The Real Story Behind Keeper of The Ashes

Courtesy of nypost.com

Hulu has released a mini docuseries about the horrendous slaughter of three girls scouts away at camp.

Kristen Chenoweth

    Kristen Chenoweth is an award winning actress and in Keeper of The Ashes goes on to talk about how in 1977 she was supposed to be at the camp the three little girls were murdered at. 

       According to Kristen, she was supposed to be at Camp Scott near Locust Grove Oklahoma but she fell ill and her mother told her that she couldn't go. Kristen feels like she could have very well been one of those little girls that were slaughtered.

    "This is a story that I wish I never had to tell. It haunts me everyday. But it's a story that needs to be told." She would say in the trailer Keeper of The Ashes.

Courtesy of koko.com

 Doris(Denise) Milner

    Denise Milner was 10 years old, this would be here first time at camp. She was one of few African American girls to attend Camp Scott that year. She was able to go because she sold enough girl scout cookies to attend Camp Scott.

    Denise was a very bright straight A student and was accepted into a school for exceptionally bright students. 

    Her friends that were supposed to be at camp with her backed out at the last minute which made Denis very apprehensive not only about going alone but also about leaving her mom and little sister. She cried while boarding the bus to Camp Scott and that would be the last time that her mom would see her alive.

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Lori Farmer

       Lori Farmer was from Tulsa and juss a few days away from her 9th birthday when she was murdered at Camp Scott. Lori was so excited to spend two weeks away from home making new friends at camp.

    Lori was the youngest among the 140 other campers at Camp Scott.

      "Dear mommy, daddy, Misti, Jolie and Kali,  I've met two new friends...Michelle Guise and Denise Milner. I'm sharing a tent with them. We're sleeping on cots. I couldn't wait to write you. Love, Lori." Those were the last words the Lori's family would have frim her.

    

    

Courtesy of koko.com

Michelle Guise

    Michelle Guise was a shy 9 year old girl from Broken Arrow. She was a lover of the outdoors and plants. This wasn't Michelle's first time at camp having been there the previous year.

    Michelle's mom would later say that her daughter had been very insistent that she take care of her plants while she was away at camp. African violets were her favorite flower. 

    

Courtesy of sites.psu.edu

The Warning

    Two months before campers were due to arrive at Camp Scott, a counselor named Michelle Hoffman found that her tent had been ransacked Michelle's things had been scattered around the inside and outside of her tent. 

 A letter was left behind saying that " We are on a mission to kill three girls in tent one." No one would take this note seriously. They would assume it was just a joke. They assumed wrong.

    The killer left a note warning the camp what they were going to do but the note was taken as a cruel joke. Could the murders have been prevented?

Courtesy of koko.com

Tent number 8

    

    Tent number 8 would be the three victims tent for the next two weeks. Tent 8 was the last in a semi circle It was also the tent furthest away from supervision and hidden behind the showers. 

    The tents were on wooden platforms and had four cots inside. No lights and only a flap to serve as a door. Michelle, Denise and Lori would share tent 8. Out of sight of the counselors and straight in the sight of a killer.

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Sounds in the Night

        On the first night of camp June 12, 1977 a thunderstorm hit the area so the campers spent the time in their tent writing letters home. 

    Counselors made their rounds doing tent checks to make sure their campers were okay and where they were supposed to be. 

    Around 1:30 am one of the counselors had to warn tent 6 to be quiet and settle down. While doing this the counselor heard strange noises coming from behind the tents. She described it as a low guttural noise.  She wasn't certain it was a person or animal. She did shine her flashlight in that direction but didn't see anything and the noise stopped.

    Many campers and counselors heard a lot of strange noises throughout the night. Around 3 am  there are a few reports of campers saying that they heard what sounded like a scream and at another point heard a girl cry out for her mother.

    At point during these times there were also reports of someone reaching into tents and taking different things, One example of things stolen they took several pairs of glasses. 

    A camper in tent 7 reported to someone shinning a flashlight in to her tent, after just a few seconds the flap was replaced and the person moved onto tent 8.

Courtesy of strangeoutdoors.com

The Discovery

    Around 6 am camp counselor Carla White woke up to shower then she was going to wake up the girls that she was assigned to. As she was walking towards the bathhouse she saw something on the path. As soon as she approached the bundle she could tell that it was a sleeping bag and beside it was the body of a little girl.

    Carla immediately woke up other people to help her check on the other girls. Dee would be the one to check tent 8, where she discovered all three girls were missing.

