Spang, Cruzita & Kathy

So toxic. Towards Tina as well. A 27 year old woman spreading rumors about a 12 year old girl and Sue. A 27 year old woman, who according to the prevailing theory withheld the ride because she didn't want her relationship with Dana getting out there & was ashamed of it/worried she'd get in trouble.

Yet……shortly after the homicides she had no worries when she busted into the high school to approach 15 year old Alyssa over that bracelet!?!? And to ask Alyssa if she knew anything about the homicides, throw in there how J&D were at her apartment that night. Alyssa knew Kathy was an ex-girlfriend of Dana's.

So did Dave Moller of the Feather River Bulletin when he approached LE about the rumors Kathy was spreading around town. Her behavior is beyond suspicious to me. It appears all her rumors were designed to draw attention to Tina & Sue. Away from John & Dana, while she just so happened to be one of the last to see alive, had arranged that last ride home & not only withheld that information from LE for 36+ years, but denied & straight up lied about it when she was asked on 4/13/81. April freaking 13th!! She was one of the first people LE spoke with. She was dishonest and her lies shaped the entire investigation.



That's something I'd like to know as well. It certainly does sound like he expected her to back him up. She on the other hand preferred to distance herself from Spang & denied it . Why? Based on Mark's statements, they absolutely did indeed know Spang.





In an unreleased report, Spang claimed he was with a girl that night. Gee, I wonder who that girl could be.



Yeah, Gamberg comes across that (unreleased) 1981 report with Spang straight up saying “I thought they ripped me off”. That report is found and this is how it's handled!?!?! - allegedly, according to k28 this is the email Gamberg sent him after finding these unreleased files from Officer Wright regarding Spang:






Stomach turning. I hope to God that exchange is not legit. Pitiful if it is. “Do ya think?” Master. I'm the investigator, but you're the expert…. Do ya think?? 🤮 Seriously wtf is that!?!? Let's hope that exchange includes some made up k28 ego stroking BS & Gamberg truly did not write what is written there. Either is completely possible in my mind. Files are selectively released, but Gamberg's done enough interviews to show he had a one track mind during his investigation & that included MMB + “6 living suspects”. I personally believe, without a doubt, Spang was never questioned once these reports were found. Instead, he honed in on that line about the “affair” & ignored all the other potentially important information in the Spang/Cruzita/Mark reports. That's also the reason these reports are not being released, why Cruzita's report was cropped to pieces. He couldn't help himself, wanted to put that affair line out there but couldn't have the entire interview published for people to see what the bulk of it discussed. And that's drugs, drug rip offs & talk from Dana's best friend, Vernal. She named Carla M. as one of the people Vernal had confided in and in June Carla is telling people the homicides happened because J&D had stolen LSD. She told investigators this was only speculation & k28 likes to play that up along with Carla being slightly older & not in J&D's circle. However, he must be aware who she was friends with - Mark & Cruzita, therefore likely Beckley as well. And he's sitting on a Cruzita report that states Carla learned her information from Vernal. It's all so unbelievable. K28 is no dummy. He has to read these things & be questioning the narrative he's putting out. Perhaps he (& Gamberg) just dug himself in a hole too deep & it's too late to get out of it. If that's the case, it's foul behavior. The truth should always be #1.




Yep, very likely it was followed up on, but we as the public get information released to us in a way that's completely misrepresented. Purposefully. His line about “being buried” is 100% misrepresentation and came from a completely unrelated report. Whether this was a mistake or done on purpose is up for debate. I personally believe it was done on purpose. Something he thought he could get away with & didn't expect people would catch on. The report is close enough to pass off as what he attempted to pass it off as. Except, thanks to Josh … thanks Josh ♡…. the true original report was posted 15 years ago.

K28 tried to pass this off as prove LE “buried” a report containing info Cruzita told of being the ride back in ‘81. She NEVER told any such thing. She never told, therefore, there was nothing to bury. This report actually pertains to Joey C. and what he told his girlfriend - that he was the last to see the boys alive. K28 redacted the names and tried to pass it off as being a redacted report regarding Cruzita. If he's done that, how much more has he purposely misrepresented? Tons imo. I no longer consider k28 as a legitimate source of information. Nothing he says can be trusted. IMO, he's a source of purposeful misinformation and nothing written by him can be considered factual, unless the original report is posted as well. And posted without obvious alterations.





Another question I'd like to know the answer to as well. According to the reports, including Gamberg's own interview with Cruzita, Mark was in fact there at the bowling alley with her that night. And Mark told investigators it was Sue Sharp. But when Cruzita was interviewed she gave her “other Sue” story to LE. Another Sue whose last name she didn't know but could produce if LE requested. LE should have requested she produce this different Sue, but it doesn't appear to have been done.

