Latest / Wicked and Grim: A True Crime Podcast / The Murder of Shanda Sharer

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The Murder of Shanda Sharer · Wicked and Grim: A True Crime Podcast

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Shanda was a young girl who had just moved to
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: a new school when her life was completely flipped upside down.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: It was at this school that she met her first girlfriend.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Though it certainly wasn't love at first sight, their relationship
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: quickly blossomed. However, her new girlfriend had a very jealous ex.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Her and her three friends would soon kidnap Shanda and
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: brutally torture and kill her, all because the ex couldn't
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: stand to see the two together. This case is the
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: murder of twelve year old Shanda Sharer. My name's Ben, I'm.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked and.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: Grim, a true crime podcast.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Warning the following podcast Dan's and material intended for a
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: mature audience.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Listeners.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: Question.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: You had a look of like absolute disgust in your
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: face when I was reading that intro. Are you good?
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm just like, oh boy, here we go.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that's kind of how it tends to
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: be with true crime in all honesty.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: Well, here, I was just like, I kind of was
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: thinking it was going to be people of young age
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: and then but I'm like, oh, maybe like sixteen, I
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: mean sixteen is still young. Sixteen or eighteen or early
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: twenties or something. But twelve.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: Gosh, yeah, Shanda was quite young when her life was
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: taken from her.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: I feel like twelve year old shouldn't even have significant others.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: I agree, I agree, But I mean, you are getting
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: to that point in that time when like you know, you,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: you're starting to go through puberty, like you're in those
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: early stages, so those things start to develop in an individual, right,
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: So it's not out of this world to think that
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: someone of the age of twelve would be considering that.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: I know, I just feel like, I mean, kids grow up.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: I think it's even worse now. They just grow up
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: so dang quickly, I know, and they don't stay kids
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: for as long as they can.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: I know, I know, I feel you one, But yeah,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: this one is not taking taking place in today's day
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: and age. It is back in the nineties. So this
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: is I mean, you and I grew up in the nineties,
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: so we know what it was like back then. And I, certainly,
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: at the age of twelve, was not a very grown
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: up individual. I was still very much so a child
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: at twelve, so I can't relate.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: I know, you always see those tiktoks and reels and
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: stuff where it's like twelve year olds now and they're
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: just like they just have looked like they have like
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: their shit together. They're doing like a dance or something.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: And then it's like me at twelve year old, at
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: twelve years old, and you're just like embarrassing. Yeah, I
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: still don't feel like I like, I still am embarrassing.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: Like I don't think I've gone out of that.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, you have not gotten out of that.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: You are embarrassing. I'm just kidding.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: Well, those twelve year olds now, I'm like, I still
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: don't even have that confidence or that like sass about me.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: I know. I think that's growing up in the social
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: social media age though, But yeah, Shanda definitely didn't grow
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: up in that age. Are you ready to go into
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: this case despite despite the hesitation you have.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, I'm ready.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: All right, Well buckle up because you're gonna need it. So.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: Shanda Renee Scherer was a twelve year old girl living
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: in Indiana in the early nineteen nineties. She was born
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: on June sixth, nineteen ninety or sorry, nineteen seventy nine,
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: in Pineville, Kentucky. When she was still very young, her
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: parents Stephen Scherer and Jacqueline Vought unfortunately would get divorced.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Despite this, though, Shanda stayed clothes with both of her parents.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: She was best friends with her mom, and she was
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: also good in a good relationship with her dad and
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: his new wife, Sharon.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: Okay, that's really good.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: Shanda was the kind of person everyone wanted to be around.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: She was very cheerful, extremely friend friendly, and then full
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: of energy. At school, she was involved in many activities,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: you know, volleyball or cheerleading, and she liked going to
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: the dances. At school, Shanda was popular, She was smart,
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: and she did very well in school, you know, very academic.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: She was always getting good grades. In June of nineteen
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: ninety one, when Shanda had turned twelve, she and her
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: mom would make a move to New Albany in India,
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: so Shanda could actually spend more time with her dad.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: So basically moving to ensure that they're a little bit
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: closer to still maintain that relationship, right, Like, moving can
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: be tough on many families, but they wanted to ensure
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: the the strong connection between not just one parent but both.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: It was important for him right even after this divorce.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: That's honestly, so good.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: It is co parenting at its best, right. Yeah, so
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: she was starting at a new school, Hazelwood Middle School.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: It wasn't easy. I'm sure it's not for many people
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: starting in a new middle school, right, A lot of
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: new faces, trying to fit in, trying to make those
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: new friends. And shortly after the beginning of the school year,
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Shanda even got into a fight with a fourteen year
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: old girl named Amanda Heathron. So this is a two
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: year difference, right, twelve to fourteen. The two were of
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: course sent to detention because of this fight, and I'm
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: unclear if it was a physical fight or just verbal
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: or how it escalated exactly, but regardless, they're both in
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: detention together now. Surprisingly, though, while in detention, this gave
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: the two girls a chance to talk and work it out,
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: and they ended up becoming pretty good friends as a result.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: Oh my goodness.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so they hated each other, fought, went her detention,
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: and they walked out of detention friend best friends.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: Wow. I just feel like that should be how everyone
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: solves problems. Hey, yeah, that well, not the fighting and stuff,
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: but the fact that you got in a disagreement, but
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: then you're able to work it out.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you sit down, Yeah, you talk it out, like
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: what's wrong with that? Yeah, would be able.
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: You move on and you're in like a much better place.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Unfortunately, some people can't sit down and talk it
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: out and move on, so that leaves a little bit
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: of a stifling situation for many people. But hey, these
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: two girls were able to do it, and good for them.