    Carla would rush to the nurses office, once the nurse is on her way to the little girl that was found Carla headed to get the director, Barbara Day.

    The girl that was found had severe head injuries and had her hands tied behind her back. It was determined that the little girl was Denise Milner and she was obviously dead. 

    Barbara Days husband Richard would be the one to find the other two missing girls from tent 8. They were found inside sleeping bags not far from Denise. They were also dead and identified as Lori Farmer and Michelle Guise. 

    The Highway Patrol was contacted and the investigation ensued. 

Courtesy of koko.com

The Evidence

    A highway patrol officer discovered boot prints from tent 8 to where the body of Denise Milner was found. It appeared that the boot prints went behind tent 8 to the front. It would not be hard to gain access through the flaps of the tent. 

    Investigators determined that Lori and Michelle had been bludgeoned inside the tent. this was determined by the blood splatter in the tent. It appeared that the killer attempted to clean up inside the tent with bed sheets. A size 9.5 boot print was left in blood but no finger prints were discovered.

    Denise Milner had been sexually assaulted, she had been found naked from the waste down bound around the wrist and gagged. 

    Lori Farmer and Michelle Guise were also sexually assaulted. 

    Investigators determined that the gag had been brought to the scene along with nylon ties, duct tape and a flashlight. It appeared to be a premeditated attack. A hair that did not belong to any of the victims was found on some of the duct tape.

    The tape and nylon had been stolen from a farm about a mile from Camp Scott. 

    Autopsies would determine that different weapons were used and both right and left hands were used by the killer. It was also determined that different knots were used in the binding of the girls. Could this be evidence that more than one killer carried out the attacks?

    

Courtesy of people.com

A Suspect

    A ten month manhunt ensued with different agencies involved. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations eliminated any obvious male suspects. Such as the farmer that reported things stolen, the directors husband Richard Day and a camp ranger. 

    Police dogs would find a cave near a campsite that contained some items that were stolen from Camp Scott along with items owned by someone named Gene LeRoy Hart. One item that was left behind was a note that read "The killer was here. Bye Bye fools.  77-6-17"

    Gene Hart was an escaped convict who had escaped four years earlier. Hart had been convicted of the raping two pregnant women. He served a little over 2 years on a 30 year sentence. 

    Hart's previous victims who both wore glasses would later say that he had an obsession with their glasses and tried them on. As previously stated someone, possibly Hart stole glasses from Camp Scott. A pair were found laying near by the crime scene. 

    Hart was found on April 6, 1978, ironically he was wearing women's glasses. He was charged with the murder of the three campers. 

    A lot of people in the community didn't believe that Hart committed the murders. They felt the arrest was racially motivated because Hart was Cherokee. 

    Hart's trial would begin on March 19, 1979 and there was a lot of incriminating evidence. The sperm that was found on a pillow case was said to be very similar to Hart's but this was before DNA. Later in the 80's was determined not to rule Hart out. 

    The local Cherokee nation fully supported Hart and would say that the evidence including the DNA was planted. This argument would be used in defending Hart.

    In the end the defense was successful in defending Hart because he was found not guilty of the murders. 

    Hart did have to return to prison to serve out his remaining sentence and ultimately died from a heart attack while in prison on June 4, 1979. 

    Even though Gene Hart was convicted of violent crimes previously, when he died thousands would be at his funeral.

Aftermath

    Many investigators believed that Hart was guilty despite the ruling. In 2008 the samples would be tested again and were found to be inconclusive because of the state of the samples. Partial DNA from an unknown female were found but couldn't be matched to the victims or anyone else. 

    Camp Scott was opened in 1928 but closed down the day after the murders never to be opened again. 

    Many that believed in Hart's guilt thought he may have had an accomplice. Although its been 45 years the case is still open and many true crime fans are still obsessed. 

So do you think Gene Hart raped and murdered three innocent little girls away at camp?

Where to Watch

The Real Story Behind Under the Banner of Heaven

 

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One of Hulu's newest limited series is based on the book by Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith.

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Brenda Lafferty

    Brenda Lafferty grew up in Kimberly Idaho, she had five sisters and one brother. Brenda was a talented singer and loved theatre when she was in high school. At the time of her death she the wife of Allen Lafferty and mother to 15 month old Erica. 

    Brenda was a former beauty queen and very confident and outspoken. Although she grew up Mormon, her parents did not take it to extreme. 

    She was attending Brigham Young University majoring in broadcast journalism. She met Allen at at an LDS group led by students at BYU. 

    Both Brenda and Allen were devote Mormons and members of the Church of Latter Day Saints.

