Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to another episode of Bloodstained Backstories. I'm your host,
Jas and I'm your Host Summer. Today, we will cover
the horrific murder of Shonda Sharer, a beautiful twelve year
old girl who was brutally tortured and murdered out of jealousy.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Jonda Renee Shara, was just twelve years old at the
time of her death. She was still young enough to
be spending her weekends with friends, having sleepovers, playing board games,
and starting to experiment with makeup with her friends. She
was too young to become a household name, based on
the brutality of her murder and the fact that her
murderers were not much older than she was.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Shonda was born on June sixth, nineteen seventy nine, in Kentucky.
Her parents were Steven Shar and Jacqueline Vaught, who remarried
after their divorce and moved to Louisville. Shonda was on
the cheerleading, volleyball and softball teams in fifth and sixth grade.
When her mother again they moved to New Albany, Indiana.
(01:04):
Shonda was enrolled in middle school at Hazelwood Middle School,
but early in the school year transferred to our Lady
of Pepinhua Help School, a Catholic school in New Albany,
and there she joined the school's basketball team.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
The girls that tortured and ended up murdering Shanda were
Melinda Loveless, Laurie Tackett, Hope Rippy, and Tony Lawrence. Now,
before we discussed the events that lead up to Shondra's murder,
let us learn a little bit about each of these girls.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Melinda Loveless was born on October twenty eighth, nineteen seventy five,
in New Albany. She was the youngest of three daughters
born to Marjorie and Laurie Loveless. Her father, Larry, was
drafted into the Vietnam War in the US Army, where
he reached the rank of sergeant. He was treated like
(01:55):
a hero upon his return home, but he was emotionally scarred. Maurie,
his wife, at one point, described him as a sexual
deviant who would wear her and her daughter's underwear and makeup.
He was incapable of staying monogamous, and he suffered from
a mixture of jealousy and fascinations seeing her have sex
(02:16):
with other men and women. Larry worked a variety of jobs,
but never won for very long. Barjorie worked intermittently since
nineteen seventy four, when both parents were working with the
family was financially well off. Larry was abusive and violent,
and usually spent the money he made working on himself,
(02:38):
purchasing firearms, motorcycles, and cars. He very rarely shared his
earnings with the family, and in nineteen eighty he filed
for bankruptcy. Family members described the loveless marriage as exactly
that loveless. The girls were often hungry and not received
(03:00):
leaving enough food at home. The loveless parents frequented bars
in Louisville. Larry would pretend he was a doctor, and
he would introduce his wife as his girlfriend. He would
also share her with some of the friends at work.
Marjorie found this to be disgusting. She attempted to commit
(03:21):
suicide several times throughout their daughter's childhoods. Larry went as
far as having his wife gang raped. After that act,
she refused to have sex with him for a month
until he finally had enough and raped her. The children
heard all this through the closed door. In the summer
of nineteen eighty six, Larry beat Marjorie so severely that
(03:45):
she would not let him bring two women home from
the bar, and she was hospitalized, and he would later
be convicted of battery. It is unclear to what extent
Larry abused his daughters and other children. There are various
court testimonies that claim Larry fondled Melinda as an infant.
(04:05):
He molested his wife's sister, who was thirteen at the
time early in their marriage, molested a girl's cousin for
four years. A cousin described the event where Larry tied
all three sisters in the garage and raped them. Melinda
has never admitted that this has happened to her. Melinda
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did sleep in bed with him until she was fourteen.
Larry was also verbally abusive to his daughters and loved
embarrassing them by finding their underwear and smelling it in
front of family members. When Melinda was five, the family
became deeply involved in the Graceland Baptist Church. The parents
(04:48):
gave full confessions quitting drinking and swinging while they were members.
Larry became a Baptist lay preacher and his wife became
the school nurse. Yes, Melinda was taken to a motel
room by a fifty year old man for a five
hour exorcism that the church had arranged. At one point,
(05:10):
Larry became a marriage counselor with the church. He gained
a reputation of being very forward with women and tried
to rape one of them. After that incident, they left
the church and returned to their former professions and drinking.
In November nineteen ninety Larry was caught spying on Melinda
(05:31):
and a friend, Marjorie, would attack him with a knife.
