INSIDE CARLA WILHITE'S PRE-TRIAL TESTIMONY — PART TWO

CAMP SCOTT — As promised, here's Part Two of counselor Carla Wilhite's pre-trial testimony. Fair warning y’all, this one ended up being a little over eight pages long by the time we finished putting it together, so bear with us. There's a lot to unpack in this portion of her testimony, and we wanted to make sure we covered all our bases.

This portion of Carla's pre-trial testimony shifted away from the horrific discovery that morning of June 12th and focused more on the days leading up to the murders, camp security, the layout of the counselors' tent, and the personal items she later realized had gone missing.

Wilhite explained that after the murders, the counselors weren't allowed back into the Kiowa Unit. It wasn't until June 14th, when the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and OSBI escorted them back to collect their things, that she realized her glasses were missing. She was then asked whether she wore glasses all the time, and she testified that she did. Wilhite also explained that she had brought two pairs of glasses with her to camp. When asked to describe the missing pair, she said they had plastic frames and had been stored inside a red glasses case with silver and gold trim around the edges. She also testified that she discovered her guitar capo was missing as well. And for anyone who's not familiar with a capo, it's a small accessory that clamps onto the neck of a guitar to raise the pitch of the strings.

The night before the murders, on June 12th, Wilhite testified that she had placed both the glasses and the capo inside her orange storage crate. She described the crate in detail, explaining that it had a shelf inside, with a candle and an alarm clock sitting on top. Her bed was on the left side of the counselors' tent as you walked in, and the crate sat near the head of her bed, close to the front entrance of the tent. She also recalled that when she went to bed that night, the front flap of the tent had been rolled up while the side flaps remained down. According to her testimony, that was done intentionally so the counselors could keep an eye on the Scouts throughout the night.

The prosecution then showed Wilhite several photos and asked her to explain to the court what she was looking at. She identified one photo as her guitar capo, another as her missing glasses, and another as the red glasses case with the silver and gold trim around the edges. She also confirmed that both the glasses and the capo had been sitting on the shelf inside her orange crate that night before they disappeared. At that point, the proceedings briefly paused for what's called a voir dire examination. In plain English, that's when the attorneys question a witness about certain pieces of evidence before the judge decides whether they can be admitted for the jury to see.

Defense attorney Mr. Isaacs then questioned Wilhite about the photos, asking whether she had personally seen where they were taken. She testified that she had not. Wilhite said she assumed the photos had been taken in Mayes County because the items had been in her possession until they disappeared, but she acknowledged that she didn't actually know where the photos of the glasses, glasses case, or capo had been taken. Mr. Isaacs also asked when she first saw those items again after the murders. Wilhite testified that she didn't see any of them until June 14th because the counselors had not been allowed back into the Kiowa Unit before then after the morning of June 13th.

Once that line of questioning wrapped up, the defense said it had no objection to the photos being admitted into evidence, as long as they were used only to identify the items as Wilhite's property. The judge agreed and admitted them into evidence. The prosecution then shifted to something that might not seem important at first glance, but they spent quite a bit of time discussing it: a towel.

Wilhite testified that all of the counselors shared a towel that belonged to Emery. According to her testimony, Emery had draped the towel over the front edge of the counselors' tent near her bed, and Wilhite went on to confirm it was still hanging there in the same spot on the morning of June 13th. The prosecutor then asked her whether someone reaching into the tent to take Wilhite's glasses and capo would have had to reach over the towel. The defense objected, arguing it was a leading question, and the judge agreed, instructing the prosecutor to rephrase it. After the question was reworded, Wilhite then said that the towel wasn't directly in front of her storage crate. She explained that the crate sat closer to the front step of the tent, while the towel hung a little farther toward the side, although the two were only inches apart.

The prosecution wrapped up its direct examination by asking Wilhite how old she had been during the summer of 1977. She testified that she was just 18 years old at the time. With that, the prosecution was finished, and it was now the defense's turn. Mr. Isaacs then began his cross-examination of Wilhite.

