Three Arrested in Murder at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival After Committing Another Murder
Three suspects have been arrested in Portland, OR in the murder of 23-year-old Canadian backpacker Audrey Carey who was found dead in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park during the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival the first weekend of October. The Quebec native was discovered Saturday October 3rd near the Golden Gate Park Golf Course at about 9:15 a.m. by a passerby, who immediately notified the San Francisco Police Department.
The death of Audrey Carey was ruled a homicide, and was originally reported by the medical examiner to have occurred by blunt force trauma to the head. However upon further inspection, medical examiners say Audrey Carey was shot in the back of the head. Audrey was traveling alone at the time of the homicide.
In a strange twist, possessions belonging to Audrey Carey were found in the vehicle of another murder victim named Steve Carter—a popular tantra teacher who was shot and killed in Fairfax, just north of San Francisco, while in a park walking his dog Coco on Monday, October 5th, two days after the Audrey Carey murder. The dog was also shot in the attack. The suspects then apparently stole Steve Carter’s vehicle and drove it to Portland, OR where they were apprehended.
Sean Michael Angold, 24, Morrison Haze Lampley, 23, and Lila Scott Alligood, 18 have all waived their right to an extradition hearing, and will be transported first to Marin County, and then to San Francisco to face murder charges. None of the suspects are said to have permanent addresses or significant paper trails. Only one of the suspects, Morrison Lampley, has a criminal record.
San Francisco police said they began working closely with Marin County investigators in the murder of Audrey Carey after they saw the similarities between the two cases. Investigators are also looking into the possibility that other crimes could have been committed by the three suspects. Another Hardly Strictly attendee and female backpacker was attacked, hit in the head, and rendered unconscious by two assailants who stole her backpack, wallet and keys as she left the festival around 8:30 p.m. Friday (8-2).
The incidents underscore the safety concerns of holding the annual festival in Golden Gate Park where many transients are known to dwell, while the free nature of the event makes it difficult for organizers to control who attends the festival.
October 9, 2015 @ 6:51 pm
This is so sad. I’m grateful I live in a country with very strict gun control laws, where it’s considered a privilege to hold a firearm’s license, not a right. Rest in Peace Audrey, Steve and Coco <3
October 9, 2015 @ 7:02 pm
Don’t make this a gun control debate.
October 9, 2015 @ 7:45 pm
The story is sad so don’t make it political .
October 12, 2015 @ 12:10 pm
I fail to see how your comment achieves anything. California already has ridiculously strict firearms purchase requirements, and makes getting a CHL next to impossible.
If anything, it could be argued that the victims were denied their basic human right to armed self-defense, but I digress.
October 13, 2015 @ 11:20 am
They stole the gun out of an UNLOCKED car of the legal owner. Someone who clearly shouldn’t be allowed to have firearms, if they don’t know how to store them correctly.
October 9, 2015 @ 6:57 pm
These are the sorts of junkie fucks that panhandle at the Wal Mart near the interstate ramp and keep their mangy dog on a rope.
If they had been illegals, Marin County would have just let them go, and I’m not kidding….
The “girl,” if you can call her that, must have been nobbing some real strange to take all those battle scars…
October 9, 2015 @ 8:49 pm
This is dumb. Lives were lost.
October 10, 2015 @ 4:58 am
Any comment that starts with “these are the sorts” can be immediately ignored.
October 9, 2015 @ 7:18 pm
I’m glad they were caught and I hope those scumbags rot in jail.
October 9, 2015 @ 7:36 pm
I’m glad I live in a country where citizens can defend themselves. I’m also glad my country was able to help bail Europe out of two world wars because the citizens had no means of defending themselves. This is sad to have to keep seeing stuff like this at festivals and concerts. I remember going to bluegrass festivals when I was a kid in the seventies and it was something me of the best memories of my youth.
October 9, 2015 @ 9:01 pm
World wars and bailouts have nothing to do with these people being murdered. If you feel bad about this stuff happening there is no need to point that stuff out. It is tragic no matter what.
October 9, 2015 @ 9:17 pm
It has to do with the first commenters comment, I found it irritating the same way you find my comment irritating.
October 10, 2015 @ 6:33 am
i’m with Bob, don’t church it up with politics about gun control, rights etc. gun legislation affects law-abiding citizens, not criminals without a paper trail.
October 11, 2015 @ 3:03 am
Yeah, because when it comes to gun deaths, the one thing we can’t talk about is guns. I’m told it is in bad taste. Political.
October 11, 2015 @ 2:58 pm
I’ll talk about it. With a gun related death it takes an asshole to pull the trigger. The gun without the asshole sits there and does nothing. I actually tested this once, I left a loaded gun on the TV stand for a month. You know what, it just sat there the whole time. So if it a drunk driver kills someone is it the car, the beer, or the asshole who done it?