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: Mm hmm.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: Now, what started as an unlikely friendship soon began to
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: worry Shanda's mom. So since Shanda had started hanging out
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: with Amanda, her grades began slipping and she was even
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: getting into trouble at school a little bit, something that
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: had never happened before. Shanda was once a very good student,
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: and it seemed to be changing, and her mother didn't
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: exactly know why. Now, as Shanda and Amanda spent more
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: time together, their friendship became even closer, eventually turning into
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: something a little bit more a romantic relationship. Even the
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: two girls even began writing letters to each other, letters
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: that were apparently pretty sexually explicit in nature, though this
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: was kept all hidden from Shanda's parents. They always just
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: pretended to be friends whenever they were together, and the
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: parents were present. In October, the two girls attended a
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: school dance together, you know, going out for a fun night,
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: you know, kind of even a little bit of a
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: date sort of situation. Right, But while they were there,
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: they ran into Amanda's ex girlfriend, Melinda Loveless, a sixteen
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: year old girl with a troubled past.
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: Oh so, now this is like a four year difference
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: for yeah.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, So Melinda had dealt with many problems at home
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: and struggled with depression herself. Her difficult family life and
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: personal challenges often caused her to get into fights and
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: act out at school. Now it's a lot to get into,
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: but Melinda's parents were involved in some sexually explicit stuff themselves,
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: you know, some orgies, and apparently there were some pretty
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: abusive sexual behaviors that occurred at home as well, which
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: include sexual assaults.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Anyways, this all affected Melinda's school work and resulted
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: in her having to repeat a year of school.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: Oh shit.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: Melinda was open about her you know, sexual orientation, which
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: was rare for being in a small town in nineteen nineties.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: You know, a fairly conservative area in Indiana is pretty rare.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: But she was pretty open about it. Anyways, when Melinda
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: saw Shanda and Amanda together at the school dance, she
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: was instantly filled with rage. She right away was wanting
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: to fight Shanda right then and there, even though Shanda
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: was four years younger than her. Luckily, though, Amanda managed
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: to stop her before things got physical. Now, you see, Melinda,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: it's kind of a little bit difficult here to explain,
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: so bear with me. To Milinda, Amanda wasn't actually her
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: ex girlfriend, she was still her girlfriend. What kind of oh?
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: Even though the two had broken up, Melinda never accepted
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: the breakup, thinking that they were just going through a
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: tough time and they were going to get through it really. Meanwhile,
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: Amanda was like, no, we're broken up and was moving
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: on and was now dating Shanda. So to Melinda, it
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: felt like Shanda had stolen her girlfriend right out from
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: underneath her and was rubbing her face in it by
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: being at this dance together where everyone could see.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: It, and she probably had no idea, correct, Shanda, I
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: mean correct? Yeah?
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, So it's about it.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: That is kind of like a tricky situation, but also.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: It is very much so huh okay your processing this.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: I am I don't really know what to think now,
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: because I'm kind of like, well, it's Amanda, right, Amen.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Which one's Amanda? The girlfriend is Amanda?
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Amanda was with Melinda.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: Correct.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: So I feel like, I don't know, someone wants to
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: break up, someone just doesn't accept it, but like they're
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: still broken up exactly. I don't know. That's it's kind
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: of it's kind of.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: Hard to Amanda did Amanda did nothing wrong. Shanda did
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: nothing wrong exactly. Yeah, And Melinda has every right to
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: be upset with the situation.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: I guess if she still thinks they're kind of together.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: Well, she she doesn't have say over whether they're together
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: or not, because it takes two to tango, right, But
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: Melinda has every right to be emotional, be upset, you know,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: be jealous. She just can't act on that because it's
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: not her relationship, and so she has every right to
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: have these feelings. They have every those two have every
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: right to be together. No one's doing anything wrong right now.
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: Everything is You're allowed to do that. Yeah, as far
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: as I'm concerned, I know.
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: It's just it's just kind of it's weird. It's tricky
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: because Melinda still thinks that they're kind of together. She's
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: probably like almost thinking they're cheating a little, you know.
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: That's kind of how she's feeling, so definitely now. Although
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: nothing serious happened that night, the weeks that followed were
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: filled with a lot of tension. Melinda started to threaten Shanda,
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: and she wasn't exactly quiet about it either. She was
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: very open about how much she disliked her, and the
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: threats became more and more serious over time. She even
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: began writing letters to Shanda herself, which became increasingly violent,
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: with Melinda going as far as saying that she wanted
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: Shanda dead.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: Okay, okay, this is real messy.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Now, both Amanda and Shanda became very worried about
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: these letters, and with good reason. The threats were very disturbing,
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: and I mean very much so, like this is real,
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: whether someone has the intentions of it or not, threats
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: are very much so real. That's scary. So they eventually
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: to the letters to a local youth prosecutor. However, the
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: authorities didn't seem to take the threats the seriously themselves,
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: and there doesn't appear to be any evidence to point
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: towards an investigation ever occurring as a result of these letters.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: I mean, honestly, in that situation, like probably nine homes
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: out of ten they aren't you know, serious, right.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: Probably ninety nine point ten percent of time.
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but still you gotta there's the off chance that
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: they can be exactly.
