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On June 22, 1977 in a small rural community called Locust Grove , Oklahoma in Northeastern Oklahoma 3 girl scouts; Michelle Heather Guse, 9; Doris Denise Milner, 10 and Lori Lee Farmer, 8 were sexually attacked and murdered as they were camping with other girls scouts in the Kiowa Section of Camp Scott. EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE CRIME Strange events were talking place around Camp Scott leading up to the murders. A man's effigy was found hanging from a tree by it's neck naked with all his goodies showin, personal items were disappearing from tents. The most interesting event was the discovery of a note in April, it read "we are on a mission to kill 3 girls in tent 1". The note was considered a prank and never given to police. THE CRIME A storm had hit and area around 6pm causing heavy rain. Because of the weather the campers were sent back to their tents. Approximately 1:30AM moaning was heard near Kiowa. Carla a camp consoler checked out the nosie 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. Approximately 2AM the tent flap of #7 was opened. 3 of the girls inside were sleeping. The 4th 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 4 other units of the camp. Approximately 3AM a girl in the Cherokee section across the woods heard a scream come from the direction of Kiowa about 2 city blocks away. A girl in Quapaw also heard a scream. The scream seemed to be momma. momma. The girl thought it may have been the voice of Lori Farmer Approximately 6AM Carla found sleeping bags under a tree near the intersection in a pile. THE BODIES Doris Milner was found nude from the waist down, her PJ top was pulled up underneath her arms. Her hands had been tied behind her back with duct tape and she had been beaten about the face. Around her neck a cord and an elastic bandage were visible. A round cylinder shaped object about 4 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. EVIDENCE Guse 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 a roll of black duct tape and a flashlight the murder had discarded. Jack Shroff was the owner of a farm 2 miles west of Camp Scott, his house had been broken into some of the items taken 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. An other print had been found on the blood soaked floor of tent 8 Boot Print Size 10 Shoe Print(possible tennis shoe) size 7 CAUSE OF DEATH Guse and Farmer were killed inside the tent. Struck by a heavy blunt object in the back of their heads while they slept. Milner may have been led out of the tent, raped 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 blunt force trauma, not strangulation. At autopsy it was revealed that 2 different types of knots had reportedly been used; head wounds on 2 of the victims indicated 2 different blunt instruments. ANALYSIS Physical evidence left behind at the crime scene and evidence recovered during autopsy indicates that 2 offender's were involved in the crime. The nature of the crime scene, 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 also indicates that 2 offenders were involved. This crime is one that would have been planned months, possibly years in advance. The killers were good friends, this isn't the kind of thing that you talk about or consider doing with someone you just met. Because of the remoteness of the crime scene, the offenders knew the area well, they were either avid hunters or lived in the area. Only one of the girls was the intended target. The other 2 girls were most likely murders because they could ID the offenders. The offenders would have left the area immediately after the crime. One or both of the offender's would have a history of sexual assault, possibly involving children. This may not have been the first murder for one of both of the offenders. The crime itself was sloppy and excessively violent. The victims were all young girls that were surprised in their tent late at night while probably sleeping. The girls could have been lead 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 the tent, leaving behind shoe prints and blood. This level of violence indicates that, these offenders were not new to murder, they had been involved in some type of violent crime previous to this one. The victims would have been badly beaten and raped. Possibly even killed, however, while reviewing the evidence in this case, this may have been the offenders first murder. This was the first step in the escalation of violence. THE SUSPECT Gene Leroy Hart was a Cherokee Indian and highschool football hero from Locust Grove. In June of 1966 Hart kidnaped 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, was arrested again after being caught burglarizing homes. hart 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 sever out his 308 year sentence for his previous crimes. A local Cherokee medicine man said that if Hart were guilty the great spirit would rise up and strike him down. 2 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 victims were adult women. That would indicate to me that his victim of choice would be adult women. NOT children. A killer will act out his crime in fantasy for months, sometimes years before acting out the crime in reality. The victim type is already set before the crime is committed, all the killer has to do is find someone out in the world that resembles his fantasy victim. Hart's previous victims would indicate that his fantasy victim's were adult women. However, evidence points to the fact that Hart was one of the offenders. The 2nd offender would be a close friend of Hart's possibly someone he met in prison. |
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