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Kristin Chenoweth Describes How She Survived Brutal 1977 ‘Girl Scout’ Rape And Murders

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Kay Smythe News and Commentary Writer
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Tony Award-winning Broadway, television, and film star Kristin Chenoweth survived the brutal 1977 rape and murder at a Girl Scout retreat in Oklahoma and is finally opening up about the experience.

Chenoweth says “this is a story I wish I never had to tell,” in the chilling ABC News Studio trailer for “Keeper of the Ashes: The Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders.” The four-part series will stream exclusively on Hulu in May, chronicling the 1977 rape and murder of three children, as well as the latest advancements in finding the assailant.

Lori Lee, 8, Michele Guse, 9, and Doris Milner, 10, were strangled and mutilated, their bodies left under a tree about 100 yards from the tent they were camping in as part of a two-week Girl Scout trip in Oklahoma, People reported. “It haunts me every day. But this story, it needs to be told,” Chenoweth continues, describing how she was supposed to be a part of the Girl Scout camping trip.

“I remember I should have been on that trip, but I had gotten sick, and mom said, ‘You can’t go,'” Chenoweth says in the trailer, “It stuck with me my whole life. I could have been one of them.” The murders were initially pinned on a local prison escapee Gene Leroy Hart, but he was acquitted, according to People. (RELATED: Man Arrested For Rape Of Woman Found Dead 32 Years Ago, Prosecutor’s Office Says)

The series will delve into the new evidence suggesting that Hart may have been the culprit responsible for the heinous attacks. Though the new evidence was technically inconclusive, Tulsa World reported that the case against Hart, who died in 1979, strongly suggests his involvement.

You can watch the trailer below.