The Shanda Sharer Murder (not mine. written for a report)

The Shanda Sharer Murder

The roar of a Chevy, muffler missing, pierced through the silence of the winter morning as the car hissed to a halt along an abandoned gravel road.

Four teenage girls, Melinda Loveless (aged 16), Toni Lawrence (aged 15), Hope Rippey (aged 15), and Laurie Tackett (aged 17), get out and open the trunk. Inside, Shanda Renee Sharer (aged 12)-- beat repeatedly with a tire iron and tortured for hours -- lay shivering against the bitter cold, wearing only her underwear.

About nine hours earlier, on January 11th, 1992 around 12:30 am, all four girls drove to Jeffersonville, Indiana, where Shanda stayed with her father. Laurie and Hope were told by Melinda to go to the door, lie and say they were friends of Amanda Heaverin (Melinda's former girlfriend and Shanda's current girlfriend), and invite her to come with them to see Amanda at "the Witches Castle", a ruined stone house, also known as Mistletoe Falls, located on an isolated hill. Once the girls got out of the car, Melinda proceeded to hide under a blanket in the backseat with a knife.

Shanda was hesitant at first to leave with the girls but soon agreed to go after changing clothes. Once in the car, Melinda sprang from the back seat and put a knife to Shandas throat and began interrogating her about her sexual relationship with Amanda. It was clear Melinda had grown a hate towards Shanda for stealing her girlfriend.

Once they arrived at the Witches Castle, they took Shanda inside and bound her arms and legs with rope as she sobbed. There, the girls taunted Shanda, Melinda talking about cutting off all of her hair, Hope taking her Mickey Mouse watch and dancing to the tune of it in creepiest way possible, and Laurie telling her that the house was full of human remains and how she'd be next. Laurie even began to burn a shirt but then immediately feared someone in a passing car would see, so they left with Shanda.

During the car ride, Melinda order Shanda to take her bra off, which she then handed to Hope, who slid off her own and replaced it with Shandas. After getting lost twice, they arrived at the edge of some woods near Lauries home in Madison, Indiana.

Laurie led them to a dark garbage dump off a gravel road in a densely forested area. Melinda and Laurie got out of the car and made Shanda strip naked; then, Melinda beat Shanda with her fists, slammed her face into her knee and proceeded to try and slit Shandas throat, failing do to the fact that the knife was too dull. Hope then got out of the car and held Shanda down while Laurie and Melinda took turns stabbing her in the chest. They then strangled her with a rope until she was unconscious, placed her in the trunk of the car, telling Hope and Toni that she was dead.

After, the girls proceeded to drive to Laurie's house to get cleaned up. When they heard Shanda screaming from the trunk, Laurie went out with a pairing knife and stabbed her several more times, coming back a few minutes later covered in blood. After awhile, around 2:30 am, Melinda and Laurie left to go "country cruising", driving to the nearby town of Canaan. Shanda continued to make crying and gurgling sounds, so Laurie stopped the car. When they opened the trunk, Shanda sat up, covered in blood with her eyes rolled back in her head, but unable to speak. Laurie beat her with a tire iron until she was silent.

Melinda and Laurie returned to Laurie's home, where she told Hope and Toni about what happened, laughing as she described the torture. Not long later, all four girls got in the car and Laurie drove them to the burn pile, where they opened the trunk to stare at Shanda. Toni refused to look. Hope on the other hand sprayed Shanda with Windex and taunted, "You're not looking to hot now, are you?"

The girls later drove to a gas station, filled a two-liter bottle of Pepsi with gasoline and drove north of Madison, past Jefferson Proving Ground to Lemon Road off U.S. Route 421. Toni stayed in the car while Laurie and Hope wrapped Shanda, who was still alive, in a blanket, and carried her to a field by the gravel road. Laurie made Hope pour the gasoline on Shanda, and then they set her on fire. Melinda was not convinced Shanda was dead, so they returned a few minutes later and poured the rest of the gasoline on her.

The girls went to a McDonald's at 9:30am for breakfast, where they laughed about Shanda's body looking like the sausages they were eating. Laurie then drove Hope and Toni home, but brought Melinda back to hers. They also brought over Amanda and told her how they killed Shanda. Although she didn't believe it was true, Amanda comforted the hysterical Melinda. Amanda then became convinced when she was shown the trunk full of bloody hand prints and Shandas socks still laying there as well.

Later that morning of January 11th, 1992, two brothers were driving toward Jefferson Proving Ground to go hunting when they noticed a body on the side of the road. They called the police at 10:55 am and were asked to return to the body. Detectives began an investigation, collecting forensic evidence at the scene.

Steven Sharer noticed his daughter missing early on January 11th. After calling friends and neighbors all morning, he called his former wife, Shanda's mom, at 1:45 pm; they met and filed a missing persons report.

At 8:20 pm, Toni Lawrence and Hope Rippey went to the Jefferson County Sheriff's office with their parents where they both gave rambling statements, identified the victim as Shanda, naming the two other girls, and describing the main events of the previous night. Sheriff Shippley contacted the Clark County sheriff and was able to match the body to Shanda Sharer's missing person report.

Melinda Loveless and Laurie Tackett were arrested on January 12th, 1992. The bulk of the evidence for the arrest warrant was Toni's and Hope's statements. The prosecution immediately declared its intention to try both Melinda Loveless and Laurie Tackett as adults.

Melinda Loveless and Laurie Tackett were sentenced to 60 years in the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis, Indiana. Toni Lawrence and Hope Rippey were sentenced to 20 years. Toni Lawrence was release from prison in 2000, Hope Rippey was released in 2006, Laurie Tackett was release on January 11th, 2018, and as of 2018, Melinda Loveless is scheduled for release in September of 2019.