He attempted to grant the knife, which ended up with
him going to the hospital. Marjorie attempted suicide again, and
the girls called the authorities. After this, Larry filed for
divorce and moved to Florida and was remarried. Melinda was
(05:52):
crushed by this, especially after he remarried. Larry did send
letters to Melinda for a while, but eventually severed all
contact with her. He was killed in a car accident
in Missouri on December sixteenth, nineteen ninety eight. And this
by far is not a normal or healthy childhood for
(06:12):
those children to grow up in. Next, we have.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Mary Laureen called Laurie Tacket. She was born on October fifth,
nineteen seventy four. In Madison, Indiana. Her father was a
factory worker and had two felony charges from the nineteen sixties,
and her mother was a fundamentalist Pentecostal Christian. Laurie claimed
she was molested at the ages of five and twelve.
(06:39):
In May of nineteen eighty nine, her mother discovered that
Laurie would bring jeans to school and change out of
her dress into the jeans. Laurie and her mother had
a confrontation about the situation, and Laurie's mother attempted to
strangle her. Social workers became involved, and Laurie's parents agreed
to unannounced visits to make sure there was no child's
(07:01):
abuse occurring. Laurie and her mother would have conflicts. Another
such conflict was when Laurie's mother found out that Hope
Rippy's dad had bought a Luigi board for the girls
to play with. Laurie's mother went to Hope's house and
demanded that the board be burned and that the Rippy's
house be exercised. That seems a little bit excessive. After
(07:22):
Laurie's fifteenth birthday, Laurie started to become rebellious. At this time,
she also became fascinated with the occult. She would pretend
to be possessed by the spirit of Deana the Vampire
to try to impress her friends. Early in nineteen ninety one,
Laurie began to engage in self harm when a girl
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she was dating was involved with the practice. March nineteenth,
nineteen ninety one, Laurie's parents discovered the self mutilation.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
And checked her into a hospital.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
The hospital prescribed her antidepressants and released her. Lurie two
days later with a girlfriend and Tony Lawrence cut her
wrists so deeply that she was returned to the hospital.
Laurie was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, and she told
of experienced hallucinations since she was a young child. April twelfth,
(08:13):
she was discharged from the hospital. In September of nineteen
ninety one, she dropped out of school in October of
nineteen ninety one. Laurie was staying with friends. Laurie spent
most of her time in Louisville and New Albany, and
most of the time with Melinda.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
On June ninth, nineteen seventy six, Hope Anne Rippy was
born in Madison. Her parents divorced in February of nineteen
eighty nine, and she moved with her mother and siblings
to Quincy, Michigan, for three years. In nineteen ninety seven,
her parents resumed a relationship in Madison. Hope became reunited
(08:55):
with her friends Laurie and Toni, whom she had known
since childhood. Her parents saw Laurie as a bad influence.
Hope began to self harm at the age of fifteen.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Tony Lawrence was born February fourteenth, nineteen seventy six in Madison.
She was close friends with Hope since childhood. At age nine,
she was abused by a relative, and age fourteen, she
was raped by a teenage boy. The police only issued
in order for the boy to keep away from her.
After that incident, she began counseling, but that did not continue.
(09:29):
In the eighth grade, she became promiscuous, began self harm,
and attempted suicide.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
By far, these girls did not have good home lives
or upbringing. Should that have made them murderous? Now? What
could have happened to lead these girls to murder? Well?
In nineteen ninety then fourteen year old Melinda began dating
a sixteen year old named Amanda hebron When Melinda's father
(09:56):
left the family and her mother married, Melinda began begaving
Andre erratically. We Linda would get into fights at school
and reported being depressed. She did receive professional counseling. In
March of nineteen ninety one, Melinda told her mother that
she was a lesbian, just like her other sisters. Her
mother finally accepted it after being furious at first. As
(10:20):
that year went on, Melinda and Amanda's relationship began to deteriorate.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
In the fall semester, Amanda Mitshanda at Hazelwood Middle School.
Amanda started a fight with Shanda and both had to
attend detention, where they became friends and later exchanged romantic letters.
Go to the police and show them do something.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
January tenth, nineteen ninety two, Lawrence, Rippy, and Tackett drove
from Madison to Melinda's home in New Albany. Tony and
Hope had never met Melinda before that night. When they arrived,
they borrowed some clothes from Melinda, and Melinda showed owed
them a knife that she was going to use to
scare Shonda that night. Lourie already knew of the plan
(11:07):
to murder Shonda. None of the girls had ever met Shonda,
except for Melinda. Melinda explained to the girl that she
disliked Shonda for being a copycat and stealing her girlfriend.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Shonda stayed in Jeffersonville with her dad on the weekends.
