Gene Hart Found Innocent

              >G  f jT  ene  By SUSAN WITT  and JIM GIPSON  Of The Tribune Staff  PRYOR — Gene Leroy Hart today was found innocent  of killing three Girl Scouts, a verdict met with thunderous applause from Hart supporters.  The decision was called a "gross miscarriage of justice" by law enforcement officers who have struggled  for almost two years to solve the grisly murders.  Shortly after the jury left the courtroom, District  Judge William Whistler issued two contempt citations  against chief defense attorney Garvin Isaacs for his  actions during the trial and ordered the attorney to  appeaf before him this afternoon.  The six-man, six-woman jury deliberated some six  hours Thursday before retiring for the evening. They  returned to the courtroom a half-hour earlier than expected and resumed deliberations at 8:25 a.m. By 9 a.m.  they had reached a verdict.  MAYES COUNTY COURT Clerk Eloise Gist read the  three verdicts signed by jury foreman George C.  Kelly.  Hart, flanked by Isaacs and assistant Gary Pitchlynn,  placed both hands over his eyes and sobbed.  "Your honor, may I make a statement to the jury?"  Hart asked, rising and placing his weight against the  defense table.  "You may not," Whistler said.  Hart was returned to the county jail immediately after  the verdicts were read, then whisked in shackles to the  Oklahoma State Penitentiary where he faces a total of  105 years in prison for burglary, rape and kidnap  convictions.  found innocent  After the first verdict was read, some two dozen pi  sons — mainly Hart's family and friends — cried out and  began hugging each other, some of them sobbit  uncontrollably.  Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Deputy  Director Ted Lemke said he was "shocked" by t&e  verdict and called it a "gross miscarriage of justice  When reporters asked Lemke the next step, he at  wered, "I don't know.  "I just don't know," he continued. "I'm in shock. I  can't believe it. I just can't believe it.  "It's not like we're going to go out and look for a kille  We had the killer," Lemke said.  Jury foreman Kelly, speaking for the entire panel  some 30 minutes after the verdicts were read, told  throng of news media representatives the jury mer  bers "are some of the finest people I ever have work* d  with."  Kelly said the decision was unanimous but would n :  say how many ballots were taken before the verdict w;  reached.  The jury foreman thanked all those involved in t|e  trial and refused to answer further questions concernih  the case.  SEVERAL   MAYES  COUNTY   deputies,   indudir,"  Sheriff Pete Weaver, appeared to be shocked by the  verdict as they gruffly ordered the celebrants from the  third-floor courtroom.  Assistant prosecutor Ron Shaffer buried his head in  his hands when the verdict was read, and OSBI ca>  agent Cary Thiirman bolted from the courtroom  Prosecutor S.M. Fallis Jr. was not in the courtroom t*>  hear the verdict. The veteran prosecutor has a policy <  refusing to be present when a jury returns with a  verdict.  The parents of the slain girls showed little emotion  in the courtroom when the verdicts were read.  Only the mother of 8-year-old Lori Farmer burst into  tears. She buried her face in the shoulder of her husband.  All the family members broke down later in the Mayes  County district attorney's office, shaken by the  verdict.  The parents of the slain girls left the courthouse after  regaining their composure but refused to answer report  ers>' questions.  Mr. and Mrs. Richard Guse, Dr. and Mrs. Charles  Farmer, Mrs. Betty Milner and Walt Milner left the.  courthouse flanked by lawmen protecting them from  reporters' advances.  LATER, GUSE SAID he was "shocked" by the jury  returning its verdict this morning, when it was not ex  pected until after further deliberation.  "I wasn't even there for the verdict," he said. "When I  walked in the lobby, they were cheering for Mr. Hart  Gu<l- said he thought "the state presented an excellent case. The prosecution answered the question  *who.r  "We may never know 'why.'  "If he (Hart) is not the killer, who's roaming the woods  up there? What sort of animal?"  WHEN THE JURY began deliberating ^Thursday,  Guse retired to the office of a Pryor attorney'and friend  See HART, page 4A  '.v.: :■/,  Gene Leroy Hart