gene leroy hart (november 27, 1943 - june 4, 1979), the only suspect in the case, had been at large since 1973 after escaping from the mayes county jail. he had been convicted of kidnapping and raping two pregnant women as well as four counts of first degree burglary. hart was raised about a mile from camp scott. hart, a cherokee, was arrested within a year at the home of a cherokee medicine man. he was represented by garvin a. isaacs, a local oklahoma attorney. he was tried in march 1979. although the local sheriff pronounced himself "one thousand percent" certain that hart was guilty, a local jury acquitted him. on june 4, 1979, hart collapsed from a heart attack and died after about an hour of lifting weights and jogging in the prison exercise yard.