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: That's why you have to do your due diligence. You
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: have to follow up on these things, right, So it's unfortunate,
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: to say the least. Now, Shanda's parents eventually found out
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: about her dating Amanda when they discovered some of the
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: letters that they were sharing, right, they made the decision
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: to transfer Shanda to another school as a result. It
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: wasn't due to the same sex relationship, though they had
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: no problem with that. It was more of the fact
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: that Shanda was twelve and her girlfriend was fourteen. Their
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: relationship was seemingly to be very sexual in nature, so
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: that age gap is kind of a little bit too
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: much for them. And Shanda was also, on top of
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: it all, not doing well in school and her behaviors
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: were changing.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: Right, Well, the younger you are, the more significant the
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: age gap is. Right.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: Oh, it's percentage wise really right, Yeah, Like when you're
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: eighty and if you're with a ninety year old, that
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: ten year gap.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: Is nothing is not really a lot.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but if you're twenty five and with a fifteen
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: year old, that's not fucking cool.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that is just not okay.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, So that percentage of the age gap, it definitely
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: plays plays a role now either way. Though. The girls
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: were attending different schools now, but they never broke up.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: They still wrote letters and talked in the phone whenever
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: they could. Fast forward to the new year. It's January tenth,
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: nineteen ninety two, so only a few months of past.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: We're just entering the new year now, right. It was
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: a night that Melinda had been planning for for some time.
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: She she had invited three of her friends over. The
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: friends were Laurie Tackett, Hope Rippy, and Tony Lawrence. She
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: invited them over to her house this afternoon. The girls
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: thought it was just going to be a typical hangout,
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: but Melinda she had something else in mind. Once everyone arrived,
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: Melinda revealed her true intentions for this meetup. She told
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: them that she had come up with a plan to
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: get Shanda out of Amanda's life for good. As she
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: explained her plan, she pulled out a kitchen knife, telling
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: her friends that this was the weapon she was going
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: to use to scare Shanda and make sure that she
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: stayed away from Amanda once and for all. So it's
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: going to be a threat, Okay, So you're scare okay.
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: Melinda had somehow found out that Shanda was staying with
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: her father on the weekends in Jeffersonville, and they were
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: going to go pay her a visit this weekend. So
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: with that plan set, the girls piled into a car.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: It's unclear whether it was their car. I mean, they
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: were about sixteen, right, unclear if it's there, car, borrowed car,
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: I don't know. But they piled into a car and
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: headed to Shanda's father's house. Most of the girls had
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: no idea how far things were about to go. Melinda
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: might have.
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: Known, oh man, so she was lying.
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: When they reached Shanda's house, two of the girls went
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: to go knock on the door. When Shanda answered, the
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: girls told her that they were friends of Amanda and
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: that Amanda wanted to wanted them to pick her up
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: so they could all go hang out together. So they're
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: luring her by saying, hey, we're your girlfriend's friends. Yeah,
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: and they told us to come pick you up.
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: Oh gross. I don't like this.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah. They claimed that Amanda was waiting for them at
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: the old an old abandoned spot called quote the Witch's Castle,
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: which is a well known local abandoned house that's like
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: kind of a landmark in the area.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: Oh my goodness, there would be no way. I'd be like, cool, right,
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: have fun with that.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: And if, like they said, you were waiting there, I'd
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: be like, awesome. I hope he enjoys just waiting there,
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: because I wouldn't be going.
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to the fucking Witch's Castle.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: There's no way.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: Nope. I feel you. Thank you for coming and meeting
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: me at the Witch's Castle. I appreciate that, just leaving
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: me waiting to be I don't know, decapitated by a
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: witch who knows well.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: I mean, if you were in trouble, i'd come there.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: But if I was just to meet you there with
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: some random people, like, it just wouldn't be happening.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, fair enough now. Shanda, though, she was excited to
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: go out, but she knew that her parents wouldn't allow it,
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: so she herself made a plan. She told the girls
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: to come back at midnight, when her dad would be asleep.
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: And then she could sneak out and they could all
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: head off to go meet Amanda together at the Witch's castle.
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: This is just terrible, So like her dad isn't going
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: to have any clue, any clue.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: Correct. Although Melinda was frustrated by this, not being able
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: to know get to Shanda right away, she had no
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: choice but to wait. So as they headed to pick
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: Shanda up a little bit later on that night, Melinda,
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: growing more impatient, said she couldn't wait to kill Shanda.
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: So she admitted this to the other people.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: Then she said this on the way to go pick
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: her up. The other girls were shocked by her words
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: at first. I mean, of course, earlier she said that, Hey,
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: we're just gonna go scare her. Yeah right, I mean,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: despite how intense this sounded, they didn't take the threat
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: seriously because, as we already mentioned, ninety nine percent of
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: the time those threats are not real. Are empty. Yes,
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: so that's what they assumed these were. We're just empty threats. Now.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: At around twelve thirty am, the group returned to Shanda's house.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: One of the girls, Tony, hesitated and refused to help
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: convince Shanda to get into the car, possibly spooked by
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: Melinda's earlier comment, but I can't wait to kill her.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: But we're It's unclear as to why, but the other
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: two girls went to Shanda's door while Tony and Melinda
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: were still in the car, Melinda hid in the back
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: seat under a blanket to avoid being seen.
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: Huh.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: Shanda seemed a little unsure about going with them, but
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: she trusted them because they claimed to be Amanda's friends
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: after all, So eventually she climbed into the car, thinking
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: they were going to go meet up with her girlfriend.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: And as they drove towards the Witch's castle, Melinda suddenly
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: jumped out from underneath the blanket and pulled out the
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: knife and held it right against Shanda's throat.