Mr. Isaacs first asked Wilhite to walk the court back through orientation week before the campers arrived. She testified that during the pre-camp campout, the counselors attended classes on fire building, tool safety, knot tying, and how to properly set up and secure the tents. She even listed several of the knots they learned, including slip knots, half hitches, square knots, flagpole knots, and friendship knots. According to Wilhite, the knot-tying lesson lasted less than an hour, while the fire-building class took longer because some counselors needed extra practice.

The defense then shifted the conversation to how Scouts were assigned. Wilhite testified that Camp Director Day assigned the counselors to their units several days before camp began and had already grouped the Scouts into tents. But, the counselors did not have to follow that and once the girls arrived, they let them choose which tents they wanted to stay in.

Camp security also became a major topic during cross examination. According to Wilhite, a man named Ben had the keys to the camp buildings, though she wasn't sure whether the Camp Director also had keys. She then testified they received very little security training because, as far as she knew, Camp Scott had never experienced serious problems in the past. Counselors had been told there had been a few prowlers over the years, but nothing had ever been stolen or damaged. And if they did happen to encounter someone who wasn't supposed to be on camp property, they were simply instructed to tell them to leave. When asked whether she'd ever personally seen a prowler, Wilhite said she'd seen people accidentally drive onto camp property asking for directions, but she wouldn't necessarily describe those people as prowlers.

The defense then asked whether anything unusual happened during orientation week. Wilhite recalled injuring her back while lifting sailboats on either Wednesday or Thursday afternoon of that week. She said she was given Tylenol with codeine, which made her sleep through much of the afternoon. That night, instead of sleeping in the infirmary, she decided to sleep on the floor inside the staff house because it was closer to the camp units.

Wilhite then testified that sometime during the night, she heard what sounded like someone brushing or scratching against the outside of the staff house. She called out, "Who's there?" but no one answered. She then testified that she heard what sounded like footsteps walking away. At that point, she put on her glasses, listened for a moment, heard the footsteps again, and looked out the front window to see if she could spot anyone.

She testified that the camp dog, Sally, suddenly came running from the direction of the Woodward house and immediately began barking and growling. Wilhite said she never saw what Sally was reacting to, but it frightened her enough that she grabbed her blanket and ran to wake Elder. According to her testimony, Elder and several other counselors stayed with her until she fell asleep again, and later Jody Davis came into the staff house and remained there for the rest of the night.

The defense also asked Wilhite about a six-inch tear in one of the tent flaps. She testified that she had noticed the tear during orientation week but didn't know what had caused it. She said it could have been from the weather, or it could have been caused by something else, but she really didn't know.

The questioning then shifted to camp equipment. Wilhite testified that the tent ropes stayed with each tent and that replacement ropes could be picked up at the Chick Hut if they were needed. She also recalled that Camp Scott once had a large coil of nylon rope, but believed it had all been used over the years replacing worn-out tent ropes. She said that she knew what duct tape and bookbinding tape were, but had never seen either one used at Camp Scott. As far as she knew, tape simply wasn't used for making repairs around camp.

The defense then circled back to the topic of camp security. Wilhite testified that either Camp Director Day or Ben was responsible for locking the camp gate each night. She also said that Ben had originally set up the tents before camp began, possibly with help from his daughters. During her testimony, she identified the tent with the six-inch tear as either Tent Two or Tent Three. She went on to explain that before orientation week ended, the counselors inspected each unit, checked the tent ropes and flies, and made note of any repairs or supplies that were needed. According to Wilhite, that's when the tear in the tent flap was first documented.

When asked what she did after the pre-camp campout ended, Wilhite testified that she left Camp Scott shortly after noon that Friday and spent the weekend with her parents in Sand Springs. She said she returned to camp around noon on Sunday with fellow counselor Jody. Wilhite also recalled that Jody was driving a white vehicle with several friends riding with her.