    Brenda had every intention of finishing school and pursuing a career in journalism but after she married Allen he wanted her to be a housewife and start a family.

    A year after their 1982 nuptials, they welcomed a baby girl they named Erica. The small family lived in American Fork Utah, about 30 miles Southeast of Salt Lake City.

Courtesy of thecinemaholic.com

Allen Lafferty

    Allen Lafferty was the youngest of the large Lafferty clan. He grew up in a very strict Mormon family in Utah. 

     His father  was very  religious and used his religion to keep a tight hold on his children. There are many reports out there about the Patriarch being filled with rage and lashing out at his wife, children and even family pets. 

    Allen grew up very opposite of Brenda, his family was very extreme in their Mormon beliefs and these fundamentalist beliefs would cost Allen his wife and little girl in the most brutal way.

Courtesy of desert.com

Dan Lafferty

    Ron Lafferty was the eldest Lafferty child but Dan held the most influence over all of the Lafferty brothers. 

    Dan attended chiropractor school in Los Angles to follow in his fathers footsteps. Dan was married to Matilda and together they had four children and Matilda had two children from a previous marriage. 

    Later Dan would start researching the history of his Mormon faith. Dan's research led him to the belief than plural marriages is okay among other degrading things that his wife would have to soon endure.

    Dan soon became anti government and an extreme Mormon fundamentalist. He did not believe in paying taxes and started believing in plural marriage among other extreme behaviors.

Courtesy of distractify.com

    Ron Lafferty

     As stated before, Ron was the eldest child of the Lafferty clan. He was married to Dianna and together they had six children.

    Ron was a councilman and member of the Mormon Church. He was a very well respected member of the community. Ron would try to talk his brother out of his newfound beliefs but Dan was so charismatic that he was able to talk his brother into joining him. 

    Ron would end up losing everything because of his new found beliefs mainly his wife and children. Dianna packed up the kids and moved to Florida. Ron was crushed. This would end up being his motive for murder.

Courtesy of deseret.com

  "Removed" 

    

    After Dan convinced his big brother Ron to see things his way, Ron changed. He wanted more wives, he wanted to marry off his teenage daughters. This was too much for his wife to tolerate. She ended up leaving Ron and taking their children with her. 

    Ron blamed Brenda for this, he thought that the outspoken Brenda had put thoughts in Dianna's head. He wasn't going to tolerate this from his sister-in-law.

    In February of 1984, Ron claimed to have received his first message from God. Ron claimed that it was God's will for several people to die including Brenda and baby Erica. They had "become obstacles in My path" and they must be "removed in rapid succession that an example be made of them."

    Ron told his brother Allen his message from God and asked what he thought about it. Allen told Ron that he would defend his wife and child at all cost. Allen would never tell his wife what Ron said about her and Erica. If it had told her, she may still be alive today.

    It needs to be said that Ron and Dan did not care for Brenda because she was so outspoken and spoke against the brothers often for their fundamentalist views.

Courtesy of investigationdiscovery.com

The Discovery

    

    On July 24, 1984 around 8pm Allen came home from work and found Brenda in a pool of blood. The phone cord had been ripped out of the wall so he could not call for help. He went down the hall to the bedroom to call 911. When he passed his 15 month old daughters room he found that her bed and cover were covered in blood. The bedroom phone wasn't working either so he ran to a neighbors house to call 911.

    Investigators would say that Brenda fought hard for her life and Erica's life. Dan and Ron beat Brenda and berated her calling her a bitch all while Brenda begged for her baby's life. Ron walked down the hall to kill Erica and while Dan got a knife from the kitchen and slit Brenda's throat.

   According to Time, after the murder of Brenda and Erica, Ron and Dan fled from Utah to Nevada, where Ron and Dan were caught in a casino buffet line in Reno and arrested.

Courtesy of grunge.com

Trial and Punishment

    Dan Lafferty represented himself during his trial, although he had access to the standby counsel. The jury trial resulted in a guilty verdict, and he was sentenced to two life sentences to be served concurrently without the possibility of parole. 

    Ron Lafferty was tried, convicted and sentenced to death. Ron decided to by executed by a firing squad but would die in prison of natural cases in 2019.

Where to Watch

    

The Real Story of Candy Montgomery

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Candy is one of Hulu's newest series based on actual events.

    

                                     

 

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Candy Montgomery

    As much as we would love the background on Candy Montgomery, there just isn't much out there about her early life. What we do know is that she was born Candace Wheeler, even the year and place of birth is conflicted depending on which source you read on the internet. So let's get to what we do know.