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: Wow, this is just so bad, hey, and it just
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: it kind of shows too, I feel like the innocence
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: of being twelve as well. No kidding, right, yeah, Oh,
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: it kind of just breaks.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: Your heart now. In an instant, Melinda started questioning Shanda
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: about her relationship with Amanda. Shanda was completely terrified and
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: in shock. She answered Melinda's questions, but no matter what
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: she said, it only made Melinda angrier. So when the
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: girls arrived to the abandoned Witch's castle. They tied Shanda
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: up and brought her inside with them. Once there, Melinda
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: and the others took Shanda's jewelry, including her favorite Mickey
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: Mouse watch. O man, I know, in case you didn't
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: need another reality check of how old this gme?
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I didn't need that.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah. As Melinda played with her knife, she commented about
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: how nice Shanda's hair looked, and then cruelly wondered how
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: Shanda would look if it was all cut off as
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: she ran the blade through her hair. While she was speaking,
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: one of the girls then went to the car and
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: grabbed a T shirt that was in there. She brought
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: it inside and set the T shirt on fire. It's
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: unclear as to why. Maybe it was to wave it
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: around in a threatening attempt in Shanda's face. I don't know,
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: but regardless, set this T shirt on fire, and the
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: smoke from the burning shirt began to worry the group.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: They feared that someone passing by might notice it pouring
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: out of the building, so in a panic that gathered
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: Shanda up, put her back in the car and drove off,
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: headed toward Madison, which is a town near where one
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: of the girls Laurie lived now. Laurie then led the
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: girls to a secluded logging road surrounded by thick forest
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: and trees. They drove far enough to ensure that no
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: one would find them, and when they found a remote
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: spot that was good enough, they stopped and pulled Shanda
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: from the car. At this point, Melinda took charge, forcing
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: Shanda to strip off her clothes while threatening her with
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: that knife, holding her right at knife point.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: What is even the point of that? And to make
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: her after strip and stuff? And meanwhile, her dad's just
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: at home, like sleeping. Yeah, has no idea, I mean
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: and rightfully so, he has no idea, right like she
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: she snuck out. But that's just heartbreaking.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: Mm hmm. Now, in all honesty, like it doesn't make sense.
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: But I think it's a power tripping situation to humiliate her,
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: humiliate her, show that I've got the power. You're gonna
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: do whatever I say. You're gonna leave Amanda alone, like
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: whatever it is. If I have the fucking power, I
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: can make you do whatever I want. And I think
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: that's why she did that, But I'm sure there's more
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: to it. I'm no psychologist. I don't claim to know
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: these things. I'm just offering my opinion thoughts, right, But
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: Shanda was terrified and she had absolutely no choice but
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: to comply, so she did what she was told, and
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: once she was standing there without a close Melinda viciously
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: attacked her. She didn't use the knife at first. She
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: began punching and kicking Shanda over and over and over again,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: even neeing her in the face repeatedly as blood poured
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: from her nose and mouth. Two of the girls, scared
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: by what was happening, stayed in the car at first,
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: but Melinda convinced them to come out and help in
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: the assault, and they eventually held Shanda down while Melinda
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: continued the attack.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: Well, they might have been afraid of Melinda as well.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: They most likely were.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's still so wrong that they're doing this
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: and helping and stuff, But I feel like they're seeing
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: what their friends get.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: Capable of, right, Yeah, it's very possible now. Melinda, then,
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: after beating her for a while, decided she was going
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: to take the knife in her hands and use that.
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: Oh man.
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: Initially, she tried to slit Shanda's throat with the blade,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: but the knife was way too dull to do much damage.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: Oh gosh, I'm sure it cut her, but it did
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: not cut nearly deep enough. Frustrated, she started stabbing Shanda
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: repeatedly in the chest with the knife instead. After stabbing
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: her several times, the girls retrieved a rope from the car,
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: wrapped it around Shanda's neck, and pulled it tight until
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: Shanda finally went limp.
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: Oh ho, man, that is just oh, that is unreal.
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a lot, and I'm gonna tell you now
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: we're not done.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: Oh okay. I I just can't comprehend, like even sixteen
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: years old, that you would just be able to fulfill
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: that having the.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: Not only the physical ability to do it, like cause
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: I mean, like if you are put in a situation
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: where it's like you do this or you don't do it,
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: whether it's like life or death situation like saw is
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: a very good example, you know, like carve your own
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: eye out to get the key or you die. Right
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: to be able to take that thing and physically stab
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: in your own eye regardless of the pain enduring, right,
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: Like even just breaking that threshold, whether it's yourself or
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: someone else, that's mind blowing. But then to continue going
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: forward and some of the stuff that occurs here that
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: we're about to talk about. It makes I can't wrap
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: my head around it.
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I just think I don't know. I mean, I
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: get if you're angry and you're gonna like take out
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: some frustration, but I just feel like there'd be a
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: moment in there that you'd be like, Okay, this is enough,
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: Like I need to stop what I'm doing.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: But we talk about this every time there's one of
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: these cases like that, and it's not I.
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: Know, I Danneline, I imagine it's like fueling you as well.
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: But oh gosh.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, the girls dragged Shanda's limp body to the
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: car and stuffed her inside the trunk. Exhausted, they needed
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: to regroup. They drove to Laurie's house to clean themselves up.
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: There they drank some pop or if you're in the US,
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: SODA's sorry it's it's called pop. I'm laying that down anyways,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: trying to relax. They're drinking some pop after these this
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: horrific attack, And while they're inside finishing cleaning up and
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: drinking their drinks, they suddenly heard screaming coming from the
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: inside of the trunk of the car that was parked
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: in the driveway.
