"So, she turned around a second time and started walking back that direction and as she shined the flashlight in that direction again, the sound stopped again," Wilson said. the Murderpedia project stay alive. The case still remains unsolved. Solve these real unsolved cases, then alert the police so they can put these babies to bed. On the bus, Denise cried about having to leave. "Didnt matter if they were mens or womens glasses. Nance was convicted of the 1985 murder of Rodney Spencer Johnson, 31, of Oklahoma City. Didnt matter whether they were prescription glasses or not. Though it may be pure happenstance, the prediction was relatively accurate: one dog died from exhaustion, and another ran out into traffic and was hit by a car. In the summer of 1977, three young Girl Scouts - Lori Farmer, Michelle Guse, and Doris Milner - were assaulted and murdered on their first night at Camp Scott in Mayes County, OK. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World Cory. Their bodies were pocked with bullet holes. Mrs. Freeman's body was found in the mobile home but Mr. Freeman and the 2 girls were not found. Though the witness would later redact their statement, and the theory was widely discredited by authorities, it wasnt entirely unbelievable. The trail that passed by the Kiowa Unit also led to the back gate of the camp. Sheri Farmer, Loris mother, established the Oklahoma Parents of Murdered Children and is a strong advocate for victims and their families. LEXINGTON - Two men whose death sentences for separate murders in the 1970s were later modified to life imprisonment were shown no leniency Friday by state parole officials. Approximately $480 was missing from the cash register. Gilley told an investigator he had known "that punk" Sloan in Amarillo, the University of Oklahoma student's hometown. Oklahoma House Votes To Pass Domestic Abuse Survivors Sentencing Bill, Driver In Custody After Deadly Hit-And-Run Involving Pedestrians, Tulsa Police Say, Tulsa Police Shoot, Kill Man Accused Of Breaking Into Home & Firing At Officers, Netflix's 'Stranger Things' Play To Debut In London This Year. One of the only places authorities couldnt find blood was on the cot on the right side of the tent. Nance found Johnson nude hiding in the shower of the couple's apartment after returning home unexpectedly. Get more stories delivered right to your email. Around midnight, Counselor Carla Wilhite heard some campers giggling outside near the latrine. The unique aspects of his life of crime is that between 1970 and 1983, Horton repeatedly was able to wiggle out of many serious rape and molestation charges against him by lenient judges and high priced [] When she approached, she realized it was three sleeping bags sprawled across the ground. First, the tape had been placed over the lens to dull the light. African violets were one of her favorites. 77-6-17 were written on the cave wall. Sloan's 1968 Pontiac GTO was found May 11. Tags: 1930s, bizarre, Fraud, Oklahoma, The bullet in Chester Comers head made it difficult for him to speak. slumped on a couch and bleeding. However, instead of going to see an eye doctor, Hart developed a habit of stealing glasses. [], Posted: May 12th, 2014 under Mug Shot Monday. Alongside Weaver was District Attorney Sid Wise, who immediately was at the forefront of the investigation. Crying, he expressed remorse for killing his wife. E.C. Mullendore. Two of the girls had been killed inside the tent, while the other one was killed outside on the trail. Even more important: Both women survived. BIOG: The tents, though made to look like cabins, were wooden platforms with four cots, no lights, and a large flap serving as the door. Mullendore III was beaten and shot between the eyes in the den of his home on the ranch. Officers entered Tent #8, where another grisly scene waited inside. It was a decade full of changes for Oklahoma due to the oil industry and many advancements in national defense, weather prediction and transportation. Arguably one of the most compelling incidents occurred with Stevens, an ex-con. Hubbard, 64, was given a 15-year sentence for shooting Tulsa paperboy Keith Hurn, 17, in 1987. Gene Leroy Hart was born in Locust Grove, Oklahoma in November 1943. "There was not necessarily a barrier that would keep people out," said Marty Wilson, an OSBI Investigator. The camp administrators dismissedthe entire series of events as a tasteless prank. No one was ever charged in the crime. It was 20 years ago Sunday. His death in 1970 was one of the most famous unsolved murder mysteries in Oklahoma history. The police made a number of mistakes in the