Post by Hope on Mar 14, 2022 2:21:15 GMT
Explanation of the "Bombshell Development" which uncovered the motive for murder & solved the mystery or who drove Johnny & Dana home that night
One of the biggest mysteries of the Keddie Murders was how Johnny & Dana arrived at cabin 28 the night of the murders. Multiple people reported seeing them hitchhiking in Quincy that night between the hours of 8pm-10pm. The last official sighting documented on PCSO'S official timeline was shortly after 10pm.
Over the years, several people have claimed to be the ones that drove Johnny & Dana home that night. These people would tell friends this information and then deny it to PCSO when questioned. Others told LE they drove the boys home but the information could not be confirmed. Joey C & Donna W were two of these people. Years later, Craig W claimed to have been the person to drive the boys home. Craig was a frequent poster on the early forums.
LE were unable to verify any of these accounts, so the possibility they caught a ride home by the killers could not be excluded. Every newspaper article published from 1981-2016 mentioned this mystery, the complications this caused to the investigation & PCSo requested anyone with information to come forward.
In 2017, Mike Gamberg came across some previously unseen statements from a man by the name of Karl S. This report has not been released, however, other statements from Karl can be read on the forum. In these unreleased statements, he claimed he had fronted Johnny & Dana money for drugs and that was his reason for being in Meadow Valley & Keddie that night. They stiffed him and he left.
Upon reading this information, Mike Gamberg decided it was "drug motive BS" - his own words, and not apparently not worthy of any follow up. But he did find something else in those reports that caught his attention.
Here is a portion of the email Gamberg sent Dmac upon discovering these unpublished statements from Karl Spang:
"Something struck me about motive, just a thought . During the investigation Karl S a local doper was interviewed at length by Steve Wright, then a deputy. Spang said that he had fronted J&D money for dope and followed them to MV to a party and then back to Keddie. All bullshit babble re: a drug motive?? During the interviews Spang said that he'd been stiffed and went back to Greenville to the xxxxx Bar [Pioneer Bar] where he witnesses a fight and that xxxxx [Cruzita J] was the bartender and could verify the info.
5/10/81 xxxx [Cruzita J] was contacted by Wright, dispelling what Spang was telling the deputy.
xxxxx told the deputy in context, that he/she knew "Sue Sharp from college at FRC two semesters ago". He/she said that Sharp was going with a "Martin Smart, a Vietnam Vet". He/she said that Martin gave him/her "the creeps" because Marty was so "protective and possessive and jealous of [Sue]". Again nothing was done to follow up the information.
You had mentioned in the past that Marty was upset that Sue was banging the railroader in the trailer just above his cabin. Coupled with Marilyn being counseled by Sue to divorce Marty could go to motive. Just a thought?? Do Ya Think?"
5/10/81 xxxx [Cruzita J] was contacted by Wright, dispelling what Spang was telling the deputy.
xxxxx told the deputy in context, that he/she knew "Sue Sharp from college at FRC two semesters ago". He/she said that Sharp was going with a "Martin Smart, a Vietnam Vet". He/she said that Martin gave him/her "the creeps" because Marty was so "protective and possessive and jealous of [Sue]". Again nothing was done to follow up the information.
You had mentioned in the past that Marty was upset that Sue was banging the railroader in the trailer just above his cabin. Coupled with Marilyn being counseled by Sue to divorce Marty could go to motive. Just a thought?? Do Ya Think?"
The "bombshell breakthrough"/Gamberg's discovery of who drove Johnny & Dana home that night + the motive for murder is a tangled mess told by Dmac.
But for now, here goes:
Karl's statements led Gamberg to a 1981 interview with a female who he said he said could confirm his story of being at the Pioneer Bowl Bar & witnessing a fight. Her identity was withheld by Dmac and she was referred to as "xxxbartender". He later did confirm Cruzita was "xxx bartender".
Karl's statements led Gamberg to an interview with Cruzita from 1981 in which she supposedly discredited Karl being at the bar. In this interview, she also claimed Sue was "going with a Martin Smartt". She is the only person to report such info in 1981. In Gamberg's email to Dmac, he mentioned this information about Sue & Marty and asks Dmac "could be possible motive for Marty. Do you think?".
After locating these reports, Gamberg contacted Cruzita who reiterated that she knew Sue Sharp from Feather River College and that Sue was "going with a man named Martin Smartt, a Vietnam vet" . She said he gave her the creeps because he was so possessive of Sue. She also admitted to Gamberg that she was the one who rode Johnny and Dana home that Saturday night. She stated she did not come forward previously because she didn't want to get Kathy B in trouble.
In 1981, Kathy Beckley was 27 years old and was having a sexual relationship with Dana who was 17. She is the older woman mentioned in misc FBI/PCSO reports. Cruzita claimed she did not come forward sooner because she "did not want Kathy getting in trouble" because of this affair.
Gamberg then reached out to Kathy B who confirmed the story of the ride. She told him that on the evening of the murders, Johnny & Dana had come to her apartment & asked for a ride to Keddie. She told Gamberg she at first declined to ride them because she is not have enough gas to drive to Keddie. She also did not want people seeing her with Dana (even though they were at her apartment). She eventually relented to their request and contacted Cruzita, a family friend, asking if she could ride them home which she agreed to. The boys stayed at her apartment until Cruzita arrived and took them to Keddie.
