On March 2, 1975, Gordon Knott, 42, the manager of the Ship Ashore motel in Smith River, California, was fatally shot in a motel office during a multi-victim attack. The gunman, identified as 21-year-old Robert Paul Sander of Cincinnati, Ohio, began firing from a balcony overlooking the ocean, killing Barbara Harmon and critically wounding her husband Percy before entering the office and killing Gordon Knott and his wife Shirley Gail Knott, 31. A maid, Ella Beam, was also killed; several other people were injured, including Denise Dedraff and Carla Brough.

Sander was arrested about three hours after the shootings on the Redwood Highway near Grants Pass, Oregon, and was booked on four counts of murder. Witnesses said his behavior had been erratic that day; investigators reported he had recently purchased the rifle used and had a prior robbery conviction. Does anyone have memories of Smith River in 1975 or information about the victims or that day that could shed more light on what happened?