    Candy Montgomery was a wife and homemaker that resided in a small sleepy town called Wylie in Texas with her husband Pat Montgomery. They had 2 children together, little is known about their children.

    Candy loved being a mom but it doesn't appear that being a wife to an introvert was very rewarding to a free spirit like Candy. She needed more, she needed excitement. 

Pat Montgomery

    Pat was by all accounts a good husband and father. He worked at Texas Instrument as an electrical engineer earning a very good income. Pat was an intellectual and quite introverted. Which is completely opposite of his wife Candy. Pat seemed to be happy and content in both life and marriage but his lack of interest in his bored wife would lead to a devastating chain of events that would leave 2 children without a mother.

the-sun.com

Allan and Betty Gore

    Betty Gore was a wife and mother that resided in Wylie Texas. She would become a Grammar teacher and her husband Allan worked in telecommunications. They had two daughters together and seemed to live a very normal suburban life.

     

    It has been told in other sources that Betty may have suffered from postpartum depression after the birth of her second daughter. 

    

    She didn't seem happy in her career or happy in general. She suffered from anxiety when Allan was out of town for work so she dove into her role as a mother and attended church functions often at the local Methodist Church where she would inevitably meet her good friend and killer Candy Montgomery. 

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The Affair

    The affair between Allan and Candy began after a volley ball game in the late Summer of 1978. Candy was the aggressor in the situation. She wanted something new and exciting, she wanted to feel sexy and alive again so she set her eyes on Allan Gore. Candy pursued her good friends husband relentlessly and did not give up until she was in bed with him. Alan was flattered by Candy's flirting and directness with him. Letting him know outright that she thought of him a lot and wanted to have sex with him. 

  

      Allan would turn Candy down saying that he loved his wife and he didn't think that he could do that to Betty especially considering Betty was pregnant with their second child. Candy assured Allan that it would only be sex since she also loved Pat. She just wanted some excitement and wanted Allan to know that she wanted that excitement to be him. 

Allan leaned over and kissed Candy and walked away.

    After awhile of going back and forth in his mind Allan decided to call Candy. He wanted to work on his marriage with Betty but she got upset every time Allan brought up counseling or anything else that would help their marriage. Betty didn't think anything was wrong with the marriage. 

    So on what would be Candy's 29th birthday Allan called out of the blue asking Candy to lunch to discuss what they had spoken about a couple of weeks earlier. Candy was thrilled considering she felt like Allan had rejected her when they last spoke about whether or not to have an affair. 

    They would meet in McKinney at an auto body shop a few miles from Candy's home. They would go to a little teahouse and talked for a long while about their spouses and their children. Allan admitted to being nervous not only about having an affair but also his worry about hurting Betty if she were to ever find out. Candy agreed, stating she didn't want to hurt Pat either. She promised no one would ever know except them. They parted that day with Alan's suggesting of thinking about it awhile longer so they cold way the risk.

    Within a week Alan called Candy to discuss the ever looming affair that they both seemed to now want. But Allan seemed happy with just talking about the affair not actually following through with it. They would talk on the phone daily while Pat was at work and one day Candy decided that she would invite Alan over and if he didn't make a move then she was done. Candy wasn't interested in a meek reserved man, she wanted to be "taken" by a bold sexually driven man.

    Allan was concerned about any emotional attachments that may happen but Candy reassured him that this was just sex, nothing more, nothing less. Allan would leave that day without having sex with Candy and she was at the end of her patience. She wanted something spontaneous not planned out, all this talk and planning was defeating the purpose of what Candy wanted but then the next day Allan called and said he was ready. Candy would come up with a list of rules that would include "If either one of us want to end the affair, for whatever reason, it over. No questions asked."  The list went on but you get the basics of it. So with the rules in place the affair was scheduled to start on December 12, 1978.

    For the next few months Candy and Allan would meet every two weeks like clockwork at a sleazy hotel to have their affair. As time went on they become more friends than lovers. They wouldn't always have sex sometimes they would just talk. Candy began having second thoughts because she felt like she may be falling for Allan but Alan talked her into continuing with the affair. 

    In June the affair was ended by Allan, he said that Betty was getting further along in her pregnancy and she would be needing a lot of attention. Candy agreed that it was time to end it. In truth Candy had grown bored of Allan and his mediocre sex. The affair started to become more of a choir than a relationship and that was the complete opposite of what Candy wanted.

    In July of that same year the affair resumed because Betty gave birth and he didn't have to worry about her going into labor while he was in a sleazy hotel room having sex with his wife's friend. 

