On the morning of Tuesday, November 6, 2001, three women were murdered at The Hair Gallery in Florence, Montana. Salon owner Dorothy Harris, 62, was found dead near the doorway; manicurist Brenda Patch, 44, and her client, 71-year-old Cynthia Paulus were discovered in a small utility room. Investigators determined all three had their throats slit with a sharp instrument. The utility room was described as a battle scene, and police believe Patch and Paulus were killed there after being forced to kneel, with Harris returning minutes later and then slain.

There was no sign of sexual assault and no money or valuables missing, though a couple of salon capes were unaccounted for. A witness reported seeing an oddly dressed person in a wide-brimmed hat and long black coat leaving the salon around the time of the killings; that individual was never identified. In April 2008 two men were federally charged in connection with the crime, but by January 2010 those murder-related charges had been dropped and the killings remain unsolved and under investigation.