investigation including disturbing the crime scene before physical evidence could be gathered and allowing E.C. Eugene Claremont "E.C." Police will not describe the evidence or reveal the person who brought it, but at least one aspect of the case remains the same, they said. Sheryl Benham and Sloan disappeared after they attended a fraternity party May 9, 1970, at the University of Oklahoma. News reports show the extensive investigation and sketches leading up to his arrest in Chicago and trial in Oklahoma City. Burrows said he did not want his board interview to "lessen or mitigate or excuse or justify" his crime, but he said his skills would be assets to society. This time, it would take police longer to catch Hart. Further proof was a note written on a cave wall: The killer was here. He appealed, received a new trial, and was re-sentenced to serve sixty-years for manslaughter. When Officer McDaniel attempted to arrest Frederick D. Fair, the principal instigator, Fair shot the forty-nine-year-old lawman in the chest. Murderpedia has thousands of hours of work behind it. However, the OSBI told sister station KOCO though Stevens was named at the trial, DNA proved to not be a match. Kenny A. Franks, The Osage Oil Boom (Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Heritage Association, 1989). Interestingly enough, Frank Justice was the uncle of Sonny James. An ominous threat seemed to follow the case, as well. This horrific crime happened on June 13, 1977 at Camp Scott in Mayes County. Sloan clothed. The family agreed to a $8 million settlement in 1971 after Linda Mullendore filed a lawsuit against the insurance company. [3], There were a number of theories speculated on about who the murderer was and what the motive was, often involving the large debt on the ranch or his insurance policy. "You know, for a few years I would go to the cemetery," she said. After searching the caves, investigators found grocery items, newspapers from the same edition of the Tulsa World, two photographs, and duct tape matching the kind found on the girls' bodies. "We have pretty much analyzed everything we can analyze in this case and we are waiting on Sheriff Mike Reed to make a decision of whether hes going to administratively close the case," said Fielding of the OSBI. In 1938, Crowe was a prison trustee on a dam project near Fort Towson, Oklahoma, where state convicts provided a large portion of the labor force. [1], E.C. Excited campers enjoyed their newfound freedom with their friends, away from their parents. Tags: 1970s, Juvenile, Oklahoma, unsolved, Joe Crowes Prison Mug Shot Oklahoma State Penitentiary convict Joe Crowe is a great example of the laxness with which prisons once guarded their inmates. The trial itself took several days and drew both local and national attention. Little did they know that day, June 13, 1977, after nearly 50 years, Camp Scott would never reopen its doors. Thank you! Her father, Dr. Charles Farmer, had been the emergency room director at Tulsa's St. John's Medical Center. The handwritten notewarned, "We are on a mission to kill three girls in tent one." At the time of his escapes, Pete Weaver was the Mayes County Sheriff. Green was later killed in an unrelated incident. She had been raped and strangled and was probably dead for a few days before her body was found. He was married to Linda Vance Mullendore and they had four children. The Girl Scout Murders of 1977 still remains unsolved to this day, and is one of the most disturbing crimes to ever come out of the state. >> Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders: The criminal history of prime suspect. The DkisasterCenter.com provides access to a variety of information including: Barbara Ann Spengler/Flickr 2. Camp Scott was never reopened after that fateful day. The killer or killers left few clues. They were met by their worried parents who hoped and prayed their daughters would step off the bus from camp a camp they had trusted to keep their daughters safe. Tags: 1950s, Murder, Oklahoma, Sex Crimes, . The girls were ages 8, 9 and 10 and were murdered sometime between 2-4 a.m. Tags: 1920s, 1930s, Murder, Oklahoma, William Tyson Horton was a serial rapist and child molester from Oklahoma City who operated between 1970 and 2010. U ncovered: The Lovers' Lane Murders is a five-part investigative podcast into the murders of two teenagers in Norman, Oklahoma in 1970. With their fourth roommate set to arrive the following night due to a scheduling error, the trio got situated in their unit and wrote letters back home. Eugene Claremont "E.C." Mullendore III (October 26, 1937 - September 26, 