The bowling alley fight is interesting because on the early forums some locals discussed Sue having an argument with a man at the pizza shop that same night. The bowling alley was right next to the pizza shop. On the forum, it was also said the man Sue was arguing with drove a van. Interesting because of the van spotted in front of cabin 28 the night of the homicides by the Seabolt girls + several witnesses reported sightings of a van in Keddie. I believe it was also said the pizza shop argument with that man had something to do with Tina.

I wish those original pizza shop/argument/van forum posts still existed. Because part of me wonders if stories like this we're more distracting away from johnny & Dana. More Beckley-esque rumors designed to draw attention to Sue & Tina as the targets. Did LE ask employees & others at the bowling alley that night if they witnessed a fight between a woman & a man? If so, did they ask others if the woman was Sue? Also interesting, Spang mentioned witnessing a big fight at Pioneer Bar Saturday night once he left Keddie. Interesting because he did expect Cruzita to back his alibi. And this fight shows up in her interview. I do wonder if this were a made up story. Spang got the details & date wrong, but that's not unusual when people are concocting false stories. Cruzita & Mark said it was Pioneer Bowl Bar in East Quincy on Friday night. Kathy is telling people Sue had a black boyfriend she broke up with the night before the homicides. Karl originally appeared to be cooperating with LE & admitted to being in Keddie. Once he retracted he told the story of going to Pioneer Bar & witnessing a fight. Except he said it was Pioneer Bar in Greenville & Saturday night. The bartender at the Greenville bar, Judy L, was questioned & debunked Spang's claims. Told investigators he wasnt there sat night & I believe said there was no fight??



I think this is very possible. I find it strange so many people connected to Beckley have come forward as being the ride. In Cruzita's case it took 35+ years for her to do so. I wonder why Kathy originally tried to point LE to Donna as the ride. Kathy was interviewed 4/13/81 & told LE the boys left to hitchhike but she'd heard Donna rode them home. Donna was first interviewed 2 days later on 4/15. No admission of being the ride from Donna at that time. She did tell them she rode the boys that afternoon. It was in May when Donna had her breakdown and began telling Pat Dorris + investigators that she was the ride. Part of me wonders if she was being pressured into being the ride. Because an entire group of people had info they didn't want to reveal - out of fear - and a single girl being the ride wouldn't draw much suspicion from investigators. IMO, Joey is a good possibility for the ride. Just like he told his girlfriend.

Let's say it's like any other Saturday night. Joey (& Dave?) pick J&D up the Exxon - right time. Phillip claimed he hopped in the back of a truck with J&D. Why would Phillip go with them? If he was told “hey we're going to party, come on.” That's the most likely possiblity imo. Joey & Dave both had trucks. Both traded in their trucks within a week or two of the homicides. People head to Keddie, did Johnny & Dana stop home to check in? They never made it back out - which is what spang said. Now everyone there in Keddie that night knows they were the “last to see Dana & Johnny alive”. They know who else was around, who to be fearful of, scared for their own safety & don't wanna be the one to talk which is why none of the stories after 10pm are consistent with one another. There's the rumors of Dana saying some people were out to get him. If this is true, then people know exactly who. Dana likely named names. Everyone in that group has some knowledge imo.

Joey was out driving around early Sunday morning & at some point learned of the homicides. Poor reporting there, or questions were asked to joey & there files never released. The attention is put on Richard “running around ape shit looking for Dana”. Who's one of the people this info came from? Joey. Based on Joey's report, Richard approached him looking for Dana & Joey told Richard he had slept at Johnny's. Richard runs off. Joey then learns of the homicides & goes to find Richard to tell him. But what's Richards version of events surrounding this? We don't know because either LE never asked him or it's being withheld. I don't know about you guys, but when I was 16-17 years old, I was out late but I most definitely wasn't out early in the morning unless we'd been up all night. We weren't out til midnight+ and then getting up at 8am. We were sleeping until starting all over again at noon+.

Donna knew of the homicides very early as well. According to Pat Dorris it was Donna who called them and informed them Dana had been murdered. Donna made the notification before LE. Pat, Dana & Mr. Wingate were waiting at PCSO when Brubaker & Forcino arrived. That report is pretty piss poor & doesn't list the times. But it had to have been around 10am when Brubaker & Forcino stopped by PCSO & Dana's family was already there waiting. Donna claimed she learned from Sheila, but I don't believe this. I think Sheila was the only person Donna could name & questions not be asked. Donna was a friend of Dana's. Not Sheila's. Not Johnny's. At the very least, this needs questioned.



Yes, he was Cruzita's boyfriend at the time



The million dollar question. Because they know more than they're saying. Know exactly where the boys were going, what they were up to, what caused these homicides.

