Image of Melinda Loveless, taken in Dec. 2007. Witnesses said thatLoveless plotted to kill Sharer because she believed Sharer had stolen her 15-year-old girlfriend from her. Small also argued that Loveless, who was 16 years old when she signed the plea agreement, was too young to enter into a contract in the state of Indiana without consent from a parent or guardian, which had not been obtained. When they opened the trunk, Sharer sat up, covered in blood with her eyes rolled back in her head, but unable to speak. [71], In May 2011, Dr. Phil aired a two-part series on the crime, which featured Shanda Sharer's mother and sister Paige, who both harshly confronted Hope Rippey on the show, and an interview with Amanda Heavrin. [62] By November 2018 Shanda's mother Jacque Vaught stated that the scholarship fund had been depleted and is no longer accepting donations. During the ride, Loveless said that she could not wait to kill Sharer; however, Loveless also said she just intended to use the knife to frighten her. The girls then took Sharer into their car and told her they were going to drive her to the meeting place at the Witchs Castle, an isolated and abandoned house that served as a local teen hangout. After she washed, Tackett told the girls' futures with her "runestones". At present, all of them are out of prison, much before the end of their sentences. They arrived at Sharer's house shortly before dark. Sharer was reluctant to go with them, yet agreed after changing her clothes. She confessed to her involvement and said three others were involved: Hope Rippey, then 15, Mary Tackett, then 17, and Melinda Loveless, then 16. Loveless admitted abducting Sharer, torturing her and burning her to death in Madison. 125 miles away, Shanda's mother, Jacque Vaught, still endures shockwaves from her daughter's brutal murder. During Loveless's sentencing hearing, extensive open court testimony revealed that her father Larry had abused his wife, his daughters, and other children. Sharer moved to New Albany with her mother in 1991 and developed a romantic relationship with Amanda Heavrin, a 15-year-old she met at school. Now 36, she grew up in prison, in the shadow of her legacy: a crime of jealousy. I couldnt thank her enough. [27], On the night of January 10, 1992, Lawrence (age 15), Rippey (15) and Tackett (17) drove in Tackett's car from Madison to Loveless's house in New Albany. In 1994, Tackett and Loveless appealed their sentences, citing their difficult childhoods. but the best I can do is admit to my mistake. In exchange for her cooperation, Lawrence was allowed to plead guilty to one count of criminal confinement and was sentenced to a maximum of 20 years. There were also reports of the victim being sexually assaulted with the same weapon. In 1965, Larry became a probationary officer with the New Albany Police Department, but was fired after eight months when he and his partner assaulted an African-American man whom Larry accused of sleeping with his wife. Her parents divorced in February 1984, and she moved with her mother and siblings to Quincy, Michigan, for three years. The Shanda Sharer Murder. Loveless and Tackett were sentenced to 60 years in prison at the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis. [54], Lawrence was released on December 14, 2000, after serving nine years. Loveless was 18 when she planned the crime. There, Lawrence and Rippey spotted a couple of boys and talked to them before once again getting back into the car and leaving, arriving some time later at the edge of some woods near Tackett's home in Madison. The girls drove Sharer to Witches Castle in Utica where they bound her legs and arms and began their torture of the twelve-year-old girl. Why 12-Year-Old Shanda Sharer Was Tortured And Killed By Four Teenage Girls. [3] When her mother divorced again, the family moved in June 1991 to New Albany, Indiana, and Sharer enrolled at Hazelwood Middle School. One of the dog breeders who supplies Indiana with pups is a burn victim, much like Shanda Sharer was. An Indiana program called ICAN, or Indiana Canine Assistant Network, has been helping Loveless. Witnesses also testified that Tackett, who was obsessed with the occult and the notion of killing someone, had proposed asking Sharer's ghost during a seance how it felt to die by fire, according to IndyStar archives. 12-year-old Shanda Sharer was murdered in 1992. She was 12 years old at the time of her death. This tire-iron assault was off and on for hours as the girls went on a joyride through the countryside. Shanda was best friends with her mom, and close with her father and stepmother, Sharon. She remained on parole until December 2002. While at Hazelwood, Shanda had met Amanda Heavrin. [59][60] A few weeks following his release, Larry unsuccessfully sued the Floyd County Jail for $39 million in federal court, alleging he had suffered cruel and unusual punishment during his two-year incarceration. Veteran journalist and host of Investigation Discovery's "True Crime with Aphrodite Jones", Jones reveals the shocking truth behind the most savage crime in Indiana history-the torture, mutilation, and murder of 12-year-old Shanda Sharer by four teenage girls. Like Mary, Melindas last known location is Indiana. In seven years, Loveless has become one of the most trusted and