Laurie let Hope drive her car, stopping at McDonald's for directions.
Shortly before dark, they arrived at Chandra's house. Melinda instructed
Hope and Tony to go to the door and introduce
themselves as friends of Amanda's. The girls went to the door,
and when Shonda answered, the two asks for her, and
(11:39):
she replied that she was Shonda. Hope and Tony asked
Shonda to come with them to see Amanda, who they
said was waiting for them at the Witch's Castle or
Mistletoe Folds, which is a ruined, stoned house located on
an isolated hill overlooking the Ohio River.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Shonda was reluctant to go out, and she still she
had a party to attend and that they should come
back in a few hours around midnight. Melinda was angry
at first, but the other girls assured her about returning
back later. The girls crossed the river to Louisville and
attended a punk rock show. Melinda and Hope quickly lost
interest in the music and went to the parking lot,
(12:20):
where they engage in sexual activities with two boys in
the car.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
The four girls eventually left for Shonda's house again. During
the ride, Melinda said that she could not wait to
kill Shonda, but she also said she intended to use
the knife just to frighten her. They arrived at Shanda's
house around twelve thirty am Tony refused to go to
the door to get Shonda, so Lauri and Hope went
to the door instead, and Melinda hid under a blanket
(12:46):
in the back seat along with the knife.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Shonda's father and stepmother had gone to bed and allowed
Shonda to remain downstairs to watch television for a little bit.
The girls told Shonda that Amanda was still waiting for them.
Shonda was reluctant to go with them, but agreed to
go after she changed her clothes. When they got in
the car, Hope started asking her questions about her relationship
(13:10):
with Amanda. Melinda then sprung out from under the back
seat and put a knife to Shonda's throat and began
asking her all about her sexual relations with Amanda.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
When they arrived at the Witch's Castle, they took Shonda,
who was sobbing at this point, inside and bound her
arms and legs with ropes. Melinda taunted her by saying
she had pretty hair and wondered how pretty she would
look if it was if she was to cut it off.
Melinda took Shondra's rings and handed them to the other girls.
Hope took off Shonda's Mickey Mouse watch and began dancing
(13:43):
to the tuna plate. Laurie taunted Shonda by saying the
Witch's Castle was filled with human remains and that she
Shonda would be next to scare Shonda even more. Glori
retrieved her shirt with a smiley design on the f
from the car and set it on fire. Immediately thought
(14:03):
they thought that the fire would be spotted by passing cars,
so the girls left with Shonder.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Shonda continued to beg them to take her home. They
did get lost and stopped at a gas station, covering
Shonda with a blanket, Laurie went inside to ask for directions.
While waiting for Laurie, Tony called a boy she knew
in Louisville and talked to him for several minutes to
ease her worries, but she did not mention Shonda's abduction.
(14:31):
They became lost again and pulled up to another gas station. Hoping.
Tony saw a couple of boys that they knew, and
they chatted with them for a little bit before getting
back in the car. Some time later, they arrived at
the edge of the woods near Laurie's home in Madison, in.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
A densely forested area. Lourie led them to a dark,
abandoned building off a logging road. Tony and Hope stayed
in the car as they were frightened. Melinda and Laurie
made Shonder strip down to her underwear. Melinda beat her
with her fist, and then she repeatedly slammed Shonda's face
into her knee. Shonda's mouth was cut on her own braces.
(15:07):
Melinda tried to slash Shonda's throat, but the knife was dull.
Hope came out of the car to hold Shonda down
while Melinda and Laurie took hern stabbing her in the chest.
When then they strangled Shonda with a rope until she
had passed down, and they put her in the truck
of the car. They told the other two that Shonda
was dead.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
The girls drove to Laurie's house to clean themselves up
and drink soda. They heard Shonda start screaming from the
trunk of the car, and Laurie went out with a
herring knife and stabbed her several more times. When she
re entered the home, she was covered in blood. After
she cleaned the blood off herself, Laurie told the girls
there were futures with her runestones. At about two thirty
(15:54):
in the morning, Melinda and Laurie went country cruising while
the other two stayed behind. Shonda continued to make crying
and gurgling sounds, so Laurie stopped the car. When she
opened the trunk, Shonda sat up. She was covered in
blood and her eyes rolled back in her head, but
she was unable to speak. Lurie beat her with a
tyre and iron until she was quiet. Laurie claimed she
(16:17):
felt Shonda's head caving in. Laurie told Melinda to smell it. Next,
they sexually assaulted Shonda with the tire iron. The tire
iron assault contained on and off for several hours as
the girls went on the joy right through the countryside.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Melinda, and Laurie returned to Laurie's house just before daybreak
to clean up and wake the other two girls. Hope
asked Shonda and Laurie. Hope asked about Shonda, and Laurie
laughingly described the torture. The laughing and conversation woke up
Loorie's mother, who was angry with her daughter for being
out so late, but she offered to make them breakfast.
