Two
THE SHARP FAMILY

In the summer of 1979, Sue Sharp (nee Davis) packed up her belongings and five kids and trekked across America, looking for a new place to settle, The popular story says she left an abusive relationship, but no files back this up. While daughter Sheila alleged sexual abuse from father James and it is true James eventually was imprisoned for sexual abuse of a minor, there is still no indication alleged sexual battery of the children either occurred or played any part in Sue's decision to leave. To the contrary, the real trigger in Sue's decision to leave this last time (this was not their first separation) proved to be a love triangle: James had pulled a large sum of money from the bank and used it to retrieve his pregnant girlfriend from the Philippines and set her up in a nearby apartment. Furthermore, he'd made clear his decision to maintain two households: one for Sue and his five kids with her, and another for his girlfriend and their budding family. From all the case files, this is the sole known impetus behind Sue's leaving their CT home.

Sue meandered across America in search of a new place to stay. From her past behavior and previous separations from James, it appears she was looking for someone to help them, to take them in. She stayed with friends and relatives- even James' parents for a couple of weeks- before settling in Plumas County, California. It appears she settled on Quincy because her sister, further north in Oregon, had rebuffed her request to stay with her again. During a previous separation, all six of the Sharps stayed with her and her family for a spell, and this time she refused. That left her best option to be the tiny trailer her brother, Don Davis, had just vacated in the Claremont Trailer Court in Quincy, CA, just west of Gansner airfield. To say the quarters were cramped is an understatement: a makeshift dirt floor shed was built beside the rear of the trailer, and several kids were made to reside there.

While widespread accounts, including write-ups from the FBI, concluded Sue was a loving mother trying her best to better her life and those of her children, overwhelming evidence in case files prove this to be one of many false narratives in the Keddie Myth. As it turns out, Sue was renowned for abandoning her kids, leaving them to fend for themselves as she selfishly spent most of her time at the home of her "best friend", Nina ('Mama') Meeks. Several Claremont neighbors remarked Sue was rarely seen at home, the kids ran around- often underdressed and asking for food. Her boyfriend from that summer, Randy Sharp (no relation), also remarked that Sue was not a good mom, that they drifted apart as he'd call often but was never home: only the kids would answer.

While Sue did receive money from the Navy, records reveal this was arranged between James and Navy brass and came solely from James' pay. Sue also was involved with the CETA program, but needed to be enrolled in college in order to receive benefits from that federal employment assistance and training program. Records show Sue was only enrolled for two quarters, and had not been going to school since the fall of 1980. Therefore, at the time of the murders, the only known means of income was from James' payroll, and welfare assistance. There is nothing to indicate Sue was working, or looking for work, in the months leading up to her death... her sole known employment while in Plumas was as a part-time dishwasher at the local Elks Lodge, which she somehow lost shortly after meeting Randy there in the summer of 79.

It's been stated that Sue kept to herself, didn't socialize much, etc. Again, this is a gross overstatement at best. In reality, Sue was widely regarded as a sub-par mother who neglected her kids, and was rarely home. Her car was often parked downtown by the CHP building, near where the Meeks family was renting a house at the time. Back at the Claremont, it was noted by neighbors that Sheila was apparently left in charge and, rather than supervise the kids, she would lock them out of the trailer and stay inside (sometimes with Tina) watching TV. It's also noted that, while Sue was gone, the visitors most often seen at their trailer were the Meeks kids- Wade, Richard, and Walter. Despite Sheila's and the Meeks claims that the Sharps and Meeks spent all their time together, actual files and statements from neighbors and others make clear that Sue was rarely home, and when she was she was stand-offish, preferring to stay inside watching TV. While she was gone, the Meeks kids came over to visit the Sharp kids a lot.

