Larry was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, reaching the rank of sergeant, and although horribly emotionally scarred, he was treated as a hero upon his return.

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.

Larry, who was violent and abusive, did not usually share his income with the family and impulsively spent any money he earned on himself, usually purchasing firearms, motorcycles and cars.

Larry was verbally abusive to his daughters and fired a handgun in the direction of Melinda's older sister Michelle when she was seven, intentionally missing her.

Concerned about the effects of their daughter's relationship with Heavrin, Sharer's parents arranged for her to transfer to a Catholic school in late November.

[28] 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.

Rippey and Lawrence asked Shanda to come with them to see Heavrin, who was waiting for them at "the Witch's Castle", or Mistletoe Falls, a ruined stone house located on an isolated hill overlooking the Ohio River.

The four girls crossed the river to Louisville and attended a punk rock show by the band Sunspring[30] at the Audubon Skate Park near Interstate 65.

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.

Loveless then sprang out from the back seat, put the knife to Sharer's throat and began interrogating her about her sexual relationship with Heavrin.

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.

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.

When they heard Sharer screaming in the trunk, Tackett went out with a paring knife and stabbed her several more times, coming back a few minutes later covered with blood.

Tackett beat her with a tire iron until she was silent, claiming that she felt Sharer's head caving in, and then told Loveless to "smell it".

"[38] The girls drove to a gas station near Madison Consolidated High School, pumped some gasoline into the car, and bought a two-liter bottle of Pepsi.

Lawrence remained in the car while Tackett and Rippey wrapped Sharer, who was still alive, in a blanket, and carried her to a field by the gravel country road.

[42] Later on the morning of January 11, 1992, two brothers from Canaan, Donn and Ralph Foley,[43] were driving toward Jefferson Proving Ground to go hunting when they noticed a body on the side of the road.

State trooper David Camm and Jefferson County Sheriff Buck Shipley and detectives began an investigation, collecting forensic evidence at the scene.

After phoning neighbors and friends all morning, he called his ex-wife, Sharer's mother, at 1:45 p.m.; they met and filed a missing person report with the Clark County sheriff.

They both gave very rambling statements, identifying the victim as "Shanda", naming the two other girls involved as best as they could, and describing the main events of the previous night.

After an inter-county investigation, Shipley contacted the Clark County sheriff and was finally able to match the body to Sharer's missing person report.

For several months, the prosecutors and defense attorneys did not release any information about the case, giving the news media only the statements by Lawrence and Rippey.

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.

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.

During Loveless's sentencing hearing, extensive open court testimony revealed that her father Larry had abused his wife, his daughters, and other children.

[62][63] 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.

[66] A documentary produced by Episode 11 Productions, titled Charlie's Scars, captured Vaught's decision to allow Loveless to train dogs in Shanda's name.

[75] In May 2011, Dr. Phil aired a two-part series on the crime, which featured Shanda Sharer's mother and sister Paije, who both harshly confronted Hope Rippey on the show about her early release, and an interview with Amanda Heavrin.

[77][78] 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.

[80] McCarty's drawing titled Melinda Loveless, Toni Lawrence, Hope Rippey, Laurie Tackett, and Shanda Sharer – January 11, 1992 (1:39 am) (2000–2001) is now in the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.