1970) was an heir to one of the largest cattle ranches in Oklahoma. A shoeprint was found in the blood on the floor. It is important to note that both of the victims wore eyeglasses. Gene LeRoy Hart, who had been acquitted of murdering three Tulsa-area Girl Scouts at Camp Scott near Locust Grove, died of a heart attack in the state penitentiary. We do! To the naked eye, a passerby may never notice the caves located near Camp Scott. Hubbard said he thought the boy was going to burglarize or vandalize his property, but board members replied that Hurn was riding with his father in a car moving away from Hubbard when he was shot. On June 12, 1977, the gates opened for the first group of 140 summer campers at Camp Scott in the small town of Locust Grove, Oklahoma. If so, tell us more about them! The best hidden gems and little known destinations - straight to your inbox. BELL, John Albert His death in 1970 was one of the most famous unsolved murder mysteries in Oklahoma history. September 18th 2017, 7:09 PM PDT. In 1996, Ted LaTurner, a private investigator who looked into the case, got a petition approved that had the Mayes County grand jury take a look at some leads he had found. In addition, LaTurner said he had a witness, who named three suspects. He was the boogie man of the time so when I saw that face and those eyes, yeah, of course I remembered that, Deputy Bradley Wynn with the Oklahoma County Sheriffs Office said. Hidden beneath the blanket of dense trees, the camp is quiet now. "While all the other tents in the camp had four girls in them, Tent #8 only had three girls," Wilson said. On August 19, 1928, Atlanta Police Department Patrolman John McDaniel responded to a disturbance between two acquaintances. The data in the crime reports is derived from the annual Uniform Crime Reports issued by the FBI until 2020, at which time the FBI stopped releasing the annual reports in favor of its own electronic search engine. 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They each were shot more than 10 times on a rural lover's lane in west Norman's 10-Mile Flats. Gene Stipe and Willand M. Gotcher, Appellants and Cross-appellees, v. Kathleen Boren Mullendore and Katsy Mullendore Mecom, executrix of the Estate of Eugene C. Mullendore, deceased, Appellees and Cross-appellants, 527 F.2d 1031 (10th Cir. The laughter of young campers has disappeared with the Oklahoma wind. Thirteen people, eleven of them passengers, were killed and ten more were [], Posted: March 9th, 2015 under Mug Shot Monday. Anyone could get out. In fact, it wasnt until his fourth burglary, at the home of a Tulsa police officer, that his crimes came to light. Then, during the Hart trial, an Okmulgee woman testified that the flashlight found at the crime scene had belonged to Stevens. Sloan clothed. 's body to be removed from the crime scene and later embalmed before an autopsy could be performed. At any moment, one of Oklahomas most notorious murder mysteries could go from a cold case to a case closed. Paula, a 44 year-old woman, was shot to death in her home on April 30, 2013. At the end of March 1979, after brief deliberation from the jury, Hart was acquitted of the murders of Lori Farmer, Denise Milner, and Michele Guse. He was serving 145 to 305 years. Soon after his initial investigation, Sheriff Weaver already had some working theories in mind. Their bodies were found approximately 150 yards from Tent #8. History of the FBI's Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Field Office. Bomb Slayer Rex Brinlee Jr., 1971. OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. The Pardon and Parole Board voted unanimously against recommending parole for Bobby Collins, 37, who killed a Woodward County couple and their two young children in 1975. The Girl Scout Murders of 1977 still remains unsolved to this day, and is one of the most disturbing crimes to ever come out of the state. The Mullendore family owned the Cross Bell Ranch in Osage County, Oklahoma, which covered about 130,000 acres. In the darkness, through the dense trees, movement caught her eye. A day later, Mr. Freeman was found shot in the head. This was when he started his career as a burglar, breaking into the homes while the owners were home and asleep. Do you remember any of these photos/events in the 1970s? He was a decent athlete and had some great performances, especially during his senior year of high school. That evening around 7 pm, the three girls sought shelter from a thunderstorm in Tent #8, known as Camp Kiowa. The Tents where the Girl Scouts stayed were fanned out around the counselor's quarters in order to keep an eye