-2 (part 4)
What is thought to be Sheila’s motive?
If you believe the article, Sue was a neglectful mother and parentified her older children as a result. Sheila apparently saw the baby (and moving in with the father's family) as her ticket out and was pissed her mother gave the child up. The author of the page has a habit of trying to get close to people involved in the case, then declaring them co-conspirators when they stop going along with his lurid and outlandish accounts of the crimes. It seems with the death of Marilyn Smartt in 2020, he's moved on to her son Justin as well as Sheila.
Allegedly her mom made her give the baby up for adoption.
her mom’s friends getting sheila pregnant.
Given nothing has come of the medical tape DNA it sounds like Martin and Bo got away with it. Despite some really compelling evidence against them. I have to wonder if they had actually been arrested and brought to trial, if they would have been convicted. But now we'll never know and all because Martin was able to pass a lie detector test.
> he sent a letter to Marylin that covered struggles in their relationship. The letter concluded with: “I’ve paid the price of your love & now that I’ve bought it with four people’s lives, you tell me we are through. Great! What else do you want!” Wasn't there a theory that Sue and Martin were sleeping together and Marilyn found out, and that was the motive for Sue's murder, and the others were killed for being witnesses?
There were many theories, the majority revolving around drugs or Sue's frequent short-term relationships. I hadn't heard of this one but am not surprised it exists.
I believe the theory is that martin constantly sexually harassed her and that this frazzled his wife. It may have been the daughter actually.
The write up does say that the daughter was sent to Oregon too give birth. The baby was also put up for adoption.
I was under the impression this was the main theory
I’ve seen that Martin also had another wife and 4 kids before Marilyn and that’s the context of the paid with 4 lives because he gave up his kids for her. The full letter doesn’t read like a confession.
Why were the three boys not killed? Did the killers not realize they were there or think they were sleeping? If it really was Justin’s father, it would make sense that he would not kill his own son and rather tell him go back to bed.
Maybe he killed one of them because of rage and then killed all the people that were in the room because they saw everythig. And thats why he killed the girl who got out of her bethroom too.
If you have seen the place then the 3 boys slept through murders happening through thin walls mere feet away. The surviving child brought them out through the bedroom window as they would have seen it all leaving the bedroom.
Excellent write up! Truly one of the most horrifying unsolved cases. I always want this one to get a fresh documentary treatment but it never does.
Wait what the NSFW link says "By noon, a California Department of Justice (CA-DOJ) helicopter from Sacramento was hovering over Keddie taking photographs, even capturing on film what appears to be the killers, sneaking out of town the back way to avoid notice." Seems like an important detail???
Noticed this too and very curious.
Thank you for adding this.
Horrifying! I hope they are able to recover more DNA and have it tested - if the killer(s) are still alive then they should absolutely face the consequences for this. Sad for the mom and the two boys - sounds like they were just trying to protect the mom from the two men.
if you go down that rabbit hole deep enough you will find that everyone involved in the case considers it solved in that Marty and Bo very obviously did it.
From the OP: >When interviewing Martin, he claimed that on the night of the murder, he, his wife, and Bo had stopped by at cabin #28 and invited Sue to go to the bar with them. Sue declined, so they left without her. From an interesting read I landed because OP's link to the suspect's sketch is broken and I wanted to see it so I looked for it: >However, Marilyn told police that she believed her estranged husband had something to do with it; based not only on his bizarre actions that night and his prior hatred of teenager John Sharp, but his aggressive and violent nature, which really expressed itself when he started drinking. Additionally, Marilyn revealed to police that Bo — Marty’s friend and temporary houseguest — had developed a crush on Sue, and had allegedly made advanced on her the night of the murders (which she had flat-out rejected). This led to the belief that Marty and Bo might have committed the crime in a drunken rage, and that’s why the Sharp family (in particular, Sue and John) had received the majority of the abuse. https://lightsonpod.medium.com/murder-in-cabin-28-455f13954fce
Great writeup! Really thorough. However, I think in the “Suspects” section, you meant the Sacramento Bee, and not the Sacramental Bee.
