Timeline: Girl Scout murders: A timeline of events from the murders in June of 1977
1977
Jun 13
Mayes County Sheriff Pete Weaver said the girls had been in a tent unit, which houses four girls, and the other girls were not awakened by any disturbance during the night.
Jun 14
All three of the girls were beaten. Lori and Michele were reportedly struck on the back of the head, probably while they were asleep inside the tent.
Jun 14
Worried parents who had been called by Scout officials or who has heard news reports of the three murders at Camp Scott began to gather at the Scout office before noon.
Jun 25
Hart, a convicted burglar, rapist and kidnapper, escaped four years ago from the Mayes County jail. At least 10 FBI agents were sent to Camp Scott, which has served as the investigation’s headquarters.
Jun 25
In a wavy line stretched a mile or so along the road running west from Oklahoma 82, the rag-tag brotherhood of volunteers surged onto the smooth pastures toward Camp Scott and the woods beyond.
Jun 25
No one was cheering Friday for the 33-year-old Cherokee, but many of those who “knew him when” expressed doubts that authorities were looking for the right man.
Jul 06
Autopsies performed by Medical Examiner Neil A. Hoffman show all three girls were struck with a blunt instrument in the head. Two of the girls died from the blows, the third was strangled.
Jul 30
An American Indian Movement member, in a secret meeting with a Tulsa World reporter Friday, said he and 14 other Indian were with Hart
Aug 03
An open letter to Gene Leroy Hart: Your fears are understandable; you are in a desperate situation. But this may be your best chance to get a fair shake. We hope you will take it. Please let us hear from you.
Dec 09
The sheriff feels Hart will be captured someday when there is “loose talk” concerning his whereabouts.
Dec 31
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations estimates it spent “in excess of $100,000,” a spokesman for Gov. Boren said Friday.
1978
Apr 07
The arrest came 10 months after the sexually abused and battered bodies of Lori Lee Farmer, 8, and Doris Denise Milner, 10, both of Tulsa and Michele Guse, 9, of Broken Arrow, were found June 13 at Camp Scott near Locust Grove.
Apr 07
Inspector Mike Wilkerson of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation: “I went in the front with three or four others. There were people coming in the back door too. There were people all around the place. He (Hart) was surprised. The door was kicked open. He was there in the front room."
Apr 09
As the months wore on, the ripples spread. Psychics talked. “Super-dogs” were flown in, to no avail. There were cried to summon the National Guard. The FBI sent hundreds of men. Reward funds rose and fell like waves.
Apr 09
The trail ended Thursday at an isolated woodcutter’s cabin near the Cherokee-Adair county line in the rugged Cookson Hills – hills which since before statehood have given up their most-wanted sons only grudgingly.
May 31
Although expressing doubts that the prosecution of Hart, 34, would extend into 1979, both Fallis and Wise said they wanted to ensure someone with “first-hand familiarity with the case” would be available in that event.
Jul 07
Special District Judge Jess B. Clanton ruled that testimony showed the “crime of murder in the firs-degree has been committed and there is probable cause to believe the defendant, Gene Leroy Hart, committed the crime.”
Nov 29
District Judge William J. Whistler ordered Hart returned to the state penitentiary at McAlester until Jan. 29 when more motions will be heard in the 1 ½-year-old case.
1979
Mar 03
A story that never has been told in its entirety is expected to begin unfolding as prosecutors and defense attorneys begin selecting jurors for the trial of Gene Leroy Hart, the man charged with first-degree murder in the 1977 slayings of three young Girl Scout near Locust Grove.
Mar 16
The 10-day selection process was pocked with clashes and bitter infighting between the defense and the prosecution. At times, District Judge William J. Whistler expressed frustration as dozens of men and women were paraded in and out of the jury box without anyone being accepted.
Mar 19
This Monday, 21 months and five days later, a trial to begin to see if 35-year-old Gene Leroy Hart committed the murders.
Mar 21
Hart, appearing calm and businesslike in a three-piece suit, made himself available to the news media at a press conference orchestrated by his attorneys in an effort to “humanize” him before the public.
Mar 30
This story was originally published in the Tulsa Tribune March 30, 1979
Mar 31
The jurors reviewed the case for four hours Thursday, decided to sleep on their decision, and then huddled only 40 minutes Friday before giving the decision to the court a flight below the deliberation room.
Jun 05
This story was originally published in the Tulsa World June 5, 1979
Jun 09
An hour before the memorial services began, more than 100 persons has gathered in the hot, humid gym. Floral arrangements stretched for 40 feet on either side of the bluish gray casket.
1985
Mar 19
The parents, Charles and Sherri Farmer and Walter M. and Bettye Milner, seek a total judgement of $5 million from the Magic Empire Council of the Girl Scouts and Hartford insurance companies.
Mar 28
This story was originally published in the Tulsa World March 28, 1985
As featured on
The podcast Late Edition: Crime Beat Chronicles will feature the Tulsa World's coverage of the Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders.
Tulsa World's Tim Stanley talks about his experiences reporting the series so many decades after the initial crime in "Late Edition: Crime Beat Chronicles," a six-part series.
Tulsa World's Tim Stanley talks about his experiences reporting the series so many decades after the initial crime in "Late Edition: Crime Beat Chronicles," a six-part series.