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: No, she was still alive.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: Shanda was badly beaten and stabbed, but she was still
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: alive and conscious in the dark, cramped space of the
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: car she had just come to in the pitch black.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: Laurie quickly grabbed a small pairing knife from the kit
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: and headed outside to the trunk of the car. She
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: returned a moment later, and she cleaned herself up again,
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: with all the blood printing off her hands. The screaming
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: had stopped. Afterwards, Laurie and Melinda got back into the
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: car and drove away. It was around two thirty am.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: As they cruised along some quiet dirt roads along the countryside.
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: To their shock, once again, they heard Shanda's screams beginning
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: to come from the trunk of the car. They stopped
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: the car on the side of the road. They pulled
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: out a tire iron, this time, opened the trunk and
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: dragged Shanda out onto the gravel road. Here they used
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: the tire iron to beat her, and for whatever reason,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: also sodomized Shanda until she was once again no longer moving.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: This one is very hard to digest.
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: I told you it's gonna get worse, and it keeps.
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: Going and I didn't really believe you. I was like, okay,
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: well she's already like passed. What else are they going
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: to do?
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: But okay, yeah, no, it keeps going. That's the highlight
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: of what I have to say for this case. It
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: is vicious, it is revolting, and it keeps going.
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: Well yeah, I mean they have no idea what they're doing.
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: They have like no idea.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: No, they're just well.
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: But I mean, gosh, you would think that after she
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: woke up that you wouldn't continue doing this. I already
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: thought it was crazy that they continued the first time,
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: and now there's like two more times here. Yeah, gosh.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: So early that morning, Laurie and Melinda returned to Laurie's house.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: The other two girls were still there and waiting for
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: them to return, and when those two girls asked what
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: happened to Shanda, Laurie laughed and went into great detail
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: about what they had just done, even revealing that Shanda's
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: body was still in the trunk of the car right
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: now as they spoke. Realizing now they needed to get
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: rid of a body because this crime isn't over and
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: done with yet. There's still one more portion that they
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: needed to do. The group decided to take action. Later
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: that morning, they all got back into the car with
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: Shanda's body in the trunk. They drove to a nearby
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: gas station where they filled up the car's gas tank
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: and they bought a two liter Pepsi bottle. They dumped
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: out all the pop because yes, it's pop, not soda,
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: and they filled that bottle up with gasoline as well.
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: From there, they headed to a remote location on Lemon Road,
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: just north of Madison. Once they arrived, they pulled Shanda's
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: body out of the car and left her near the
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: side of the gravel road. The girls, before leaving her, though,
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: poured gasoline all over her body, and without hesitation, set
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: her on fire before driving away and leaving her behind.
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: Oh, I mean, I saw that coming out with the
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: whole filling up the two leader. But I was also thinking,
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: maybe there's the possibility that she lives through this. But
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: I'm thinking that's a hard null.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: Well, the case is called the Murder of Shanda's.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: Well, Okay, just all these incidents going about, though, it
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: gives you hope, I guess right that, Okay, mate, Like
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: she's fighting and maybe like she'll get through this. Like
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: her body's fighting to stay alive, right even though what
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: she's enduring. Plus, I didn't know what the fucking title was?
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: Did I?
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: I said it in the intro?
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: Oh gosh, okay, well I missed that part here. I'm
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: just like, okay, she's maybe she'll make it through. But no, no.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: Well, to finish off, just how disgusted we are with
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: these four girls. In the final chilling display of their
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: lack of remorse, the group stopped at McDonald's for breakfast
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: on the way home after burning Shanda.
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: Oh man, and we're not the fuck would eat after that?
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: Not done that yet? Hold on? While eating, they callously
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: joked about how Shanda's burnt body resembled the sausage patties
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: on the sandwiches they were eating.
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: You fucking me, Nope, that is Oh, I don't care.
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: This case is just like I just want to keep swearing.
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: But it's just I'm pissed. It's frustrating, It's extremely super pissed.
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: This is that is absurd.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: This case is frustrating till the end, and it keeps going.
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: I can Oh, I just made Ripley upset. She gets
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: really upset when we get upset. I'm sorry, ripley.
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, she's like, what's what's that like a sympathy m
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: pass and she's like an m path. Yeah, she can
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: like feel your emotions get upset, hit the counter to
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: touche touche. That was a little bit of alarming for her.
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: Gotta love dogs. Anyways, Late that day, Melinda met up
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: with Amanda. Without any shame, She proudly told Amanda all
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: about what she had just done to Shanda, presenting it
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: as if it were some twisted proof of her love.
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: And at first Amanda didn't believe her, but Melinda took
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: her to the car and showed her Shanda's bloody handprints
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: all on the inside of the trunk. Horrified and ensure
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: of what to do, Amanda agreed to keep quiet when
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: Melinda begged her not to tell anyone.
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: Wow, just like peer evil.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: Hey, pu're evil's showing off the bloody handprints on the
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: inside of the trunk from a twelve year old who's
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: trying to fucking escape with their life. Oh that is
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: fucked up now. Shanda's remains were discovered that same morning
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: on January eleventh, just hours after she had been set ablaze.
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: Two brothers who were on their way to the Jefferson
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: Proving Round for a hunting trip, spotted something strange on
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: the side of the road. At first, they thought it
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: was a mannequin abandoned in a ditch, but when they
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: got closer, they realized it was not that. It was
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: the burnt remains of a person.
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: And literally just right on the side of the road.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: Yep, exactly.
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: So they didn't even give a shit to try to
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: hide what they did at all.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: Nope, no, not at all. Now. The two brothers were
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: shocked and immediately rushed to find a phone and called
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: nine to one one. They waited at the scene until
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: state troopers and detectives arrived, and the investigators processed the area,
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: gathering evidence and took statements from the two brothers as well. Initially,
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: they suspected that the crime was gang related because of
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: the way that Shanda's body had been posed suggestively, and
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: there were severe burns across her body, but particularly the
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: worst of it was on her face and hands, which
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: made identifying her extremely difficult.