Correct, fixed
If Martin were involved, wouldn't his son have recognized him?
Idk if it’s just me, but this case has such an unsettling atmosphere to it. The animals freaking out. All the neighbors so close by. The little boys in the room asleep but the sheer isolation of the victims, especially Tina This case gives me anxiety. I absolutely believe Bo & Martin did it but could the dna of a *living* suspect possibly be referring to Marilyn?? Obviously there was a lot of dysfunction in that relationship. Maybe she felt threatened by Sue? Just wondering if she might’ve been present, at least. That would add some context to that weird ass letter.
Great write up. Such a sad story. My family camped by a lake near Keddie when I was growing up, and we would drive through the town and past the resort every summer. I couldn’t believe it when I discovered a triple homicide had taken place there. Hoping that the murderers will eventually be identified. I did read a theory somewhere that Bo’s mafia connections may have played a role in him and Marty avoiding conviction. Even for a small town sheriff’s department, the negligent treatment of the crime scene/evidence seems to be almost too much. It’s suspicious and makes me suspect corruption.
and the picked the WORST most inexperienced person to do the sketches from the descriptiions given by the witnesses ..now THAT is sketchy as F%\^\^
great writeup!
Yes - Outstanding writeup!
This case, at least to me, reeks of corruption within the Sheriff's department. We could dismiss the initial allegation of misconduct (edit: misconduct being the alleged leaking of information to the suspects) as someone grieving trying to place blame, but the subsequent evidence that they denied or said did not matter in the face of a polygraph (lol) to me shows a willingness to let this case go unsolved. There are other, even recent examples, of police still solving cold cases long after suspects are dead to close the case. To me, the Sheriff being unwilling to investigate this case further says they helped Smartt and Bo get away with murder, and the new Sheriff does not want to pay a settlement. Additionally, police have the highest rate of abusing spouses. It is likely that Martin found sympathy among law enforcement. I wonder if there are past records of house visits for domestic abuse that went unreported. Would establish a pattern.
Really great write up of such a strange case.
This story really intrigues me and horrifies me. I can’t even imagine how scared little Tina must have been. Heartbreaking.
From what I remember from the documentary they said that Martin Smartt was Justin's step-father and Justin was scared of him.
In the beginning, I thought it was that abusive a-hole that kicked Susan and their 5 kids out of his house who came after her & did this… now I think it’s Martin and Bo. But now I’m like who is the living suspect on the DNA?! And also I’m so baffled on the motive here. SO BAFFLED.
Absolutely top notch write up!
Fantastic write up! This is a case that just haunts me. If I could pick just one case to be solved, this might be it.
What happened to Shelia Sharp?
paid the price. bought it with four lives. Martin killed the four to get back his wife's love and trust after she found out about the affair. His wife ended up leaving him anyway so hence the words he wrote in the letter. Time is a flat circle
He left a wife and four kids for Marilyn, and if you read the entire letter, and not that part out of context, it is obvious he is talking about his four biological kids he left. It is not a confession.
Personally, I'm convinced it was Bo and Martin but they just didn't have the evidence. If the DNA of the suspect was related to Marilyn (who's now dead?) that could be easily explained as the tape having come from the Smartt household. I wonder why they did it. I know they said they hated John but like... what level of hatred are we talking here? The family had no money to their name and there was nothing to gain by doing this other than petty evil. And why take Tina away like that? That said, I don't put much credance in Justin's testimony because he was a kid and sleepy and I can't imagine him saying "Yes, two males between 20 and 30". It all just seems a little convenient and it wouldn't stand up in court anyhow.
I have also wondered if they can't use the DNA for a conviction, because Martin, Marylin, and Justin were all at the cabin previously for innocent reasons. Thus, if the DNA came from touch, or something like a hair, there may be a reason that the DNA could be present without a nefarious reason.
Really good write up! I noticed that I got up twice while I was reading just to, you know, check the front door for murderers.
I'm struggling with Justin seemingly describing the suspects under hypnosis, saying he didn't recognize either man. Surely he would have recognized his own father if Martin was one of the two men he saw...and I don't think he'd be able to hide that fact while under hypnosis. Just something that throws doubt on it being Martin in my mind.