(16:56):
Laurie declined the offer for breakfast, saying she had to
drive the other girls home. Instead of driving the other
girls home, she drove them to a burn pile, where
they opened the trunk to look at Shanda. Tony refused
to look. Hope took a bottle of windecks and sprayed
Shonda with it and taught it you're not looking so
hot now, are you.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
The girls then drove to a gas station and pumped
some gas into the car and bought a bottle of pepsi,
which they dumped out and filled with gas. They drove
to a place known by Hope that had a field
and a gravel country road. Tony remained in the car
while Lori and Hope wrapped Shanda, who was still alive
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in the blanket and carried her to a field. Hope
poured some of the gasoline in the pepsi bottle on
Shonda and set her on fire. Melinda was not convinced
that Shonda was dead, so they returned a few minutes
later to pour the rest of the gasoline on her.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
These girls then went to McDonald's for breakfast at about
nine thirty am, where they laughed about Shonda's burned body
looking like one of the sausage they were eating. Tony
called a friend and told her about the murder. Laurie
then dropped Tony in Hope off at their homes and
returned to her own home with Melinda. Melinda told Amanda
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that they had killed Shonda and arranged to pick up
Amanda later that day with Laurie.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
A friend of Melinda's, Crystal Waitan, came over and the
two girls told her what had happened. The three girls
went to pick up Amanda and take her back to
Melinda's home, where they told Amanda the story. Amanda and
Crystal did not believe this story until Laurie showed them
the trunk of the car with Shonda's bloody handprint and
bloody socks. In it. Amanda was horrified and asked to
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be taken home. They pulled up in front of Amanda's house.
Melinda kissed her, told her she loved her, and begged
her not to tell anyone. Amanda promised as she entered
the house.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
On January eleventh, nineteen ninety two. Later in the morning,
two brothers, Don and Ralph Foley were driving to go
hunting when they noticed what looked like a body on
the side of the road. At first, they thought it
was a mannequin, but upon getting out of the car
and closer, they realized that it was the burned body
of a child. At ten fifty five, they called the police,
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who asked them to return to the corpse. State Trooper
David camp and Jefferson County Sheriff Buck Shipley and other
detectives began an investigation and the process of collecting forensic
evidence at the scene. Initially, they suspected a drug deal
gone wrong and did not believe a local had committed
the crimes. It was also noted that the body was
(19:37):
posed in a suggestive position, meaning that this was done
on purpose and with attention. It was also noted that
the victim's hand and fate, hands and face were burnt
attempting to keep her unrecognizable and unidentifiable. She was found
with her arms outstretched and clutched fists as a result
of death by burning.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Shanda's father noticed her daughter was nowhere to be found.
On January eleventh. He phoned neighbors and friends all morning.
He called his ex wife, Shawna's mother at one pm
and met with him and the sheriff's office. She filed
a missing person report. At approximately eight twenty pm, a
hysterical Tonian Hope, along with their parents, went to Jefferson
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County Sheriff's office. Both girls gave rambling statements identifying the
victim as Shanda. They named the other two girls as
best as they could. They described the main events of
that previous night. After an inter county investigation, they contacted
the Clark County Sheriff's office and were able to match
the burned body to Shonda's missing person report.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Shanda's autopsy report revealed that she had suffered multiple injuries.
Ligature marks were found on her wrist. She also had
several lacerations on her head, neck, and legs. Fingers in
such distorted condition that they had to be cut off
in order to take her prints. Her jaw was removed
(21:07):
so that the denists can make positive identification. The upper
part of her body had third and fourth degree burns
and her tongue protruded through clenched teeth. Lacerations to her
anus and rectum indicated a blunch object had been inserted
at least three and a half inches. The extent of
de rectal bleeding showed that she had been alive at
(21:29):
the time of that assault. The most revealing and worst
of the poor report was this discovery of suit in
the upper airway, indicating that she had been alive when
she was set on fire? How did she live through
all that torture?
