Eugene Britt: A Brief Biography

Over the years, Gary, Indiana has garnered a bad reputation for having an extremely high murder rate, and high crime rates. Gary has been dubbed the ‘murder capital of the U.S’. It was a steel town, that had suffered huge job losses and economic decline that had led to increased poverty, gun violence, rampant drug use, and a steep increase in crime rates.

In the mid-90’s, Gary had more than a hundred murders per year — and many of these murders would go unsolved. One of these unsolved murders, had been that of eight-year-old Sarah Lynn Paulsen. She had lived in Portage, Indiana, with her parents and siblings. Sarah Lynn had been a second-grader at Aylesworth Elementary school. She’d been a bright student, who was somewhat shy, though she had loved to make new friends. She’d loved insects, and frogs, and loved playing softball. On August 22, 1995, Sarah Lynn Paulsen had been murdered near her home in Portage, and she’d been sexually assaulted. Her partially-clothed body had been found under a pine tree, in a wooded area near her home.

Sarah’s friends and family had been absolutely devastated in losing the young girl. They didn’t know who could have done such a horrible thing to her. Parents in the neighbourhood feared that their young children could be attacked next, as Sarah’s murder was unsolved. Her killer was still out there, potentially hurting others. More than four hundred mourners filled the church for Sarah Lynn Paulsen’s funeral. They wore pink ribbons, as they grieved the young girl’s death.