But things were not the same, Candy started arguing with Allan over small things and all around acting like a nagging wife. Alan would eventually end the affair against what Candy wanted. He thought maybe Betty was becoming suspicious. He didn't want to lose his family and his life but Candy was so upset, she wasn't ready for it to end going as far as professing her love for Allan. Allan would agree that he may love her too but it wasn't right to continue at the spouses expense. 

Courtesy of the-sun.com

                                                     

Betty knows

    The Gore's oldest daughter had a sleepover with the Montgomery children and they had planned on going swimming so Candy would stop by the Gore home to get the little girls  bathing suit. She didn't have any hopes of seeing Allan as he was out of town. When Candy showed up Betty confronted Candy about her affair with Allan. Candy denied the affair but Betty had all of the cards and love letters to prove it. Candy would try to convince Betty that it was over but she would not be convinced.

Courtesy of sportskeeda.com

                                                     

The Discovery

    A few hours after Allan had left home for his work trip he tried to call his wife but couldn't get an answer. He was worried about Betty because she was taking care of their  baby and he was scared something was wrong. He would try for the next several hours to reach his wife, even calling Candy. Candy advised Allan that his oldest daughter was with her as she had spent the night and that she didn't know why Betty wasn't answering. Candy reported that she had seen Betty at 10 am that morning and she seemed fine. Allan eventually called a neighbor to go check on his wife.

    Neighbors would find the front door unlocked and entered the home. They were drawn to the weak cries of the Gores baby. She was dehydrated and her diaper was soiled. At that point the neighbors knew something was terribly wrong and went to find Betty. They would find Betty brutally murdered in a room with the door partially opened. It was clear that Betty's murder was brutal, she had been killed with an axe leaving 41 wounds. 28 of which were to here head and face. 

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Only One Suspect

    Although investigators were put off by Allan's behavior during the questioning of his wife's murder, he had an alibi. The truth was only one person seemed to be the last to see Betty alive. That person was Candy Montgomery. 

    Candy would be questioned along with other friends and family members. It wasn't until Allan came clean about his affair with Candy did police believe that Candy could be their killer. It was still hard for investigators to believe that Candy was strong enough to commit such a heinous act of violence landing 41 blows to Betty's head and face. 

    Things were starting to develop rapidly in the case with finger prints on the axe as well as evidence of someone taking a shower in the Gore bathroom after the killing to wash away Betty's blood. 

    Candy would be arrested for the murder of her friend and her lovers wife Betty Gore but not before hiring a defense attorney and friend from the local Methodist Church. 

Courtesy of thedallastimes.com

Trial and Punishment

    

    Candy's attorney would shock the court by pleading self defense on his clients behalf. Candy would say that after trying to assure Betty that the affair with her husband was over, Betty grabbed an axe and came at Candy. The defense would claim that in a dissociative state after being attacked by Betty that Candy defended herself and had no awareness of the amount of times she would hit Betty with the axe. 

    The biggest shock of the trial would be the not guilty verdict that the jury decided.  The jury believed the self defense story.  Candy would not face any punishment for the murder of Betty Gore. She was acquitted of all charges. 

    One juror would say that the jury was not caught up in the amount of blows Betty suffered stating "We determined it never had a bearing on the verdict at all - whether in was one gunshot or 1,000 whacks."

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Many Questions Remain

    If this was truly an accident, why did Candy take a shower to clean off the blood? It shows that Candy was aware enough to try to wash away the evidence. Also Allan would say that Betty never confronted him about the affair and he had just left the home only a few hours before the murder

    . Candy went home and changed clothes to go back to the church and never said anything about Betty attacking her or that she had to kill Betty in self defense.

     She left a 1 year old baby in the house alone with her dead mother and never said anything to anyone. She was also still taking care of Betty's oldest daughter that slept over the night before. 

    Was it self defense or in a jealous rage Candy murdered her competition?

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After the Verdict

    During and after the trial Pat stood by Candy but that would end after moving to Georgia. Candy would become a certified family counselor, helping family's through difficult times.  

    After divorcing Candy, Pat has lived a quiet life. Not much is known of him or his current whereabouts.

    Allan would remarry rather quickly after his wife's brutal murdered and he also moved from Wylie. He ended up losing custody of his daughters to Betty's parents. He currently lives in Florida and has been in a domestic partnership since 2016.

Courtesy of nypost.com

Where to Watch

This content reflects the personal opinions of the author. It is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and should not be substituted for impartial fact or advice in legal, political, or personal matters.