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Detectives obtained dilirectives of Shonda and were able to positively
identify Shonda as the victim. Belinda and Laurie were arrested
on January twelfth. The bulk of the evidence for the
arrest came from the states made by Tony and Hope.
The prosecution immediately declared to try both Melinda and Laurie
as adults. The prosecution and the defense attorney for months
(22:11):
did not release any information about the case. They gave
the news media only the statements by Tony and Hope.
All four girls accepted a plea bargain to avoid the
death penalty, and they were tried as adults.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
These girls had trouble home lives with claims of physical
and sexual abuse committed by a parent or other adult. Laurie, Hope,
and Tony had histories of self harm. Laurie was diagnosed
with borderline personality disorder and suffered from hallucinations. Melinda, who
was often described as the ren leader of the attack,
(22:46):
had the most extensive history of abuse and mental issues.
Does their past histories and bad home lives excuse the
girls of what they had done?
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Melinda and Laurie were sentenced to only sixty years for
the torture and murder of Shonda, which Let's not forget
was planned. Laurie was released in January of twenty eighteen
and served one year of probation. Melindo was released in
September of twenty nineteen. Hope was sentenced to sixties years
plus ten years suspended by mitigating circumstances plus ten years
(23:21):
of medium supervision probation. On appeal, a judge reduced the
sentence to thirty five years. In exchange for her cooperation,
Tony was allowed to plead guilty to one count of
criminal confinement and was sentenced to a maximum of twenty years.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Melinda appealed her sentence, but it was illheld by the
Indiana Supreme Court in nineteen ninety four. In October twenty,
two thousand and seven, Melinda's attorney sought post conviction relief
from the Jefferson Circuit Court that originally sentenced her. Melinda's
lawyer argued that Melinda had been profoundly retarded by childhood abuse,
(24:00):
also that she had not been represented confidently by counsel
during her sentencing, which caused her to accept the plea
bargain in the face of exaggerating claims about her receiving
the death penalty. Attorney also argued that Melinda was just
sixteen years old when she signed the plea agreement and
(24:21):
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. If a judge accepted these arguments,
Melinda could have been retried or released immediately.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
On January two thousand and eight, Melinda's request was rejected
by the judge Melinda would be eligible for parole in
fifteen years, maintaining the original guilty plea. On November fourteen,
two thousand and eight, the appeal was denied by the
Indiana Court of Appeals, upholding the judge is ruling. Tony
(24:57):
Lawrence was released on December fourteenth, two thousand, after serving
nine years. She remained on parole until December two thousand
and two. Hope Ripley was released after serving fourteen years
of her original sentence, and she remained on supervised parole
for five years until April twenty eleven. Laurie Tackett was
released on January eleventh, twenty eighteen, and it just so
(25:19):
happens to be the twenty sixth anniversary of Shanda's death.
Laurie had served nearly twenty six years. She completed an
additional year of parole. Melinda Lovelace was released on September fifth,
twenty nineteen, and had served just twenty six years in prison.
She will serve parole in Jefferson County, Kentucky.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
During Melinda's sentencing hearing, extensive open court testimony revealed that
her father had abused his wife, his daughters, and other children.
He was arrested in February nineteen ninety three on charges
of rape, astronomy, and sexual battery. It was determined that
most of the crimes occurred from nineteen sixty eight to
nineteen seven. Larry remained in prison awaiting trial for over
(26:03):
two years. The judge eventually ruled that all the charges
except one of sexual battery had to be dropped because
of the statue of limitations, which in Indiana is five years.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Larry pleaded guilty to one count of sexual battery, and
he was released in June nineteen ninety five with time served.
A few weeks after his release, Larry tried to sue
Floyd County Jail for thirty nine million dollars in federal court,
saying that he had suffered cruel and unusual punishment during
his first two years of incarceration. His complaints included that
(26:37):
he was not allowed to sleep in his bed during
the day or to read newspapers. Larry would die in
a car accident in nineteen ninety eight.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Shanda's father, Stephen, died of alcoholism in two thousand and
five at the age of fifty three. In an interview
with Jackie vod Chanda's mother She stated that he was
so distroyed by his daughter's murder that he did everything
he could to kill himself besides put a gun to
his head, and then he drank himself to death. The
man definitely died of a broken heart.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
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(27:29):
Join us next week as we uncover another chilling case.
Until then, stay safe and stay curious.