Something happened in July of 1980 which speaks volumes to Sue's behavior as a 'mother', as well as the Plumas County Sheriff's Office's (PCSO) response to a very disturbing, troubling incident. On the 1st, Tina and a school friend were molested by a neighbor with promises of ice cream. This occurred at the nearby Downtown Trailer Park, just across the street from the Exxon where John and Dana were seen hitch-hiking the final night of their lives. The response by 1980 PCSO was pathetic by any standards: the case against the molester, Daniel Worman French, was cut and dried, but no charges filed. The files surrounding the molestation incident are incomplete, as they are part of the cache stolen by Hancock, but surviving documents reveal it was bungled from the start and that Tina and her friend were victimized again by PCSO: The girls were first interviewed by and ADULT MALE DEPUTY. When the other victim's mother apparently complained about this, the girls were taken to HQ and interviews, conducted by a female PCSO clerk, were conducted. When the girl's mom was notified the recording failed, the girl refused to do another interview on tape. At this point, the office in charge reported, "It has been my observation that [the victim] is a very opinionated 8 year old. I believe the best statements will be the ones obtained by Dep. Leiber and myself immediately after the [incident]. " In other words, due his own crassness and incompetence, he was unwilling to work the case any further.

While trying to do follow-up a week after the crime, PCSO went looking for the victims and their mothers. After several tries, Sue was eventually found at home, but said Tina was over at the other victim's trailer. LE found nobody home there. In other words, Sue allowed Tina to go back, unsupervised, to where the molestation had taken place, and was completely unaware of where Tina really was. Meanwhile, back at PCSO, the molester felt secure enough that no action was being taken that he dropped his lawyer. He was right: According to surviving records, nothing further was done. A copy of the complaint was filed away at the DA's office in January of 1981, and apparently forgotten until the murder 'investigation' was underway.

As those involved cannot be trusted to tell the truth (the Meeks family, Sheila Sharp, and Marilyn and Justin Sharp), we are not certain of when / where / how the Smartts met the Meeks, the Sharps met the Meeks, or the Smartts met the Sharps. We do know the Meeks family is central to how all these parties met, and are also key to the planning and execution of the murders. We know the Meeks had come to Plumas from Arizona and were living in Quincy when the Sharps arrived. We know Sue spent much of her time at the Meeks house. We know the Smartts moved to Keddie in July of 1980 after answering an ad for a job (Marty became a cook at the Keddie Lodge restaurant, and free rent at #26 was part of his compensation). As stories / lies from those listed above vary wildly, it is believed that the Meeks introduced Sue to the Smartts, either at the Meeks house or at FRC (Feather River College, where Mama and Wade Meeks, Marilyn and Marty Smartt, and Sue all attended in order to receive money from the CETA program).

Mike Gamberg, who eventually ran the investigation of the Keddie murders from 2014-16, first met Sue, along with her kids, at a BBQ near his American Valley home. As it turns out, Marty Smartt was also there, sans Marilyn and the kids. Current information supports that it is also around this time that Sue and Marty began their affair. Described as an "open secret", the affair continued after the Sharps moved to 28, as Sue apparently often met Marty at the Back Door Bar (BDB), situated in the basement of the Keddie Lodge, just downstairs from where Marty worked. It was also the summer of '80 that Sheila Sharp, aged 13, became pregnant. While the Meeks and Sheila have always insisted Richard Meeks (Wade's younger brother, 3 years older than Sheila) is the father, several statements from Dana's friends and acquaintances reveal that Dana had been very concerned that he was the father.

Another "open secret" in the case is the affair Jan Albin, one of Keddie's landlords, was having with Plumas' then-sheriff, Sylvester 'Doug' Thomas. As with Marty and Sue, Jan and Doug often met at the BDB. Doug was also a resident of Keddie, living in #28 just prior to the victims. While the sheriff lived at 28, he was literally surrounded by some of Plumas county's most visible drug dealers, not least of which was Marty and Marilyn Smartt in #26. Not only did the sheriff tolerate the dealers, he was friends with them. In a 2013-era phone call between Thomas and Princess, Thomas confirmed Marty's claim from Marty's 1981 confession to the murders, describing he and Marty as "great pals" who spent hours together, cruising the county in Doug's squad car. Doug claimed Marty "lucked out" having Doug as a friend, and that he'd saved the Sharps a lot of money by also acting as their marriage counselor.