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: Oh okay, I see.
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah. So while the investigation was underway, Shanda's father Will
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: up and realized that Shanda wasn't in her room, mind
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: you this is still quite early in the morning, right.
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: But I'm sure just assuming that she like snuck out
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: and would return, right.
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: Well, he searched the house and the surrounding area, but
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: he couldn't find her. It was not like her to
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: be gone like this or anything, right, she never did
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: this sort of stuff. And I'm sure her sneaking out
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: at midnight to go to the witch's cabin or whatever,
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: it probably would have been the first time of her sneaking.
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: Out, Okay, So it was like really out of character.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: Very much so out of character. So he was worried,
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: and he called Shanda's mother right away and both of
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: them began looking for them for their daughter. Together. By
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: that afternoon, they couldn't find her, and they contacted local
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: authorities and filed a missing persons report with the Clark
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: County Sheriff's Department. Later that evening, at about eight twenty pm,
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: Hope Rippy and Tony Lawrence, two of the girls involved
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: in the crime, showed up to the police station with
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: their parents. The two girls were hysterical and struggled to
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: explain what had happened, but eventually they confessed everything, revealing
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: that the burnt body that was found earlier that day
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: was the body of Shanda Sharer. They described the entire
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: sequence of events in detail.
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: Oh why could they not have that conscience earlier?
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: Hey, right now, I do believe that, like you mentioned,
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: as it was happening, that they could have been terrified
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: of Melinda. It could have been scared, which I'm sure
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: did play a role in this. They didn't know what
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: to do. They are terrified for their own safety and
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: stuff as well. But it's still why couldn't that have
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: come sooner? It's unfortunate. Now, Shanda's missing person's case was
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: soon linked to the body found that morning, of course,
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: and detectives obtained dental records to officially confirm her identity.
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: The results tragically confirmed that, yes, indeed it was Shanda. Now.
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: Doctor George Nichols conducted she AND's autopsy, which revealed the
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: extent of her injuries that she had suffered. Some of
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: the things that they found were ligature marks in her wrists,
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: and she had deep cuts on her head, neck, legs.
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: Her fingers were badly damaged, so much so that they
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: actually had to be cut off to obtain fingerprints. Most
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: of Shanda's upper body was covered in third and fourth
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: thor gree burns, But one of the most haunting findings
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: from the autopsy was the soot in her airway, which
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: indicated that she was still alive when the gasoline was
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: poured on her and she was set on fire. No, Ben, No, yes,
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: she was still.
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, Okay.
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: I told you, this case keeps going.
• 34:47
  Speaker 2: Wow, wow, wow. I did not expect that.
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was pretty mortified when I learned that.
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: Huh.
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: And I can't blame you and your reaction either, because
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: that is heartbreaking. How many many times did she survive
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: to just be knocked down again by these girls?
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: Holy shit, man, I mean they and I don't know
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: if I can. I'll just say that. The problem too
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: is like with young offenders, I feel like then just
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: the chances of them get them getting out, like they
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: still get to live their life at some point.
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: I guess it's just it's a very it's very frustrating
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: to the end, I said, anyway, I digress, We're in
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: for more than I digress. Let's continue.
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I don't know if I can take
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: any more of this.
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: The next day, Melinda Lovelace and Lori Tackett were arrested
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: while Hope and Tony were already in the police custody
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: right having confessed to the roles earlier. The four teenage
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: girls were all charged as adults for their role in
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: the torture and killing of Shanda Sharer. By April of
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: nineteen ninety two, Tony Lawrence, the least involved in the violence,
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: struck a deal with prosecutors. By accepting a plea bargain,
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: she avoided harsher penalties and agreed to testify against the others.
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: She was sentenced to twenty years in prison, but was
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: released on parole after serving just nine years. In the
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: year two thousand, Hope Rippy, who had played a significant
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: role in the crime but has seen as more of
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: an influence seen more influenced by Melinda as we kind
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: of already discussed a bit, also reached a plea deal
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: with prosecutors and was sentenced to thirty five years in
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: prison In two thousand and four. Hope's sentence was reduced
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: on an appeal, and she was eventually released on parole
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: in two thousand and six after serving just fourteen years
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: of her sentence. In the year two thousand, both Melinda
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: Lovelace and Lorie Tackett, two of the main perpetrators, also
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: accepted plea bargains, a decision that spared them from facing
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: the death penalty. Both were sentenced to sixty years in
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: prison for their roles in the torture and murder of
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: Shanda Sharer. However, Melinda and Lourie were both paroled earlier
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: than expected. Laurie Tackett was released in twenty eighteen after
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: serving twenty six years, while Melinda Lovelass was granted parole
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen after serving twenty five years. All four
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: girls are out of prison and free.
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: I'm just sitting here like glaring at you, Yes you are.
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: Is it making you uncomfortable?
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: A little bit? For my own safety? At their uncomfortable?
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: Just pissed, right, I told you. It's frustrating to the end.
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: Is there fucking more? There? Better not be anymore.
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: The aftermath of Shanda's death death left her family absolutely devastating.
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: Well yeah, Steve Sharer, Shanda's father, struggled to cope the
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: loss of his daughter and turned alcohol. His grief absolutely
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: consumed him. Unable to find a way forward. After Shanda's murder,
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: Steve his health deteriorated and he tragically passed away in
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: two thousand and five from alcohol related complications. He was
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: fifty three years old. He drank himself to death.
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: Oh man oh okay Okay.
