Random Facts Surrounding The Unsolved Keddie Cabin Murders (13 items)

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  (#7) One Survivor May Have Seen Part Of The Crime

  12-year-old Justin Smartt, who stayed at the Sharp’s cabin the night the intruders entered, claimed he got up during the night and witnessed some of the events. He told police in a disjointed statement that he saw Sue on a boat that looked like the cabin's living room and that Johnny and Dana had just arrived home. He maintained that the two older boys tried to fight the attackers, but they were eventually bound and beaten.

  He also stated that Tina awoke at the noise and that he saw who took her. Given Justin's age and his somewhat confusing version of events, police did not take his report as fact. Authorities dismissed it as a dream, or at least as a partial dream, that he remembered after the fact.

  Later, a Los Angeles-based psychologist examined Justin under hypnosis. The boy provided a description of the two alleged assailants, which authorities used to make a composite sketch.
   
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  (#8) There Were Two Primary Suspects

  Sue reportedly was romantically involved with various men, and while many were questioned, none were pinpointed as major suspects. Instead, police turned their gaze towards Marty Smartt and his friend Severin John Boubede, also known as "Bo." Both men lived close to the Sharps, in Cabin 26, and Sue was friends with Marty's long-abused wife, Marilyn. 

  Having left an abusive marriage herself, Sue encouraged Marilyn to leave Marty. He didn't like Sue's interference, and people believe that he enlisted an ex-con and possible mobster, Boubede, to kill her.

  Additionally, Marty was Justin Smartt's step-father, which investigators theorized may be why the boys' room was never disturbed. A few months after the murders, Marty moved to Reno, Nevada, and allegedly left his wife an incriminating letter. However, neither Smartt nor Boubede were arrested.
   
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  (#1) Sue Sharp Had Just Moved To Keddie, California, With Her 5 Children

  In late 1980, 36-year-old Sue Sharp moved with her five children - Johnny, 15; Shelia, 14; Tina, 12; Rick, 10; and Greg, 5 - to a 3-bedroom resort cabin in Keddie, California. Sue, a recent divorcée, was beginning to date again. The family was getting to know the neighbors and make friends in the rural Sierra Nevada community. 

  Even though they were scraping by on a small income, everything seemed to be going well for Sue and her children.
   
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  (#12) Cabin 28 Was Demolished

  As of 2017, Plumas County - where Keddie is located - is home to less than 19,000 people, and the mark the Sharp family's murders left on the community is massive. The Keddie cabins were originally meant for low-income families, and the killings made people afraid for their already difficult lives. 

  What was once a pleasant place to live became a news reporter and rumor-filled nightmare. Stories circulated that the Sharps knew the killer, which reportedly bred distrust among neighbors.

  One other family lived in the cabin after the homicides, but when they left, the property was completely abandoned. In 2004, Cabin 28 was leveled as the Sierra Nevada community tried to move forward from the brutality that occurred there. Only approximately 79 households still live in Keddie, according to a 2017 census. 
   
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  (#11) The Case Has Given Rise To A Huge Number Of Conspiracy Theories

  Because the Keddie Cabin case has been unsolved for so long, it has generated a number of conspiracy theories. Marty Smartt was close friends with the local sheriff, and skeptics suggest that authorities worked to conceal Smartt's involvement in the crime. Later investigations show that the police work on the case was wrought with error and that authorities didn't follow every lead. Additionally, not all evidence was properly documented, such as Smartt's letter to Marilyn and the 911 recording. 

  Organized crime unit officials came to the crime scene, which added fuel to the conspiracy theory fire. People speculate that perhaps Boubede killed Sue for a mob-related reason, given his connections to the Chicago and Vegas mafias.

  Another favored accomplice is Dee Lake, who lived at the address that made the phone call to police about Tina's skull fragment. Lake was also a former vet like Smartt and reportedly drove his buddy to Reno following Smartt’s split with Marilyn. 
   
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  (#10) A Therapist Told Authorities That Smartt Admitted To Killing Sue Sharp

  Sheriff Hagwood employed the services of private investigator Mike Gamberg to help with the case. The PI tracked down a therapist in Reno to whom Marty Smartt allegedly made a confession. The therapist told officials that he had contacted the police when Smartt initially admitted to the murder of Sue Sharp. 

  The therapist - a counselor at a Veteran’s Hospital - maintained Smartt’s confession occurred only weeks after the deaths at Cabin 28. Reportedly, Smartt also admitted culpability in Tina’s death and explained he attacked her to leave no witnesses. Smartt allegedly stated that his primary target was Sue because she interfered with his marriage. 

  Throughout his sessions, Smartt claimed to suffer from PTSD and mentioned that a Plumas County official, Sheriff Doug Thomas, was a good friend and former Keddie neighbor of his. 
   

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