on the girls, but Tent #8 was the furthest away and almost impossible to see at night. The evidence obtained by the OSBI has never excluded Hart and to this day, the OSBI says that in addition to not being able to exclude Hart, the evidence does not point to anyone else. "This case has boxes and boxes and boxes of files and interviews of all the people that they looked at," said Fielding of the OSBI. It was the first night of Girl Scout camp when 3 young girls were killed and sexually molested. KANSAS: In 1970, 12-year-old Kelly Lynn Albright went missing and was found dead in a field in Reno County. "My husband wouldn't go, it was too hard on him. Top police officials declined to name the suspect, but law enforcement officials confirmed it is Frank Gilley, a Norman police officer at the time who patrolled the 10-Mile Flats area. That evening a thunderstorm hit the area, so many campers huddled in their tents to stay dry. Three tracking dogs were brought in by investigators to assist in the search. Hours later, a camp counselor found the girls' bodies stuffed in their sleeping bags and scattered through the woods. Bibliography. Benham was nude. Andrew L. Warren, "Earning Their Spurs in the Oil Patch: The Cinematic FBI, the Osage Murders, and the Test of the American West," The . Another investigation led, in 1971, to Gilley being charged in Cleveland County District Court with a misdemeanor of impersonating an officer. One camper said they heard a scream in the night and another camper said they heard someone crying for their momma. November 21, 1986: 1: Oklahoma, USA: Sahib Lateef AL . Plus, there was no fence around the perimeter of the camp. He said that he rushed downstairs and found E.C. III, Kenneth Eugene Along with the horrific scene, several pieces of evidence were found by detectives in the hours following their arrival at Camp Scott. He was an escaped convict that had been on the run for 4 years, before being captured. In fact, it would later become known that Wise had made a book deal with a local reporter in exchange for information. That November, Crowe left [], Posted: March 30th, 2015 under Mug Shot Monday. Tags: Oklahoma, Serial Killer, Spree Killer, Wife Killer, Criminal Cases of America70 Vintage True Crime Stories by Thomas Duke, 1910, All Rights Reserved. Hart was well-known to locals as a stellar athlete and football player. Growing up, Hart was recognized in the area for being a talented football player in the area. Police hope publicity will lead to new information. Though Hart promptly returned to the state penitentiary in McAlister, Oklahoma to serve the remainder of his 305-year prison sentence. However, the weekend ended prematurely when a counselor's cabin was ransacked and a disturbing note was discovered in an empty box of doughnuts. "She was the kind of person who cheered up every one around her.". Having sold enough Girl Scout cookies to be able to attend camp with her friends, Denise Milner had been excited about going to camp. She woke up, got the girls, then escorted them back into their beds. Someone had also created an effigy of a man, which they hanged from a tree by its neck. A witness in that case, Don Bolding, of Bristow, was set to testify against him. The years have smoothed much of the pain, Sue Benham said. The victims were three Girl Scouts, between the ages of 8 and 10, who were raped and murdered. The parents were tied and shot with a rifle Collins stole from their home a week earlier. Name: Date: Victims: Location : A: Glen Burton AKE. In 1989, the OSBI submitted a sample to the FBI lab for testing. Mug Shot Monday: Bank Robber Coney Coffey, Two Cars, 6 People Missing 43 & 44 years Found at Bottom of Lake in Oklahoma, Chester the Molester: Spree-Killer Chester Comer, That Time Nevada Executed a 17 year-old, 1944, The Most Miraculous Execution in American History (That Nobody Told You About), 1904. Following his conviction, Hart had escaped from jail but was believed to still be in the area when the murders took place. As soon as she did that, with the light not being shined in that direction anymore, the sound started back up," Wilson said. Love Oklahoma? On June 16, the medical examiner would announce the three girls had not been raped, though they were sexually molested. The DNA sample was a semen stain found on a pillowcase inside Michelle Guses sleeping bag. Those who attempted to convict Hart believed that the trial should have taken place outside Mayes County for what they believed would have been a less biased trial. Nobody has come forward with any information. 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