John Sharp was 15 when he was killed on April 11, 1981, in the brutal Keddie Cabin murders at Cabin 28 in Keddie, California. He, his mother Sue Sharp, and family friend Dana Wingate were found in the living room with blunt force trauma and multiple stab wounds; John and Dana had been bound and their throats slashed, while Sue had been gagged with a bandana and tape. Tina Sharp was missing from the cabin and her remains were recovered three years later about 50 miles away in Butte County.

Investigators found multiple weapons at the scene, including two knives and a hammer, and the way the victims were tied and the variety of weapons led detectives to suspect more than one assailant. Attention focused on neighbor Martin Marty Smartt and his friend John Bo Boubede; Marty had reportedly expressed anger toward Sue and later moved to Reno, while Bo left the area and died in 1988. Marty’s wife Marilyn later said he confessed during therapy and that she had found a bloody jacket she believed belonged to Tina. Critics have pointed to mishandled evidence and procedural problems in the initial probe; a hammer linked to Marty was found in 2016 and DNA testing of scene evidence has been attempted, but no arrests have been reported and the case remains unsolved.