Murder case's lore, mystery keep growing

By Ron Jackson

Published: June 29, 2008

Thirty-one years later, the debate rages over whether Gene Leroy Hart murdered three Girl Scouts in the rain-soaked woods near Locust Grove.

To date, Hart remains the only person ever charged with those grisly slayings, and he was acquitted. The truth may have died forever when he dropped dead of a heart attack in 1979 at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester while serving time for a string of rape, burglary, and kidnapping charges.

Yet the mystery deepens as time passes.

Theories have long existed regarding other suspects, as well as the possibility that Hart either didn't act alone or was innocent. Internet blog sites are filled with various opinions about the famous case, from the reasonable to the irresponsible.

One blogger ventured so far as to even name a sexually abusive and violent "uncle” as a prime suspect.

"There's a growing lore to the Girl Scouts murders,” said S.M. "Buddy” Fallis, a former Tulsa prosecutor who tried Hart. "It's like Jesse James. Everyone wanted to know, ‘Was he really buried in that grave?' ...

"I don't have any question Gene Leroy Hart was there. Whether he did it alone is probably the only question I have in my mind.”

Former Mayes County Sheriff Paul Smith added to the legend in May 1984 when he announced he had "three prime suspects” in the Girl Scout slayings. Smith declined to reveal the names of the suspects, saying only that they were all Locust Grove natives.

He then made a public plea for a key witness "who fled the county because of a death threat” to come forward.

"I'm satisfied in my mind that they did it, but I must be able to prove it in a court of law,” Smith told The Oklahoman in 1984. "I need probable cause, and I hope to have warrants when I make my arrests.”

Smith claimed he even possessed the possible murder weapon — a roofing hammer — and had divers scour Fort Gibson Lake for the car he thought the suspects drove the night of the murders.

The divers emerged empty-handed, and the hammer proved inconsistent with the victims' wounds.

Then there was the issue of Smith's most vocal detractor.

Former Mayes County Sheriff Glen "Pete” Weaver accused Smith of using the notorious case for his political gains during an election year. Weaver called Smith's actions "the lowest form of politics.”

Smith lost the election.