She then explained that once they arrived back at Camp Scott, she, Elder, and Emery stocked the Kiowa Unit with supplies and waited for the Girl Scouts to arrive around 2:30 that afternoon. She testified that they greeted each bus with a roster, checked off each Scouts' name, helped the girls carry their luggage to the tents, showed them how to roll up the tent flaps, and helped them get their beds set up. According to Wilhite, the Scouts only had enough time to get settled before dinner around 6:00 p.m. After dinner, the counselors gathered everyone at the unit kitchen, played icebreaker games, answered questions, and introduced the Scouts to "camp life".

At this point in the testimony, Wilhite basically recapped everything she had already testified to during Part One about the evening of June 12th, so rather than repeat all of that again, we'll move on to the new information.

Wilhite testified the Kiowa Unit had a green box-style flashlight, although she couldn't remember whether it was a Rayovac or Eveready. She also testified that she, Emery, and Elder were all wearing tennis shoes that night because they were standard camp footwear. Wilhite believed hers were Converse with a wavy tread pattern. She added that many campers wore Converse-style shoes as well, while others commonly wore what were called "Blue Tips."

The questioning then turned to the counselors' responsibilities that night of the 12th. Wilhite explained that Elder was "sitting hill," meaning she was the counselor in charge of the Kiowa Unit that night, making sure the girls settled down and got to bed. Since Elder was handling those duties, Wilhite had about a two-hour break. A little after 9:00 p.m., she and Emery walked to the staff house before continuing on to the Arapaho Unit, which she estimated was about a football field away. She testified that they visited with the other counselors, played guitar for a while, and left around 11:15 p.m. Wilhite testified she walked back to Kiowa alone using the back truck road and didn't see or hear anything unusual. After returning, she noticed a few tents were still noisy, told Elder to go back to sleep, and made one final round through the unit herself.

A short time later, several girls from Tent One got up to use the latrine. Wilhite testified that while they were gone, she heard what sounded like loud banging coming from that direction. She assumed the girls were slamming the toilet lids, but when they returned, she asked them what all the noise was about. According to her testimony, the girls told her they had only gone to the bathroom and denied banging on anything. As she continued making her rounds through the Kiowa Unit, Wilhite testified that she used her flashlight but didn't see anyone who wasn't supposed to be there. She estimated all of this happened sometime between midnight and 12:30 a.m.

Later that night, Wilhite testified she got up again after hearing girls in Tent Four laughing and giggling. That's when she heard the strange noise that has become one of the most talked-about parts of this case over the years. She described it as sounding somewhere between a foghorn, a frog, and a snore. Believing the sound came from the brush beyond the camp fence near neighboring property owned by John Cavalier, Wilhite grabbed her flashlight and went to check it out. She testified that she never saw a person, never saw an animal, and didn't find anything unusual. In her opinion, whatever made the noise was on the other side of the fence, not inside Camp Scott. After looking around, she walked past Tents Six and Seven, found everything quiet, and finally went to bed. She also testified that Emery's towel was still hanging over the front of the counselors' tent and confirmed she had not used it to wipe her feet.

The questioning then returned to the morning of June 13th. Wilhite said she woke to her alarm clock and walked toward the tree where the sleeping bags had been found. She said she was there only a couple of minutes and didn't notice any tape, flashlight, glasses, glasses case, photographs, or other items near the bodies. She estimated she came within about five feet of one of the victims.

Once Wilhite realized something was terribly wrong, she testified that she ran back to the counselors' tent and alerted Elder. The counselors immediately began counting campers. Wilhite said she had made it to Tent Three when Elder yelled that there was blood inside Tent Seven and that the girls and their sleeping bags were gone. Wilhite then looked inside Tent Seven herself and testified that she saw blood on both the mattress and the floor. At that moment, she said she still believed only one victim had been found and initially wondered if one of the girls had simply started her period.

Wilhite testified that she instructed Elder and Emery to stay with the remaining Scouts while she ran for help. As she made her way toward the staff area, she heard a scream. She later learned it came from Emery after she had gone to the scene. Wilhite testified that she found camp nurse Mary Ann Alaback and told her there was a body in the road and that she needed to come immediately. She then notified Director Day and Richard Day, and the three of them returned to the Kiowa Unit together.