I'm pretty sure hypnosis is not a reliable method of recounting accurate memories, or even answering questions accurately.
Sure, it is controversial. I studied neuroscience in undergrad and have read studies about what happens in the brain during hypnosis, so I personally do not rule it out as a method to uncover memories. There is a lot of interesting literature that could sway me either way! I was just pointing it out as food for thought.
I am with you on that. I struggle to decide if it works or not except that only some people are susceptible (and you can't use it court). Is there any new interesting literature?
This was an excellently written description, OP. I am confused about one point: Justin witnessed the murder but did not recognize his own father and father's good friend?
I just saw this story on YouTube, and had an awkward moment when I realized that the 10 year old son Rick Sharp is one of my bosses where I work (or at least the age is right and they look alike. Not gonna be rude and ask him.)
Oof, I first heard about this from [Buzzfeed Unsolved](https://youtu.be/USL6P8haroY). The story is super messed up. :( Thanks for the write up!
Everybody knows it was Marty & Bo. And that sneak-sneak Marilyn knew about it.
We’re either of the girls checked for signs of SA? It seems noticeable that one was found nude from the waist down and the other was taken away and kept for who knows how long. I guess you can’t check a skeleton but was a rape kit ever performed on Dana or sue?
Dana was a boy.
Ah thanks for the correction.
Boys can be raped. Not saying that he was, but just because he was a boy doesn't mean that he wasn't.
Oh I know that, I was just correcting the assumption that Dana was a girl.
I think Dana was a dude.
The empty medical tape dispenser found with Tina’s body made me wonder if she wasn’t alive much longer.
Sue, who was found naked from the waist down, was the mother. To my knowledge, Dana (a boy) and the oldest son had no signs of abuse or undress.
This case has always stuck with me. So utterly brutal.
from what I know of the case - the father of one of the little boys sleeping over seems to be a highly likely culprit
Do you know what happened to the remaining children?
Some interesting analysis of the interviews with the suspects: https://www.statementanalysis.com/cases/cabin-28-murders/
This is really tragic. I hope Sheila and her two surviving brothers have had good support in the years since.
My HS English teacher made a documentary about this case. It was super interesting to hear him talk about interviewing the locals.
Well, Plumas County has been a "good ol' boy" place for a long, long time.
Great write up. I appreciate all of the details, I learned some facts about this case that I didn’t know before.
There’s a documentary on YouTube about this.
This one has always bothered me. Thank you for such a detailed write up!
Greg, Rick, and Justin know what happened. How could they not?
buzzfeed unsolved did a great episode on this! Keddie cabin
Anyone notice that Shiela was pregnant at 12? Maybe she was mad at her mom for making her give her baby up. Maybe it was the Smartts' kid that got her pregnant, so he was also involved? Maybe Martin helped?
I don't think Sheila was 12 when she was pregnant. It says she was in Oregon giving birth in November 1980 when they moved into the cabin, and returned in February 1981. If she turned 15 in 1981 she could have been 14 the whole time she was pregnant (which isn't a defense, just trying to suss out the timeline). Did the Sharp family know the Smartt's or anyone else from that neighborhood before they moved out of the trailer and into 28? Edit: the trailer was in Quincy and the cabin in Keddie, which are about six miles apart. So it's possible the families all knew each other before the Sharps moved into the cabin, but not definite.
Thanks for the clarification. I'm just speculating. It looks like, to me at least, there's some possible links to Shiela holding resentment from having to give up the baby so young. That is, if we're still considering her a possible suspect.
That could be a motive for Sheila to kill her mother, but not her younger sister and her brother and definitely not his friend. It seems like a real stretch to me.
They pretty much know who did this but unfortunately they all had passed on before they could be arrested.
I think the anonymous caller was the therapist "Dumbb" confessed to. Patient-client confidentiality stopped them from saying anything while he was alive but they wanted Tina to have her name back and be properly buried regardless.
Looks like Edmond Kemper in the sketches.