competent trainers in the Indiana Canine Assistance Network (ICAN) program. The two. Jacque never wanted contact with any of Shanda's killers. Loveless was released from Indiana Women's Prison on September 5, 2019. She was reunited with friends Tackett and Toni Lawrence, whom she had known since childhood, although her parents saw Tackett as a bad influence. Everyone involved had been sworn to secrecy. In tears and fearful for her life, Sharer tried to respond but to no avail. Instead, they spent seven hours torturing Shanda, who would later suffer one of the worst deaths in history. Date of birth: 6 June 1979. Marjorie later described him as a sexual deviant who would wear her and her daughters' underwear and makeup, was incapable of staying monogamous, and had a mixture of jealousy and fascination with seeing her have sex with other men and women. Thats all it was. As Shanda Sharers mother, Jacque Vaught, said in a 2012 interview, I had many times said if you want to see as close to a person who has absolutely nothing inside of them, look into Melindas eyes because theres nothing there.. Shes my child. She went into counseling after the incident but did not follow through. She was, by all accounts, a normal girl who made friends easily and had fun at school dances. In 2012, Shanda Sharer's mother Jackie Vaught made headlines when she publicly forgave Melinda Loveless. [14], Tackett became increasingly rebellious after her 15th birthday and also became fascinated with the occult. An unlikely alliance formed between the ringleader of the murder and Shanda's mother. In exchange for her cooperation, Lawrence was allowed to plead guilty to one count of criminal confinement and was sentenced to a maximum of 20 years. From what we can tell, she chooses to keep a low profile and spends time with her children and father. Sharer told the girls to return after her parents were asleep, which they did. At that point, Amanda was in an on-and-off relationship with another teenager, Melinda Loveless. Lawrence then phoned a friend and told her about the murder. She was sincere. "Odle comes in, and he's going to set with them, and they're going him hug him, and they're going to talk to him to make it easier for them," said Loveless. First, they took Sharer to a remote trash dump near a logging road in a densely forested area. Later that morning, two hunters found the body. The bulk of the evidence for the arrest warrant came from the statements made by Lawrence and Rippey. She said her goal is to make Shanda proud of her, and she believes Angel would do that. They beat her, sodomized the 12-year-old with a tire iron, choked her with a cord, and sliced her legs with a knife. Shanda was born on June 6th, 1979, and was born in Pineville, Kentucky. She was compassionate. She was sentenced to 60 years for murder. She had been stabbed, strangled, beaten and burned alive. [34], Tackett led them to a dark abandoned building off a logging road in a densely forested area. "I liked it because it wasn't planned," said Loveless. Loveless served more than 26 years in prison for murder and criminal confinement. But it was one such dance that set in motion a chain of events that would soon bring Shanda Sharers life to a gruesome, torturous end at the hands of four teenage girls. MADISON, Ind. When both parents were working, the family was financially well off, living in the upper-middle-class suburb of Floyds Knobs, Indiana. Tackett beat her with a tire iron until she was silent, claiming that she felt the victim's head caving in, and then told Loveless to "smell it". She convinced three other teens -- Hope Rippey, Laurie Tackett and Toni Lawrence -- to participate in the crime because she believed Sharer stole her girlfriend. But a breeder who supplies dogs to the ICAN program at the prison forged an unexpected connection. Court testimony indicates that the four girls lured Sharer from her home the night of Jan. 10, 1992, on the pretense that she was being taken to meet her new girlfriend. Melinda was released in September 2019, and while in prison, she trained service dogs for those living with trauma and disabilities. [4] Early in the school year, she transferred to Our Lady of Perpetual Help School, a Catholic school in New Albany, where she joined the girls' basketball team. Shanda endured hell and was later put in the trunk of the car, only in her underwear. Hope was handed down a 40-year sentence for her involvement, and she was supposed to serve 17-and-a-half years of it behind bars. The grieving mother said she did it to honor her little girl, who she still thinks about every day. It's something that should have never happened.". In January 2018, Mary was released from prison and was on parole for a year after that. All four of them were tried as adults and received lengthy sentences instead of the death penalty due to the plea bargain they entered after pleading guilty to their crimes. By the end of the night, only four of them were alive. [75], American artist Marlene McCarty used the Shanda Sharer murder as one of the subjects for her Murder Girls series of drawings about teenage female murderers, their sexuality and their relationships. Shanda Sharer moved to New Albany with her mother in 1991. :confused:--If that's the book by true crime author Aphrodite Jones, I