Glenna Susan Sharp

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Plumas County Sheriffs Office (CA)

Offense Location:

Keddie, California

Summary:

Glenna Susan "Sue" Sharp was a victim of an unsolved quadruple homicide that occurred over the night of April 11–12, 1981, in Keddie, California. Sue Sharp, 36, was found in Cabin 28 of the Keddie Resort. DNA evidence was discovered in recent years that matched a known living suspect, and a hammer believed to be a murder weapon was discovered in 2016. The case remains unsolved.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

In July 1979, Glenna Susan "Sue" Sharp left her home in Connecticut after separating from her husband, James Sharp, and relocated to northern California with her five children to be closer to her brother Don. Upon arriving in California, she rented a small trailer formerly occupied by her brother at the Claremont Trailer Village in Quincy. The family moved into cabin 28 in the rural Sierra Nevada railroad town of Keddie in the fall of 1980. On April 11, 1981, Sheila went to a sleepover at a nearby cabin, while John and Dana hitchhiked to Quincy to attend a party. Sue stayed at home with Tina, Rick, and Greg, watching TV and playing games. Around 9:30 p.m., Johnny and Dana returned to cabin 28 and joined Sue and Tina in the living room. Those who were inside Cabin 28 on the night and/or early morning hours of April 11 and 12, 1981, were somewhat prepared. The victims had been restrained with electrical wire and medical tape before being beaten to death with a claw hammer inside the family home. The bodies of Wingate, Sue and John Sharp were found on the morning of April 12 by Sue's 14-year-old daughter Sheila, who had been sleeping at a friend's house.

Additional Details:

Investigators named two primary suspects: Martin Smartt, a neighbor to the Sharps, and his friend John "Bo" Boubede. Smartt fled Keddie after the murders and in a letter to his then-wife Marilyn wrote: "I've paid the price of your love & now I've bought it with four people's lives." Both suspects, Martin Smartt (died 2000) and John Boubede (died 1988), died without being charged. Tina remained a missing person until April 1984, when her skull and several other bones were recovered at Camp 18, California, near Feather Falls in Butte County, about 62 miles from Keddie. In June 1984, forensic pathologists confirmed the remains belonged to Tina Sharp. An anonymous caller phoned the Butte County sheriff shortly after the discovery, identifying the remains as Tina's. The call was never documented. In 2013, Plumas County Sheriff Greg Hagwood hired Mike Gamberg as Special Investigator. Since his recruitment in 2013, he has made several new discoveries. A segment of tape containing identifiable DNA was found on the floor near the body of Glenna "Sue" Sharp, 36, in 1981. The DNA matches that of a known living suspect according to Gamberg. In 2016, a hammer was found in a dried-up pond near Keddie's entrance. It matched the description of the one Marty gave in his interrogation. In April 2018, Gamberg matched the DNA from the murder scene to a known living suspect. Since then, no arrests have been made, and the names have never been released to the public. The Sharps' home was demolished in 2004.

Case Last Updated:

Jul 27, 2026