Keddie murders
|
Composite sketches of possible murder suspects | |
| Date | April 11, 1981 |
|---|---|
| Location | Keddie, California, United States |
| Cause | Homicide by blunt trauma, stabbing, strangulation |
| Outcome | Unsolved |
| Deaths | 4 |
| Burial | Plumas, California |
| Coroner | Pierce A. Rooney, M.D., Pathologist |
| Suspect(s) | Multiple subjects, identified in case files |
| Convictions | None |
The Keddie Murders is an unsolved 1981 American quadruple homicide that occurred in Keddie, California. The murders took place in cabin 28, during the late evening of April 11, 1981 and/or early morning of the 12th. The victims were Glenna Sue Sharp, known as Sue (age 36), her son John (age 15), and his friend, Dana Wingate (age 17).[1][2] At some time after the crime was discovered, Sue's daughter, Tina (age 12), was determined to be missing. Her skull and several other bones were recovered in 1984 in Camp Eighteen, California, which is in Butte County.[3] Sue's oldest daughter, Sheila, had stayed with next-door neighbors in cabin 27 that night, discovering the murders the morning of April 12. Sue's two youngest sons and their friend, who were having a sleepover at 28 that night, were found uninjured in the boys' bedroom that morning.
No arrests have been made in connection with the Keddie murders. Several buildings that had eventually been condemned, including residences 27 and 28, were demolished in 2004.
Details of the crime
Glenna "Sue" Sharp, 36, and her five children had been renting the cabin since November 1980. On the night of April 11, 1981, Sue was home with her two youngest boys, and a friend of the boys, Justin, who was staying the night. Tina returned home from an evening watching TV at cabin 27, around 10:00 PM. Sue's oldest son, John, and his friend Dana Wingate, had spent the day in nearby Quincy, planning to return to Keddie in order to sleep in John's basement bedroom. John and Dana were last seen walking along State Route 70, near Quincy. The crime may already have been in progress when they arrived at the cabin, or they may have heard a disturbance upstairs while in John's room.[1]
At approximately 7:45 am on the morning of April 12, Sheila Sharp, upon returning from the sleepover next door, discovered the bodies of Sue, John and Dana in the home's living room. All three victims had been bound with medical tape and electrical appliance wire. Over 22 feet of medical tape of varying widths were found on the bodies, while no medical tape was known to be in the house prior to the murders. After some initial confusion about whose bodies were in the house, Plumas County Sheriff's deputies later determined Tina Sharp was missing from the location.[1] Found near John's body was a flimsy table knife, while a bloody hammer and Old Hickory model 7025 7” butcher knife were found on a nearby table.
Examination of the bodies determined that each of the victims had been bludgeoned with hammers of two distinct sizes, and Sue and John had been stabbed repeatedly, including stab wounds to their throats. Dana Wingate was manually strangled to death and bludgeoned with another weapon, while Sue was bludgeoned with a Daisy Powerline 880 rifle brought by the killer(s). One pellet fired from the rifle, along with several pieces of the barrel sights, were recovered at the scene, but the rifle itself was never recovered. A bloody knife was also among evidence found in a trash bin at the Keddie General Store.
The case grew cold, but in 1984 the cranium portion of a skull was recovered near Camp Eighteen, a distance of roughly 29 miles from Keddie. Months later, after an anonymous caller to the Butte County Sheriff's office claimed the skull was Tina's, the Camp Eighteen area was searched again for several hours over a period of days. A jawbone and dozens of other bones were found, along with other potential evidence. The bones were later confirmed to be those of Tina Sharp. From these discoveries, no new information regarding the crime surfaced in the media. However, Butte County Sheriff's Office released both the original and back-up copy of the audio recording of the 'anonymous call' to an undisclosed member of law enforcement. Both recordings were released to the same person at the same time, only to disappear.
The murders remain unsolved, although the case is currently being actively pursued by members of Plumas County Sheriff's Office.
References
- 1 2 3 Kristal Hawkins. "Keddie Resort, Calif.: The Unsolved Nightmare in Cabin 28". Tru TV. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
On the morning of April 12, 1981, 14-year old Sheila Sharp left a next-door sleepover and returned to Cabin 28 at the popular Keddie Resort, where her family had been living for the past two months. ...
- ↑ "Brutal 3-Year-Old Triple Slaying Still Haunts Quiet Plumas Resort". Sacramento Bee. June 22, 1984. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
... By coincidence, it was the day Plumas County sheriff's deputies announced human remains discovered near Feather Falls in Butte County were those of a 12-year-old girl who disappeared from Cabin 28 more than three years ago. ...
- ↑ Steve Gibson. "Bones Found are Those of Girl Linked to Triple Slaying in Plumas county." Sacramento Bee June 21, 1984.