remember it very well Her parents, Stephen Sharer and Jacqueline Vaught got divorced when Shanda was very young. At 2:30a.m., Lawrence and Rippey stayed behind as Tackett and Loveless went "country cruising", driving to the nearby town of Canaan. Tackett let Rippey drive the four girls to Jeffersonville, where Sharer stayed with her father on the weekends, stopping at a McDonald's restaurant en route to ask for directions. However, Amanda was in an on-and-off relationship with Loveless, who could not handle the jealousy and made public threats to kill Sharer. Amanda. She drove to the burn pile, where they opened the trunk to stare at Sharer. After reading about the murder of Bobby Kent that inspired the film "Bully," learn about . He would also embarrass his children by finding their underwear and smelling it in front of other family members. She even showed Amanda the bloody trunk and Shanda's bloody clothes. But 20 years later, something no one expected happened. Hope was released on parole in April 2006. The ringleader and jealous lover soon leapt out from under the blanket and threatened to slit Sharers throat if she didnt confess to stealing Heavrin away from her. She was 12 years old at the time of her death. And I know what my child would want. Turning cloudy, a shower possible after 3pm. And I'm doing it for Shanda.". She claimed that her mother beat her often. Copyright 2022 The Washington Times, LLC. As the four girls ate breakfast at McDonalds just after the killing, the four girls laughed as they compared their sausage breakfast to Shanda Sharers burnt corpse. Lawrence was released from prison in 2000, and Rippey was released in 2006. Laurie Tackett, now 43, was one of four women convicted in the 1992 death of Shanda Sharer. Shanda Sharer was born on June 6, 1979 to her father Stephen, and her mother Jacqueline. Her name was Shanda Sharer; her age--twelve. 28 Pins 4y K Collection by Kim Hickey Similar ideas popular now True Crime Books Mens Skin Care Country Music Pure Products Youtube Books Quick Libros Book Book Illustrations Facts About People Sharer continued to make crying and gurgling noises, so Tackett stopped the car. They returned to the car but became lost again and pulled up to another gas station. [31], Eventually, the four girls left for Sharer's house. Loveless pleaded guilty to the one count of sexual battery. Loveless ordered Sharer to slip off her bra, which she then handed over to Rippey, who slid off her own bra and replaced it with Sharer's while steering the car. In November, 1988, Minato (then using the first name Nobuharu) and Hiroshi Miyano (now using the surname Yokoyama), worked together to abduct Junko Furuta as she commuted home from a part-time job. While the four decided never to talk about it, Toni couldnt take it anymore and confessed to the police. Moreover, she had not been represented competently by counsel during her sentencing, which caused her to accept a plea bargain in the face of exaggerated claims about her chances of receiving the death penalty. Tackett poured out the Pepsi and refilled the bottle with gasoline. Angel is in good hands. But a dog named Angel is a dog like no other -- a four-legged conduit to Melinda's victim, Shanda Sharer. She was 12 years old at the time of her death. In March 1991, Loveless revealed to her mother that she was a lesbian. Lawrence and Rippey quickly lost interest in the music and went to the parking lot outside, where they engaged in sexual activities with two boys in Tackett's car. Tackett was released from Rockville Correctional Facility on September 11, 2018, after serving nearly 26 years in prison and completing a year of probation. The whole episode I refer to Shanda as Shandra. She served over 26 years in prison and will continue to serve parole in Jefferson County, Kentucky. Lawrence and Rippey were frightened and stayed in the car. After that incident, she refused him sex for a month, until he raped her as their daughters overheard the event through a closed door. There had been just three other murders in the previous 12 years in the County, and none of them were as gruesome. Melinda felt crushed, especially when Larry remarried. [23], In 1990, 14-year-old Loveless began dating another young girl named Amanda Heavrin. Shanda Renee Sharer (19791992) was a young girl who was tortured and burned to death in Madison, Indiana by four teenage girls. Shipley felt his heart sink as he read the description - blonde hair, five feet tall, around 100 pounds. Tackett further taunted Sharer, claiming that the Witch's Castle was filled with human remains and Sharer's would be next. Jacqueline was divorced from Shandas father, but they moved to New Albany, Indiana, to be closer to him. One of the four women convicted ofbeating, burning and killing 12-year-old Shanda Renee Sharer in 1992 was released Thursday from prison on the 26th anniversary of the girl's body being found. It was Shanda, and the investigation revealed that she had been burned alive after being tortured for hours. Murderpedia Shanda Sharer's killers. [73][74], The Investigation Discovery series The 1990s: The Deadliest Decade, episode "The New Girl" interviews Sharer's mother along with lead police officers, aired: November 2018. Although Heavrin and Loveless had never formally ended their relationship, Loveless