October 12, 2015 @ 12:16 pm
My shotgun will not fire without a very specific set of deliberate actions being taken (if I owned a Remington 700, that sentence may be a bit different). I have to consciously load, chamber, disengage the safety, aim, and pull the trigger, among other things, or IT WILL NOT FIRE. None of this happens by accident. Ms. Carey was not killed by a firearm that “just went off” of its own volition. Blaming the weapon for a crime committed by a human being is a cop-out that conveniently ignores the fact that the murderer is the responsible party.
October 13, 2015 @ 11:25 am
Bob, if you leave a loaded gun sitting on your television, you are an irresponsible gun owner. That’s exactly what happen here…some gun loving idiot left his loaded gun in his unlocked car in downtown San Francisco, and these assholes stole it, then used it, to end two lives.
October 13, 2015 @ 6:55 pm
I forgot, I either let the criminal do as the wish or ask them to hold on while I go get my firearm from a locked cabinet. There is always someone in the home and everyone knows how to use it. We are all also concealed carry permit owners. A couple of gun loving idiot here.
October 9, 2015 @ 9:03 pm
What in fuck’s fucking fuck is wrong with people?
Hey, stop killing eachother.
October 9, 2015 @ 11:55 pm
The Hardly Stricky Bluegrass Festival is 100% FREE to enter! These people could just have as easily done what they did at the mall which is 100% FREE to enter. This heinous crime is not about where it happened. The whole thing is fucked, but it’s not about this festival. My $0.02.
October 10, 2015 @ 12:11 am
I don’t think anyone is directly blaming Hardly Strictly Bluegrass for this murder. The people to blame are the three whose mugshots are up above. But it did happen during Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.
October 10, 2015 @ 1:00 am
Trigger,
I love your in depth and amazing coverage of the music I’m fascinated with, but your headline, “Three Arrested In Murder at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival” seems a bit sensationalistic. I hate that it happened during this festival, but the festival itself had very little to do with this awful crime.
October 10, 2015 @ 7:37 am
I think the crime is what was sensational. I’m just describing what happened. I run a country music website. So the location of the crime is the reason I’m reporting on it. That doesn’t mean the location is to blame, any more than Luke Bryan is to blame when I run a story that says “95 Arrested at Luke Bryan Concert.” And what kind of hypocrite would I be if I ran stories on stabbings, murders, and rapes at big mainstream concerts, yet turned a blind eye to this just because it happened at an event with better music? Public safety is an important part of the media responsibility. When the woman was killed at Hardly Strictly, the police asked the media to help spread the information to hopefully find the killer. Take a look at the lineup of Hardly Strictly and you can see that a disproportionate amount of readers of this site are more likely to either attend Hardly Strictly, or know someone that did. When these three people were arrested, I felt the need to follow up.
I know most music websites don’t run stories like these, but I do because frankly I find them interesting and important.
October 13, 2015 @ 2:02 pm
Trigger, you said the victim was found near the golf course, do you mean the disc golf course that is in the immediate vicinity of HSB or the “ball” golf course that is on the western end of the park and a bit away from HSB?
October 13, 2015 @ 2:06 pm
I’m not really sure. The police statement said it was the “Golden Gate Park Golf Course.” I’m not familiar enough with it to be able to determine which golf course they’re referring to.
October 10, 2015 @ 1:01 am
What’s up with Willy TeaTaylor?!
October 10, 2015 @ 7:26 am
Just posted an update on his new album a couple of weeks ago.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/willy-tea-taylor-readies-release-of-anticipated-knuckleball-prime
Have a copy of the new album and once it’s released October 23rd I’m sure I’ll be posting a review and potentially other coverage.
October 11, 2015 @ 3:17 pm
It bothers me that H/S makes no mention of this on their site/twitter or facebook. No memorial, no ‘we’re saddened by the loss of life” it is just skipped. They were able to retweet someone losing their wedding ring though. Apparently that is more important than the loss of life.
October 11, 2015 @ 4:50 pm
I have yet to see confirmation on whether the victim was actually attending Hardly Strictly Bluegrass or was just there sort of on the periphery. But since it happened right where the festival was, it may have been helpful for the fest to put the word out just in case somebody saw or heard something. In the end they caught the assailants so I guess it’s moot. Maybe they don’t want to draw attention to the incident. That is why they’re not saying anything about it.
October 12, 2015 @ 6:35 am
Oh, I thought the person was in attendance, after reading your comment and another article, it seems as if they arent sure that the person was there for the festival, may have just been in the area. Still, really sad that this happened.
October 12, 2015 @ 8:24 pm
There are a lot of homeless/transient people in the Bay Area, and very few of them go around killing people just for kicks. This is horrible. It’s not an argument against having the festival in Golden Gate Park….any more than Cary Stayner’s killing spree meant that no one should go to Yosemite. There are screwed up people all over the place.
July 15, 2018 @ 1:45 am
We speak English here, so you should least try to apply yourself in grammatical and/or dialogue skills. Thanks.