Sept. 28, 2024

The Keddie Murders: Secrets, Suspects, and Missing Pieces

The Keddie Murders: Secrets, Suspects, and Missing Pieces

The Keddie Murders: Secrets, Suspects, and Missing Pieces

In this episode, we dive into the twisted and unsettling case of Cabin 28, where a mother and her children were just settling into a new life—until one night turned their quiet world into a...

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The Keddie Murders: Secrets, Suspects, and Missing Pieces

In this episode, we dive into the twisted and unsettling case of Cabin 28, where a mother and her children were just settling into a new life—until one night turned their quiet world into a nightmare. Join us as we break down the mysterious murders at the Sharp family cabin, the bizarre investigation, and the chilling discovery of young Tina Sharp’s remains years later. From suspects that slipped through the cracks to clues that seemed to vanish into thin air, this case is a rollercoaster of confusion, fear, and unanswered questions. What really happened in Cabin 28, and why did some suspects seem to get away scot-free?


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In the early nineteen eighties, Sue Sharp was ready to

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embrace a fresh start, leaving behind a turbulent marriage and

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relocating to the serene woods of California with her five kids.

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But little did she know the quiet life she'd hoped

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for was about to turn into a chilling nightmare. Imagine

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pulling into your new home, Cabin twenty eight, once the

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home of a local sheriff, only to have it become

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the epicenter of one of the most horrifying mysteries in

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the area. Just five months after getting settled in, Sue's

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hopeful life would spiral into darkness on a tragic night

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turned their home into a crime scene as screams echoed

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in the stillness. Lives would be forever altered, leaving unanswered

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questions and a haunting search for justice. Originally, Sue, fifteen

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year old John, fourteen year old Sheila, twelve year old Tina,

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ten year old Ricky, and five year old Greg all

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moved into a trailer together, but about a year later,

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Sue managed to move them all into a cabin and Keddy,

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giving the family much more space to live in, and

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it was a good neighborhood too. Before the Sharps moved in.

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Cabin twenty eight was actually the home of the local sheriff,

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and now it was going to be the place where

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Sue was going to raise her five kids. Five months

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went by and Sue's cabin was alive with a hustle

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and bustle of young teenagers and growing boys. Ricky and

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Greg had their twelve year old friend and neighbor, Justin

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Eason over for the night. John also had his seventeen

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year old friend Dana Wingate over too, but the girls

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were out. Sheila was staying over to friends, but Tina

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was only across the street at Cabin twenty seven. She

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ended up staying there until about ten o'clock that night

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before coming home. Sue Sharp had also been invited out

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by the neighbors over at Cabin twenty six. They were

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Justin Eason's mother, Marylyn, and his stepfather Martin Smart. Martin

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was an army vet who now worked as a chef

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in one of the local bars. He also had an

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army friend over that weekend named Severin John Bobadie or

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Bow as he liked to go by. It was Martin's

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night off, so he, Marilyn and Bo decided to go

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down to the bar that Martin worked at get some drinks.

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They stopped on the way to invite Sue Sharp to

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join them, but she still had the young boys in

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the house and decided against it. The Smart party then

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left for the bar, but that was unfortunately the last

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time that anyone remembers seeing Sue Sharp alive. When her daughter,

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Sheila Sharp, arrived home the following morning, she was hit

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by a terrible smell. She couldn't tell what it was,

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but concerned, she walked through the house until she got

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into the living room. She then found her older brother

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John and his friend Dana tied up on the floor

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and covered in blood. Beside them was a yellow blanket

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draped over what seemed to be another body. Terrified, Sheila

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then ran out of the house, screaming and shouting for help.

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She ended up returning to the cabin that she'd stayed

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in the night before, and the family there rushed back

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to the scene. Remarkably, the young boys and their friend,

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Justin Esen were unharmed. They were pulled through a bedroom

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window to safety while the rest of the neighborhood waited

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for the police to arrive. The Plumus County Sheriff's office

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was the first to respond, but the investigation quickly devolved

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into complete chaos. Inside they found the remains of John, Dana,

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and Sue. Each of them had been bound with medical

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tape and electrical cords from around the cabin. Sue had

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been lying under the blue blanket, only wearing a robe

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and naked from the waist down. Her underwear had been

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stuffed into her mouth to gag her. Both she and

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John had been beaten with the same hammer before being

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stabbed to death. Both suffered multiple stab wounds to the

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chest and neck, and it was these stabbings that would

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ultimately be what killed them. Dana had been beaten with

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a different hammer. She had been strangled and ended up

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dying from asphyxiation. Inside the cabin, the investigators found two

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kitchen knives, one of which had been bent out of

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shape because of the brute force used behind the attacks.

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They also found one of the hammers that they believed

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had been used to subdue the victims. Scattered around the

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house and leading to twelve year old Tina's bedroom were

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pools of blood and spatter. Tina's bed was also covered

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in drops of blood. It was only then that the

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investigators realized that there was potentially one more victim in

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this case, even though at that point Justin Eson had

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been trying to tell them for hours that Tina Sharp

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was actually missing. A wild man hut ensued, where law

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enforcement and volunteers scoured the neighborhood with what had happened

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to her mother and now that Tina herself was missing,

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The investigators feared that the motive behind the killings and

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kidnapping was sexual. It was possible that the people who

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had done this had taken Tina to keep her alive

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and to abuse her even longer. This fear fueled the

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search for Tina and had also spurred on the investigation.

