Gregory Dale Pruit

Date Found: July 3, 1987

Location: Bryan County, Oklahoma

Investigating Agency: Bryan County Sheriff’s Office

(580) 924-3000

Gregory Dale Pruit was found murdered in Bryan County, Oklahoma on July 3rd, 1987. In 1989, Buck “Rufe” Murrah was charged with 1st degree murder and acquitted November 11th, 1989 after a two week trial. Gregory’s case remains unsolved.

On July 3rd, someone found Gregory’s body 25 yards from his car, two miles south of Caddo, Oklahoma, on an on-ramp to US Highways 69 and 75. The 24-year-old had suffered a fatal shooting with a .12 gauge shotgun—once in the upper body and three times in the head.

In 1988, police arrested Buck “Rufe” Murrah in Bowling Green, Ohio, for the murder of Gregory. The Ohio truck driver went to trial in 1989. The trial lasted for two weeks with upwards of 90 witnesses testifying. After an hour and 40 minutes of deliberation the jury found Buck not guilty of 1st degree murder. During the trial Buck’s ex-girlfriend testified that Buck told her on July 4th, 1987, “I shot a f@gg0t in Oklahoma.” She also testified that she found pin-sized blood stains on his khakis while doing his laundry. She didn’t initially come forward when hearing about Gregory’s murder because she feared for her life and the life of her teenaged son.

Gregory was born February 4th, 1963 in California. He attended Atoka Public Schools and graduated from Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He was a teacher in Valliant, Oklahoma.

Please call the Bryan County Sheriff at (580) 924-3000 with any information in the cold-blooded murder of Gregory Dale Pruit.