According to Wilhite's testimony, Richard Day briefly checked the victims and commented that it appeared one of the girls may have been r*ped, although he said he couldn't say that was for sure. Wilhite then said camp nurse Alaback became emotional, while Director Day left to notify law enforcement. Director Day then instructed Wilhite to evacuate the remaining Scouts before officers arrived. Wilhite testified that she led the girls out of the Kiowa Unit using the back route and didn't notice anything unusual as they left the area.

Before leaving, she briefly returned to the counselors' tent. Emery's towel was still hanging exactly where it had been the night before. Wilhite also testified that she still didn't realize her glasses or guitar capo were missing because she was wearing her other pair of glasses.

Wilhite testified that she spent the rest of the morning at the Great Hall and didn't return to the Kiowa Unit again that day. She estimated that she left Camp Scott sometime between 5:00 and 6:00 that evening after being interviewed by investigators.

The next day, June 14th, she returned to Camp Scott. It was then, while gathering her things, that she finally realized her glasses, glasses case, and guitar capo were missing. Wilhite testified that she then met with OSBI investigators in the back of her father's pickup truck and told them those were the only items missing from her tent. She also described the orange crate again, explaining it wasn't attached to the floor and measured roughly two and a half feet tall by about two feet wide.

One detail we hadn't heard before involved Emery's towel. Wilhite testified that she remembered seeing it lying near Emery's bed and asked if she planned to take it with her. According to Wilhite, Emery replied that she couldn't because it had become evidence. Wilhite then said she took a closer look at the towel and noticed what appeared to be a small smear of blood on it, about the amount someone might leave after wiping a cut on their hand or foot. She went on to testify that she never saw anyone collect the towel and doesn't know what ended up happening to it. The defense attorney also asked Wilhite whether it appeared that any of the blood inside Tent Seven had been wiped up. She repeatedly said that she couldn't answer that question because she never went back inside the tent after the bodies were discovered. According to her testimony, she had only briefly looked inside while helping evacuate the Scouts from the area.

The defense also questioned Wilhite about the multiple interviews she had with OSBI investigators. She said that she was interviewed on June 13th, again on June 14th, and then returned to Camp Scott once more on June 15th after investigators asked her to. During one of those interviews, Wilhite testified that investigators asked whether there were any "homos*xuals working at Camp Scott" and whether she herself was homos*xual. Wilhite testified that she told investigators no, she was not.

She also testified that investigators collected elimination samples from her, including head hair, pubic hair, fingerprints, blood, and saliva. According to Wilhite, fellow counselor Nan Cook underwent the same process. Investigators also questioned her about a particular pair of Red Wing tennis shoes described as brown or gold with a circular tread pattern. Wilhite testified that the description didn't match anyone's shoes that she knew at Camp Scott.

She also recalled that Emery's boyfriend visited camp before the Scouts arrived while the counselors were moving into the Kiowa Unit. However, Wilhite testified that she didn't know his name or what kind of car he drove. Near the end of her testimony, Wilhite stated that investigators never mentioned Gene Leroy Hart's name during any of her interviews. She also testified that everything she told the court was consistent with what she had previously told investigators.

Finally, Wilhite said that she didn't know of anyone entering Tent Seven after the murders and said she initially believed only one victim had been found until the other counselors told her there were actually three. With that, Carla Wilhite was excused from the witness stand.

Phew... that was a long one. And with that, we officially wrap up Carla Wilhite's pre-trial testimony. Up next in our series, we'll walk through the pre-trial testimony of Camp Director Barbara Day.

We know this has been a lengthy series, but nearly 50 years later, we believe these three little girls still deserve to have their story told as thoroughly and accurately as possible. If you've stuck with us through both parts, thank y'all. We truly appreciate you taking the time to follow along as we continue working through the testimony, one witness at a time.


Source: Official pretrial court transcripts.