Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders
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[edit] Overview
On June 13, 1977 in Locust Grove, Oklahoma, a small community in Northeastern Oklahoma, Michelle Heather Guse, age 9; Doris Denise Milner, age 10; and Lori Lee Farmer, age 8 were sexually attacked and murdered as they were camping with other Girl Scouts in the Kiowa Section of Camp Scott.
[edit] Events Leading Up To The Crime
In the weeks preceding the murders, strange events took place around Camp Scott.
A figure in the form of a male was found hanging from a tree by its neck, with its genitals showing, and personal items started disappearing from tents.
The most interesting event was the discovery of a note in April which read "we are on a mission to kill 3 girls in tent 1". The note was considered a prank and never given to police.
[edit] The crime
A storm hit the area around 6PM, causing heavy rain. Because of the weather, the campers were sent back to their tents. At approximately 1:30AM, moaning was heard near camp Kiowa. Carla, a counselor at the camp, checked out the noise and described it as a low guttural moaning. It would stop whenever the beam of her flashlight came near.
Carla was standing at the intersection of the trail, 150 yards from Tent 8 and a dirt road leading to the main camp. At approximately 2AM, the tent flap of #7 was opened. Three of the girls inside were sleeping. The fourth girl stated that she noticed a beam of light moving about the interior from outside, with the silhouette of a large figure behind it. The figure moved off toward Tent 8. Moaning sounds were heard throughout the night, not just by those in the Kiowa section but in four other units of the camp. At approximately 3AM, a girl in the Cherokee section across the woods heard a scream come from the direction of Kiowa, located about two city blocks away. A girl in Quapaw also heard a scream. The scream seemed to be cries of "momma! momma!" The girl thought it may have been the voice of Lori Farmer.
At approximately 6AM, Carla found sleeping bags under a tree near the intersection in a pile.
[edit] The Bodies
Doris Milner was found nude from the waist down with her pajama top pulled up underneath her arms. Her hands had been tied behind her back with duct tape and she had been beaten around the face. Around her neck a cord and an elastic bandage were visible. A round cylinder shaped object about four inches long made of terrycloth was attached to the cord. The elastic bandage had been used as a blindfold; the terrycloth object as a gag. Michele Heather Guse and Lori Farmer were found inside their sleeping bags. Both bodies had been bound into a tight, compact, fetal-like position.
[edit] Evidence
Guse's and Farmer's sleeping bags contained bloody bed sheets that had been used by the killer to wipe down the blood found on the wood floor of the tent. Also found was a roll of black duct tape and a flashlight the murderer had discarded.
Jack Shroff was the owner of a farm one mile west of Camp Scott, whose house had been broken into. Some of the items taken from his home were a sash cord, a roll of duct tape, 3 bottles of beer, and 3 identical crow bars. The beer bottles were later found empty on the camp grounds.
Outside Shroff's door a jungle boot style print was found. It matched other boot prints found near the crime scene.
Another print had been found on the blood soaked floor of Tent 8.
- Boot Print Size 10
- Shoe Print (possible tennis shoe) size 7
[edit] Cause of Death
Guse and Farmer were killed inside the tent. They were struck by a heavy blunt object on the back of their heads while they slept. Milner may have been led out of the tent, raped, and then killed. When found, her face had been beaten with such force that the object responsible had left behind its shape. She had died on the trail. Her cause of death was strangulation, not blunt force trauma. At autopsy it was revealed that two different types of knots had reportedly been used; head wounds on two of the victims indicated two different blunt instruments.
[edit] Analysis
Physical evidence left behind at the crime scene and evidence recovered during autopsy indicates that two offenders were involved in the crime. The nature of the crime scene was a mixed scene, all of the equipment necessary to commit the crime was brought along, yet no steps were taken to conceal the crime after it was committed. This indicates that two offenders were involved. The offenders would have left the area immediately after the crime.
This crime is one that would have been planned months, possibly years in advance. The killers were probably good friends, given the nature of the crimes.
Because of the remoteness of the crime scene, the offenders knew the area well; they were probably either avid hunters or lived in the area.
Only one of the girls was the intended target. The other two girls were most likely murdered because they could identify the offenders.
One or both of the offenders may have had a history of sexual assault, possibly involving children.
This may not have been the first murder for one or both of the offenders. The level of violence indicates that these offenders were not new to murder and had been involved in some type of violent crime previous to this one.
However, the crime itself was sloppy and excessively violent so this may have been the offenders' first murder. The girls could have been led out of the tent, or tied up and dragged out of the tent, and killed in another location that would have been more difficult to find, therefore concealing their identity. Instead, the victims were murdered inside of the tent, leaving behind shoe prints and blood.
The victims were all young girls that were surprised in their tent late at night while probably sleeping. They were badly beaten and raped.
This was the first step in the escalation of violence, leading to murder.
Jerry Webber (now deceased) of Tulsa Oklahoma's NBC affiliate (Channel 2), did an intensive documentary on the murders.
[edit] The Suspect
Gene Leroy Hart was a Cherokee Indian and highschool football hero from Locust Grove. In June of 1966 Hart kidnapped 2 women outside a Tulsa nightclub and left them to die. They were able to escape and notified police. Hart was sentenced in October 1966 and paroled in March 1969. He was arrested again after being caught burglarizing homes. He was able to escape custody in 1973.
He was tried for the camp Scott murders and found not guilty on March 30, 1979; however he was sent back to prison to serve out his 308 year sentence for his previous crimes. A local Cherokee medicine man said that if Hart was guilty the great spirit would rise up and strike him down. Two months later Hart suffered a massive heart attack while jogging in the prison court yard and died.
Hart does fit the profile of the killer: he has a history of violence and sexual assault. However, his previous victims were adult women, indicating that his victim of choice would be adult women, not children.
However, evidence points to the fact that Hart was one of the offenders. The second offender may have been a close friend of Hart's, possibly someone he met in prison.