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: Shanda's mother, Jackie Vaught, suffered her own immense grief, but
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: her response to the events in the years that followed
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: would take a surprising and compassionate turn. During Melinda's sentence hearing,
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: it was revealed that she herself had been a victim
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: of horrific abuse at the hands of her father, Larry Lovelace.
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: As I kind of alluded to earlier, he had subject
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: his family to years of physical and sexual abuse. In
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: nineteen ninety three, Larry was arrested on charges of rape, sodomy,
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: and sexual battery. He spent two two years in jail
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: awaiting trial, but due to Indiana's state statue of limitations,
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: most charges were dropped, and ultimately he pleaded guilty to
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: one count of sexual battery and was released in nineteen
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: ninety five, having already served his time. Now, while in prison,
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: Melinda sought a new path and became involved in the
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: ICA N or the i CAN, which is the Indiana
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: Canine Assistants Network program where inmates train service dogs. She
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: gained a reputation for her skill and dedication, often even
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: being asked with help on dogs that were specifically difficult
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: to train. Her work with dogs allowed her to show
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: love and compassion in a way that contrasted sharply with
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: her past actions. Shanda's mother, Jackie, eventually learned of Melinda's
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: work with the I CAN. She was contacted by a
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: man named Charlie Petrizo, a burn victim and breeder for
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: the I CAN, who shared footage of a mo into
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: training the dogs in prison. After Jackie watched the video,
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: she was actually struck by Melinda's sincerity and compassion. In
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: twenty twelve, Jackie made an extraordinary decision to donate a
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: puppy that she named Angel to the program in Shanda's honor,
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: allowing Melinda to train that dog. Reflecting on her decision,
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: Jackie said, quote, Melinda was sincere, she was compassionate. I
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: think the IKAM program allows her to have something in
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: her life that she can show love back to and
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: there's never betrayal on either side.
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: Jackie. Okay, Well, first of all, we're just like all
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: having a process this at once, and I guess Jackie
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: has had a bit of time. But like she is
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: a fucking saint. Yes, like that is unbelievable. Yes, that
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: you could. I don't know even you know be that strong.
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: I agree.
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: Now there is a bit of, of course, controversy surrounding
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: Melinda and what she endured growing up, which I do
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: not doubt played a part in her actions upon Shanda.
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: But we've said it on this podcast before. It doesn't
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: excuse your actions. In my opinion, it does not excuse
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: your actions. Your history may shape you, but you have
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: control of your present and future. Your actions are your own.
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: Of course, I mean there's always room for argument within that,
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: but that's a general statement, a blanket statement or that.
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: But Jackie sees it as Melinda suffered too, and at
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: the hands of Melinda, her daughter suffered. But that doesn't
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: mean that more people have to suffer, whether it's her,
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: whether it's Melinda suffering more. That's what I see. She's
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: wanting to put an end to that psych of suffering.
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: Melinda's father made her suffer, Melinda made Shanda suffer. Why
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: does Jackie have to make or why does Jackie have
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: to make Melinda suffer or Melinda make Jackie suffer, so
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: props to her. I don't know if I could do it,
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: but she's wanting to put an end to that cycle
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: of suffering that it seems just incredible to me. Yeah. Now,
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: although the girls serve time for their roles in Shanda's murder,
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: their early release have been met with very much so
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: mixed emotions from the public. For many, the pain of
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: Shanda's death has not faded, and her legacy remains a
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: very haunting reminder of the senseless brutality of her murder
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: and what those four girls did that day. And that's
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: the case of Shanda Sharer.
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: What just like a just a complete pile of shit case.
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: I thought you were gonna say, what the fuck just happened?
• 42:57
  Speaker 2: Well that too, I don't even know, Like I don't
• 42:59
  Speaker 2: even know what's where I am right now.
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: I told you, it's frustrating to the end.
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: But this is the end. There's nothing else, is okay.
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: I'm like, you literally drop something else, like I'm done, No,
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: I'm leaving.
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: This is it. That's the end. We're done. Laptop being closed,
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: that's it, the end. That's the story.
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: I know it is. It's actually quite hard to process
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: this one. I'm not gonna lie. It is and I
• 43:27
  Speaker 2: don't necessary. It's hard to even talk about it now
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: because I don't know. It is like yeah, because Melinda
• 43:33
  Speaker 2: was like very abused, but I'm not okay right now
• 43:39
  Speaker 2: with what happened, So I can't look at it like
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: the mom did right yet you know, understandable, like it's
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: just something you have to process. I think, and whole
• 43:50
  Speaker 2: that was unreal like.
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: As I said, past actions or past things you've gone through,
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: past traumas. It doesn't excuse murdering a fucking person. No,
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: it never will. It just doesn't. And in my mind,
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: Shanda was murdered four times. They beat her to be unconscious,
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: and she came back and they did it again, and
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: then she came back and they did it again, and
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: they lit her on fire and left her behind, and
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: then she finally died.
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: Well in that time, well, I mean each time they
• 44:22
  Speaker 2: thought that she was.
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: Dead, right, I guess, so they murdered her four times. Yeah,
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: they're like, yeah, we killed her. Oh she's actually alive.
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: They let us kill her.
• 44:31
  Speaker 2: They made that decision four times.
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: They made the decision to murder her four separate times, which.
• 44:38
  Speaker 2: Is just just like she pure evil hate.
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, like you don't get a second chance, let alone
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: a third earf Like how many people would say if
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: I could go back and correct my actions, Like how
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: many people who have killed someone and they're sitting in
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: prison and they are so remorseful about it. There's people
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: out there, and if I could turn back that fucking clock.