started to date an older girl. She was released on December 14, 2000 after serving nine years in prison. Rippey sprayed Sharer with Windex and taunted, "You're not looking so hot now, are you? In today's video, we talk about 1992 torture and murder of 12 year old Shanda Sharer where she was kidnapped, beaten, tortured, and then burned alive by four. Sharer's body was found the morning of Jan. 11, 1992. Melinda Loveless, now 43, left the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis after serving nearly 24 years of a 60-year sentence for the brutal murder of 12-year-old Shanda Sharer in 1992. Craig Schoonover made that statement after Melinda. Her death is notable due to the torture she endured for more than 10 hours, and subsequently being burned alive. Melinda Loveless has spent more than 7,000 sunrises and sunsets -- half her life -- behind razor wire. Died: 11 January 1992. She then attempted suicide again, and her daughters called authorities. [47] Loveless and Tackett were arrested on January 12. On the cold winter night of Jan. 10, 1992, Loveless enlisted three friends Laurie Tackett (17), Hope Rippey (15), and Toni Lawrence (15) to help her take her revenge on Shanda Sharer. A sleepy Indiana town awoke one chilly morning in the winter of 1992 to discover the lifeless body of 12-year-old Shanda Sharer in an open field. Ralph's first thought was that the object was a body, though logic dictated that it were something else. After an inter-county investigation, Shippley contacted the Clark County sheriff and was finally able to match the body to Sharer's missing person report. Known For: Being Tortured and killed by 4 teenage girls. A burn victim like Shanda, Charlie Petrizzo convinced Jacque to watch a videotape of the new Melinda. There, Loveless taunted that she had pretty hair and wondered how pretty she would look if they were to cut it off, which frightened Sharer even more. In May 1989, her mother discovered that Tackett was changing from a dress into jeans at school, and, after a confrontation that night, attempted to strangle her. The 1992 . They called the police at 10:55a.m. and were asked to return to the corpse. And I would thank her. Her parents discovered the self-mutilation and checked her into a hospital on March 19, 1991. Her case attracted nationwide attention due to its gruesome nature. [13] Tackett and her mother came into periodic conflict; at one point, her mother went to Hope Rippey's house after learning that Rippey's father had purchased an ouija board for the girls. The details of her murder shocked the area. Her father was a boilermaker. Her death has been the subject of much speculation and debate over the years. Lastly, Loveless was released from Indiana Women's Prison on September 5, 2019. Loveless served more than 26 years in prison for murder and criminal confinement. Unfortunately, that did nothing to stop the horrific events that would soon unfold. I wish I had the time to re-record. All four girls were tried as adults and accepted plea bargains in order to avoid the death penalty. While Tackett went inside to ask for directions, Lawrence called a boy she knew in Louisville and chatted for several minutes to ease her worries, but did not mention Sharer's abduction. At some point, Rippey had taken Sharer's Mickey Mouse watch and danced to the tune it played. Heavrin promised she would not before entering her house. [67], The poem In God's Arms by author Lacy Gray dedicated to the family of Shanda Renee Sharer. Shanda Sharer was a 12 year old girl living in the idyllic town of Madison, Indiana. To further threaten Sharer, Tackett then retrieved a shirt with a smiley design from the car and lit it on fire, but immediately feared that the fire would be spotted by passing cars, so the girls left with Sharer. August 19, 2022 by Vim Buzz Local Correspondent American girl Shanda Rene Sharer (June 6, 1979 - January 11, 1992) was murdered in Madison, Indiana, by four teenage girls after being tortured and set ablaze. Melinda has groomed Odle as a courtroom dog for abused and traumatized children. They then strangled Sharer with a rope until she was unconscious, placed her in the trunk of the car, and told the other two girls that Sharer was dead. Larry was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and although horribly emotionally scarred, he was treated as a hero upon his return. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A classmate of a southern Indiana girl murdered in 1992 said the Indiana justice system should be ashamed of itself. My opinion is that they [kill] to feel superior, or high on the victims fear, and theyre thirsty for the spill of blood.. Lawrence refused. Sharer was tortured, beaten and burned in a rural area of Jefferson County, Indiana. Shanda would stay with him on . Rippey was released on parole on April 28, 2006, from Indiana Women's Prison after serving 14 years of her original sentence. The case was covered on national news and talk shows and has inspired a number of episodes on fictional crime shows. But once Shanda got into the car, Melinda got out of her hiding place and held a knife to Shandas throat, and grabbed her hair. Shanda Sharer Murder: Where Are Her Killers Now? [7], Mary Laurine "Laurie" Tackett was born in Madison, Indiana, on October 5, 1974.