The Camp Scott Murders: The 1977 Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders

by C.S. Kelly

June 13th, 1977, Rural Eastern Oklahoma. Three young girls are brutally murdered on the first night of what should have been a fun-filled week of learning and camaraderie at Camp Scott, a Girl Scouts of America property. Three lives taken in the night, without a sound, and only a short distance away from where the counselors slept. “The Camp Scott Murders” unveils the facts around one of the most bizarre and tragic crimes in the history of Oklahoma. This facts-at-a-glance guide to this old-case is a resource of information, covering the events that have unfolded across the course of 37 years. Hear from the people who were there, both before and after the night those hideous crimes were committed, and read a full chapter dedicated to the 1978 preliminary trial containing the evidence that was reviewed.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime

202 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 12, 2014

Reviews

[Norma · Rating 1 out of 5]

The worst true crime book I have ever read.

[Amber Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was given this book by a friend who was born and raised in Oklahoma. She knows I'm into true crime and had not heard of these murders beyond what she had told me. I was intrigued to know more and found this book to be fascinating, although sometimes it was difficult to push through a book that is nothing but facts and written as a research guide. I would have given it more than two stars but found sections of it poorly written. As if the author was just pulling his information down from elsewhere and not editing himself. For instance a line talking about Linville from the OSBI said "The evidence was submitted the evidence to the OSBI..." HUH? Multiple lines made me reread them because of errors like that. Another section discussed John Gosser collecting soil samples and ended with "he was unaware of the soil samples' test." While I learned a lot about a set of murders that happened ten years before I was born and twenty nine years before I moved to the state I wish this hadn't felt so mundane. I am aware it was written as a research guide but there was no flow to the set up of the chapters. Interesting but I wouldn't recommend it.

[Carolyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the first book in years that I have been unable to finish. I was very interested in the subject matter, having grown up as a Girl Scout nearby and during this same time. So much of the information in this book is irrelevant--for example, why does the reader need to know when/how the killer's mother died years later? Or the crime scene canine who was hit and killed by a car later? What is the significance of a local news story run years later that seemed to "provide no new evidence"? If this is supposed to be a summary of facts, then why is a jailhouse confession (by someone who is not a suspect) mentioned as having been made while the confessor was "in a drunken stupor"? It feels like the writer googled everything related to the crime, then googled each individual mentioned, and copied-and-pasted it all into this book.

Throughout the book, there are numerous instances of incoherent sentences, grammatical errors, incorrect use of punctuation, random words that appear on the page, and other things that should have been identified and corrected during editing.

I just couldn't continue reading this book. It's too bad: I was hoping to learning more about this horrible crime.

[Tessa W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the most exciting read, but a very good factual and non biased account of the case. If you are researching this case for a podcast or something similar - this book is for you. The book ends with a re-cap of the timeline of the events, as well as a chapter that includes organized lists of every person mentioned throughout the book and who they are. There is also additional information on the crime scene and a long list of sources. I definitely recommend this book to anyone researching this case. If you’re looking for an exciting true crime novel, this is a little dry, but it’s full of information so if you don’t mind a more textbook style read and you just want to know all the facts and players involved, check it out.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just the facts, ma'am. This book was an interesting take on the usual true crime read. It lists and recites just the facts or statements with no bias or sensationalism. Somehow I found this to be more chilling than a horror story. No sleep over summer camp for me! This unsolved tragedy has many players but is easy to follow along. I'm quite sure I read another account of this crime sometime in the past.

[Jessica Williamson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heartbreaking case. This book was written in a timeline fashion, detailing the tragic events and the aftermath, including the trial and exoneration of the only named suspect, Gene Leroy Hart.
This book left me feeling so many emotions and with so many questions. Good read, definitely gets you thinking about the case.

[Tara S · Rating 3 out of 5]

My heart breaks for the families of those poor girls. I feel there should have been a lot more done and or things changed with that camp after hearing how it had no security measures etc. I’m giving the book 3 stars because it was just a timeline of the events and didn’t tell a story which I thought it was going to be. I also feel like it repeated a lot. The book was just ok.

[Kendra Pennington · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book isn't very big, so I was especially disappointed when the same information was regurgitated 2-3 times throughout it. Some of the sentences were hard to follow due to poor grammar. Additionally there were a couple sections adding information from other states that was unrelated to these murders and I feel shouldn't have been includes in this book.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

My opinion

In my opinion I don't believe it was hart. Since fingerprints did not match to anyone then that tells me it was committed by someone not in the system. Also...female fingerprints are interesting. I believe after Hart's not guilty the sheriff should of continued the search and kept looking. Maybe the girls were molested by an object by the female?

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a hard read just because of the subject matter. However, I've been trying to understand more about these senseless murders and what went so wrong in finding answers for these families. So much injustice in this case.

[Mollee Lemons · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book truly broke my heart. Those poor innocent little girls had their whole lives ahead of them. All but one was looking for a great week at camp and didn't get to enjoy camp. I feel like if they would have increased security procedures when camp leaders and others that lived in the area noticed all the strange activity ten these murders could have possibly been prevented. I feel like even though DNA says Gene Hart wasn't involved in the murder in anyway, I feel like he knows more than what he was saying. Maybe he knows who did it or what happened? I guess now that he is dead we will never know.,

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting book. It is not your normal story of what happened in 1977, this is actually a very concise timeline of things that happened and information about those events. This book is one that put everything on the line.

[s.elle.books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow...

This was a very heartbreaking but interesting read. The information around these murders is lacking, and it's truly devastating that these families will likely never have answers.

[Alicia Mckernan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the formatting of this book; it is an unbiased account of public evidence in the case. It was a quick read. Not a novel, though, so much as a chunky case file.

[Mel]

5 stars . If you have read the other books, this one is a must too. Some good information and written in a time line format.

[Sara]

Full of typos, errors, and thrown together in a horribly disorganized manner. Painful to read, could easily have been better with even a bit of editing.

[Andrea Elkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

So disappointed. I was hoping for a narrative with a resolution, but this book is just a list of dates and recorded events, almost in shorthand.

[Raven Gourley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very dry

[Daryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, horrific and worse than what I thought. This was a straightforward read of the facts and testimonies.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken · Rating 1 out of 5]

Basically just a copy and paste job from other sources. Very surface level information at best. The book is riddled with typos and missing words or letters. These babies deserve so much better.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author thanks Holly and Jane for editing, but an apology is due for not reading this book. The errors were irritating and distracting. It appears to be organized, but it is not. I found myself going back to fact check. Why are the newspaper sources from small towns in western Oklahoma closer to Texas than Locust Grove? This “facts-at-a-glance guide” did inspire me to read any other book about this heartbreaking tragedy.

Read Someone Cry for The Children, Shattered Justice: The Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders, and The Camp Scott Murders: The 1977 Girl Scout Murders.