The Barbecue Murders

Marlene Olive, graphite and ink drawing by Marlene McCarty
McCarty created a series of drawings based on Marlene Olive's life and later created series based on other teenaged murderers entitled Murder Girls

On this day in 1975, police were called to the home of Jim and Naomi Olive in Terra Linda, California, after being reported missing by Jim's business partner. They found the Olive house empty and in disarray. Later that day, Marlene Olive, the Olives' adopted daughter showed up at the police station. She said her parents were on vacation in Lake Tahoe. The next day she told the police that Jim had murdered Naomi and fled. Then she claimed that Naomi had actually killed Jim. Her fourth tale involved both her parents being kidnapped and murdered by the Hell's Angels. Eventually, she would lead police to a China Camp State Park barbecue pit containing Jim and Naomi's charred remains.

The investigation led police to 16-year-old Marlene's 20-year-old boyfriend Chuck Riley. A search of Riley's house produced a letter from Marlene that said, “I have no guilty feelings at all about my folks. NONE. NEITHER SHOULD YOU. Relax.” Riley told police that Naomi Olive was an abusive parent who constantly told Marlene that she would grow up to be a whore just like her birth mother. Because of this abuse, Marlene had begun to harm herself, even biting chunks out her own arms.

On June 21, 1975, Marlene arranged for Chuck Riley to murder Naomi while she and her father went shopping. She had met Riley the year before and began having sex with him in exchange for drugs. The pair eventually went on a $6,000 shoplifting spree, which led to Naomi threatening Marlene with a trip to juvenile hall. On the fateful day of the 21st, Riley attacked Naomi with a claw hammer. After that failed to kill her, he stabbed her with a kitchen knife. He was still attacking Naomi when Marlene and Jim arrived home from shopping. When Jim tried to save his wife Riley fatally shot him.

Marlene Olive, due to her age, was sentenced to four years in prison and was released in 1979. In the 1980s and 1990s, she was arrested several times for fraud, forgery and her involvement in a counterfeiting ring. Chuck Riley was given a death sentence that was later commuted to life with a possibility of parole. A report published in January 2016 deemed him suitable for release.

Related Reading:

A Local Murder

THE BBQ MURDERS: LSD, BURNING BODIES, & THE “TEEN WITCH” WHO COMMANDED TO KILL

Close-Up of a Deadly Family Explosion



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