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But right in the forefront of every one's minds was

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one simple question, why had the youngest children been left

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alive and unharmed. Not only that, but all three boys,

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the two Sharp sons and their friend Justin claimed that

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they had slept through the night and had not heard

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the brutal murders happening in the room right beside theirs ranger. Still,

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the next door neighbors on the other side of the

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cabin remembered hearing screams at around one thirty in the morning.

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The sound was so loud that they ended up getting

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up to investigate themselves, but when they didn't hear the

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sound again, they went back to sleep. Was it possible

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that the boys really did sleep through the screams that

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were loud enough to wake the neighbors, or is it

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possible that there was something else going on? An interview

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with Justin Esen's stepfather, Martin Smart, certainly made the investigators

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think so. He told the detectives that both he and

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his friend Bou suffered from PTSD during their time in Vietnam.

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In the investigator's eyes, this was one strike against him already.

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But then Martin admitted that he and Bo actually left

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the house not once, but twice that night. They first

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went with Marylyn out to get drinks at the bar

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that Martin worked at, but they left when they thought

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that the music was too loud. They all then went home.

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Marylyn went to bed, and Martin called the bar to

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complain about the music to the manager. He and Bow

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then got up and went back to the bar, leaving

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Marylyn behind. Finding his behaviors, suspicious investigators called all three

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down to the station to conduct interviews there. Marylyn told

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them that she and Martin had separated only days after

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the murders because he was violent and abusive and he

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had a vicious temper. That was another strike for Martin,

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and to put the final nail in the coffin, the

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investigators had him do a polygraph test. This is where

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the case would turn again, and almost unbelievably, it would

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turn in Martin's favor. Martin passed the polygraph and then

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was cleared of all suspicions. He was then allowed to

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leave town and never came back. In the months that followed,

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someone stepped forward with another constantly changing version of events.

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Justin Esen. He'd first claimed to have slept through the

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night and not heard anything, but then he told investigators

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that during the night he'd had a strange dream. In it,

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he claimed to have witnessed the murders of Sue, John,

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and Dana. In this dream, he said that he hid

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behind the door as two men tied up John and

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Dana and killed them. Tina had then interrupted the killers

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at work, and they rushed her out the back door

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as she called for help, never to be seen again.

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Justin worked with an artist to come up with composite

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sketches of these men. The artist was a friend of

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the sheriff's and wasn't actually a qualified artist or the

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one that the department usually used to draw up witness sketches.

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When the true state of the investigation came to light,

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the Plumus County authorities were furious. Not only had the

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investigators mishandled information, but they'd also let one of their

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prime suspects get away simply because he'd passed a polygraph test.

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By then, Bo had moved to Chicago, where he was

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later caught in a scam that involved stealing money from

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police officers, but he would die before facing any jail time. Martin, however,

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was very much alive and had moved out of town.

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On the way out, he'd stopped in Nevada to send

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Marilyn a letter. In it, he wrote quote, I've paid

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the price of your love, and now I bought it

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with four people's lives. This letter was never admitted into evidence.

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With their lead suspects gone, the investigators had nothing to

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work with. No new leads turned up anything substantial, and

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twelve year old Tina remained missing. That was until nineteen

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eighty four, when a bottle collector discovered what appeared to

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be the upper part of a skull about thirty miles

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out from Ketty. Months later, an anonymous caller left a

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tip claiming that the skull belonged to Tina Sharp. DNA

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testing revealed that the caller had been telling the truth.

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The identity of this caller was never determined, and the

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call wasn't officially documented. It wasn't discovered until years later,

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when another detective found it at the bottom of an

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evidence box. Martin Smart remained a freeman and died in

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two thousand. Shortly after that, the therapist that he usually

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worked with came forward to the Plumis County Sheriff's office

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and said that Martin had admitted to him that he

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killed Sue and Tina Sharp. That's ten Minute Murder for today,

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brief and beinge able true crime. I'm Joe. I'm the host,

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and thank you for taking the time to listen. Here's

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an email from one of you that listens, Joe at

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ten Minute Murder dot com is my email address. Hi Joe.

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I'd like to remain anonymous if possible, but I do

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have a question. What is your personal favorite true crime

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TV show or true crime movie. Thanks, And that's a

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very good question, one that I didn't have an immediate

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answer to. I didn't really think about this one because

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there are so many good ones out there. But the

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one that I think could be my favorite Blackbird. If

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you've seen it, you know that it's fantastic. It's based

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on the real life events of Larry Hall, who's a

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convicted kidnapper and alleged serial killer, who, by the way,

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is still alive today. And the premise is there's another

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guy that goes to jail in they try to recruit

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him to get information out of this possible serial killer.

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He befriends him, even though he doesn't really want to,

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but he wants to reduce his sentence, so he befriends him,

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tries to get him to confess that kind of thing.

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I'm not going to spoil it for you, but it's

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very good. Blackbird is the name of it. Hey, if

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you're a new listener to the podcast, make sure you

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hit subscribe right now. Wherever you're listening to this podcast

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and wherever you may listen to the podcast in the future,

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subscribe there too, follow on social media, and go to

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the website. If you have anything that you'd like to

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know about the podcast ten Minute Murder dot com, and

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that's going to do it. That's your episode for today.

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Thank you so much for listening.