In Kathy's interview with Gamberg she said she didn't come forward because she “knew everyone involved and was scared of reprisal”. Who TF is everyone!?!?? Marilyn?? If we're to believe the MMB theory. Because Marilyn was the only one left to fear reprisal from and that's a joke. Bo was gone from Plumas on 4/14/81. Marty by, what 4/28/81?? If Marty & Bo were the main killers they were both gone within weeks and therefore no one to fear. Instead of coming forward Kathy decides to spread rumors around town about Sue & Tina?!?! Sue had a black boyfriend she broke up with the night before the homicides. This “black guy” threatened to eat her puppy for supper. Wtf!?! Tina ran off with her black boyfriend. Tina was pregnant. Once Marty leaves people start pointing the finger at him. Including Kathy, who changes the black guy to Marty. Changes Tina being pregnant by Marty.



Without a doubt there is more of a connection than being discussed. Spang told investigators he knew Dana, Johnny, Sue & Tina. That's weird. K28 ain't putting this out there, but Cruzita's family was actually living in the Beckley boarding(?) home. She & Kathy were living in the same F'n house/apartments. It's possible it isn't even Cruzita who came forward as the ride, but one of her sisters instead. She definitely is part of this but it's a F'n mess. The redacted names in Gamberg's report are iffy. When the story was first released there was the Kathy, her mom, the ride and the rides sister. Cruzita is definitely the one who spoke of the affair, we know that from her cropped up interview & PON entry. K28 has always made it sound like “xxxbartender” admitted to Gamberg she was the ride & also told of the affair. Same person. He's even used her name in place of xxxbartender. But Gamberg report is questionable, so it's possible Cruzita told of the affair but is the sister Gam spoke with after learning of the ride. If that makes sense. But none of it really makes sense anyway.

And something we feel could be huge. Spang allegedly told investigators he was with a girl in Keddie that night. Gee, who could this girl be??! Would definitely explain why Spang expected Cruzita to back to alibi.




I personally don't feel there was any relationship other than Dana being a friend of Johnny's. Not much is known, even Dana's PO's told investigators they didn't know Johnny as one of Dana's friends so it must have been a newer friendship. They listed Vernal as Dana's best friend. There's the talk of Sheila being a liar because she told investigators that Saturday was the first time Dana came to spend the night. Something to remember, Sheila was away in Oregon for several months and had only been back for 6 weeks. So it's possible Dana spent the night while she was gone & she just wasn't aware of it. But there's another possibility….

There are statements from 2 (3?) people about Dana having spent the night at 28 previously. The first is Joey (& Dave maybe, I need to revisit his interview). But the reason Joey made this statement was because his girlfriend had told investigators how he'd told her that he had driven J&D to Keddie the night of the homicides. He denied it, she didn't back down, he denied it some more until finally blurting out “I drove them there maybe 1-2 months ago. That's probably what she's talking about”. His statement is not reliable to me because it was made when he was attempting to deny being the ride. And with all this funny business surrounding the ride…. The other person was Donna. Similar to the above. She told investigators Dana spent the night at Johnnys in the past and she had driven them there one night about 5 months prior. For some reason there is no date on this interview of Donna's. Just an empty space. Either the investigator didn't know the date & intended to fill it in once he figured what fn day he interviewed her - which would be more evidence that Interviews were documented some time after they occurred & likely off memory. Or someone redacted the date for some reason before publishing it. Same thing, there's some questions in my mind regarding Donna & the ride home. And if true, “5 months ago, Sheila would have been in Oregon.



Omg I know. It appears to be someone Kathy made up in her rumor spreading. In one rumor he was Sue's boyfriend who she broke up with the night before the homicides. In another he was a boyfriend of Tina's that she ran away with the night of the homicides. Can assume also the father in her “Tina was pregnant” rumors. Once Marilyn, the Meeks, Joey, Steve and others began pointing the finger at Marty, Kathy changed this “black guy” to being Marty.

It's kinda funny. In the Dave M report, he was an reporter at the Feather River Bulletin. He contacted PCSO because one of his informants had provided info that “an ex-lover of Dana's” had info about the homicides that she was spreading all over town. The info being Sue's black boyfriend who threatened to eat her puppy for supper. At the bottom of the report DOJ Bradley wrote: “this is undoubtedly Kathy” 😂 Shows how highly they thought of her. It is a shame they didn't wonder why she was so toxic & look into it more instead of writing her off as a rumor spreading adult “ex-lover of Dana's”. Dug deeper into why she was doing these things. Because it's fn weird. And here we are 40 years later and her word is treated like gold?!? So much so that no independent verification of her 2017 statements wasn't necessary. Some “poor policing” was going on when this investigation was reopened. You nailed it right there JGB.