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: These girls were given the opportunity to turn back the clock,
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: and four times they chose to kill.
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, you're just I'm curious. I guess if they
• 45:14
  Speaker 2: show if they're remorseful now, I feel like it would
• 45:18
  Speaker 2: just be so hard to go about. I mean, like
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: living your life after that. Gosh, I feel like that's
• 45:24
  Speaker 2: all you would ever think about, or I see in
• 45:27
  Speaker 2: your head.
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: I don't doubt that every single one of them is
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: remorseful now, in my opinion. I don't know for a fact,
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: but that's gonna be my guess. I'm assuming none of
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: them are sitting here thinking, yeah, you know, I'm happy
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: I did that. I'm pretty sure they're all remorseful of it.
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: Many of us are, as you already said, remorseful of
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: what we looked like at twelve years old, and so
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: to be doing something that harsh when you're that young
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: and you grow up and you're like, holy fuck, I'm
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: pretty sure they're remorseful of it.
• 45:56
  Speaker 2: Well. No, If I'm being honest, though, I'd rather be
• 45:58
  Speaker 2: embarrassing at twelve year olds twelve years old than what
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: twelve year olds are nowadays. I prefer my embarrassment.
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: You don't want to be like doing all those tiktoks
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: now stuff. No, no, you don't want to be a
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: little like twelve year old instagrammer. No, fair enough. I
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: just collected Pokemon back in the day when I was twelve,
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: and honestly, that sounds great. I do that now at
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: thirty six. I should do that now at thirty six.
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: I haven't played Pokemon going a long time. I should.
• 46:25
  Speaker 2: What were we just saying before I had something to say?
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: Oh?
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: Sorry, well no, I can't remember now. What were we
• 46:30
  Speaker 2: just saying prior to.
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: This about being remorseful about how old?
• 46:34
  Speaker 2: Okay, yes, well it wasn't really exactly about that. But
• 46:37
  Speaker 2: these these girls, they still are living like a significant
• 46:43
  Speaker 2: chunk of life.
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: Yep, right, yep.
• 46:46
  Speaker 2: Because I'm just trying to like, I'm trying to calculate
• 46:48
  Speaker 2: it in my head, say they were born like seventy
• 46:52
  Speaker 2: five or something I'm thinking around.
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: Then we'll put it this way. Melinda was sixteen, she
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: served twenty five years, she got a one.
• 47:00
  Speaker 2: That's a much easier way.
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: Just add the two numbers.
• 47:04
  Speaker 2: My brain is just like mush at this point. I
• 47:06
  Speaker 2: can't even comprehenate, like life. Yeah, that is a big
• 47:11
  Speaker 2: chunk of life that they get to live.
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: And the largest served time was twenty six I'm assuming
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: she was sixteen as well, so that means the oldest
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: would have been forty two. Yeah, the oldest age being
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: let out of prison was forty two.
• 47:25
  Speaker 2: I mean, it is a big chunk of time also
• 47:27
  Speaker 2: being served. But then yeah, you get to just like
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: live your life, and they took that away from someone,
• 47:32
  Speaker 2: which is what's hard, right. Yeah, Yeah, Okay, Wow, you
• 47:38
  Speaker 2: really really did this to us today. I'm sorry, and
• 47:44
  Speaker 2: don't be afraid for Ben's life. He is quite fine.
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: But I was just like I couldn't even look at
• 47:50
  Speaker 2: you at times. I'm just I was just so livid.
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: Oh my god, what don't I'm sorry.
• 47:56
  Speaker 2: Who could take that seriously? That's bad. Ben's quite fine.
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: I am very fine. I am safe in my own
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: I am very safe home I'm.
• 48:06
  Speaker 2: Joking, searching. I came home with snacks for you.
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: That's so nice you did.
• 48:12
  Speaker 2: I also gave you a little bowl of cheeses and
• 48:14
  Speaker 2: then some sort of little alcoholic beverage.
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: It was delicious.
• 48:17
  Speaker 2: So you are. I am kind to you.
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: You. You definitely are.
• 48:22
  Speaker 2: Sometimes maybe not, but the majority of.
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: The time, sometimes maybe not a majority. I'm a good person.
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: I'm not terrible.
• 48:30
  Speaker 2: I mean, no one is good percent of the time.
• 48:33
  Speaker 2: Like I mean, not like terribles and murdering people, but
• 48:36
  Speaker 2: like you can be an asshole at times.
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: I can be an asshole the time.
• 48:39
  Speaker 2: People can Oh my gosh, I'm rambling. We got it.
• 48:43
  Speaker 2: Where this is done.
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: I could just do this for hours, just like loop
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: you around and just mess with you. Oh man, Okay, anyways,
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: thank you guys for being here. I am definitely safe.
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: Do not take those things that I said seriously. I
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: was joking. I feel very safe at home with the calls.
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: She is the love of my life and we are
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: very happy. We are happy that you guys are here
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: with us through this podcast, So thank you very much.
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: It means a lot to us. You can check out
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: the description of the show, find all our links Instagram, Facebook, YouTube,
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: you name it. It's all down there, including the last
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: few tickets to our events. Our event coming up which
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: is a local event only, so you can't buy the
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: ticket and attend virtually you have to be in here
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: in person, in town. But there's last few tickets left
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: for that murder mystery that's available, and I believe, Yeah,
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: if you go through our Facebook, the event is there
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: and you can find that link to buy those tickets.
• 49:33
  Speaker 2: I did put the link on Instagram.
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: There we go. Fantastic.
• 49:35
  Speaker 2: You can find it many ways.
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so thank you for being here, and until Tuesday,
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: stay wicked.