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Posted on 11/05/2002 4:37:02 AM PST by KS Flyover
Today, Jonathan and Reginald Carr begin fighting for their lives.A jury Monday found the brothers guilty of killing four Wichita residents on Dec. 15, 2000.
Now, the jury must decide whether to sentence the brothers to death. Judge Paul Clark ordered the penalty phase of the trial to begin this morning.
"Justice has been served -- and it is long awaited," Chief Deputy District Attorney Kim Parker said.
Jurors found Reginald Carr, 24, guilty of all 50 crimes charged against him, including the capital murders of Dec. 15, the first-degree murder of Ann Walenta four days earlier and the Dec. 7 carjacking and robbery of Andrew Schreiber.
Earlier in the day, Clark denied a request by jurors to consider lesser charges than first-degree felony murder in the death of Walenta, a cellist with the Wichita Symphony who died Jan 2, 2001, from her wounds. The jury convicted both of the Carrs on the original charge.
The jury also found Jonathan Carr, 22, guilty of the four capital murders and 39 other crimes. But jurors found him not guilty of four crimes related to the carjacking of Schreiber. The former Wichita State University baseball player could not identify Jonathan Carr as one of his attackers.
"This obviously was a thinking person's jury," District Attorney Nola Foulston said afterward. "They gave grave consideration to the responsibility they have."
Tears fell throughout the courtroom as the verdicts were read, but not from the Carrs.
As he left the courtroom after the verdict, Reginald Carr appeared to smile and wink at family members of victims.
Jonathan Carr didn't look at the victims' families, staring straight ahead as guards escorted him back to the Sedgwick County Jail.
The guilty verdicts included convictions on multiple counts of rape, aggravated sodomy and robbery, crimes that prosecutors say were part of a three-hour ordeal that five friends endured before they were driven to a soccer field near K-96 and Greenwich Road.
Jason Befort, Aaron Sander, Heather Muller, Brad Heyka and another woman were forced to kneel in the snow before being shot in the back of the head.
The first four were killed, but the woman survived because a plastic hair clip diverted the bullet. Bleeding from her wounds, she ran a mile to the nearest house to call for help. She provided the most damaging testimony of the trial.
The jury -- which deliberated for about 12 hours over three days -- found the Carrs guilty of not only raping the survivor and another woman but also of rapes against the three male victims. That was based on the men being forced at gunpoint to have sex with the women.
Monday, emotions began simmering when it became clear the jury found the two men guilty of capital murder.
By the time court adjourned, family members of the five who were killed -- along with the two survivors -- hugged police detectives and prosecutors.
"The reaction of the family was as we expected, one of relief," Foulston said, saying the family members themselves wished to decline comment.
Parker shed tears as she received hugs from relatives of victims and officers.
"I've waited on a lot of juries before, and you never know what a jury will do," Parker said. "But this case did have overwhelming evidence.... This has been a very long process."
The eight-week trial included more than 800 exhibits, including DNA linking both brothers to the scene andmassive amounts of property belonging to all the victims that was found in the brothers' possession when they were arrested.
After the verdict, Foulston praised the community, which provided valuable tips to help police make quick arrests and catch the Carrs still holding evidence from the crime.
"This showed a true community policing effort," Foulston said.
Said Wichita Police Chief Norman Williams: "I've been here 28 years, and this is probably the most significant case as far as having a rippling effect on the community. It was a case that the community can feel good about because it was a community effort involving everything, including citizens stepping forward."
The courtroom was well-guarded during the reading of the verdict. It was filled with members of the Police Department's homicide division and gang unit, as well as at least 10 Sedgwick County sheriff's deputies.
Defense lawyers had little to say.
"The trial is not over," said Val Wachtel, lawyer for Reginald Carr.
The defense will begin presenting witnesses today from the Carrs' family, as well as mental health professionals, to show why the jury should return a sentence of less than death.
Foulston said she has known from the beginning what the punishment should be.
"Without equivocation, without hesitation," she said, "I decided to seek the death penalty against both Jonathan and Reginald Carr."
Contributing: Hurst Laviana of The Eagle; Associated Press.
Jury must be unanimous for sentence to be death
By Ron Sylvester - The Wichita Eagle - Tue, Nov. 05, 2002
The jury that convicted Jonathan and Reginald Carr on multiple counts of capital murder will now decide whether the brothers live or die.
The sentencing phase of the Carr brothers' death penalty trial begins today. Prosecutors and defense lawyers may present additional evidence on why the jury should or should not impose a death sentence.
There will be no hung juries in this stage of the trial. Under Kansas law, juries must unanimously decide to impose the death penalty. One dissenter will mean life in prison for the Dodge City brothers.
With 93 convictions between them, Judge Paul Clark could stack sentencing, making neither brother ever eligible for parole.
The exact sentence length has yet to be decided, however. Prosecutors and defense lawyers were hammering out jury instructions for the sentencing phase, just in case, when the verdict came down Monday afternoon. Now, those instructions will be necessary.
The jury will learn what the nondeath ranges of punishment will be. That's the result of a state Supreme Court ruling last year that said juries should be able to consider prison terms in their death deliberations.
The bulk of the penalty phase should belong to the defense as it presents what the law terms as mitigation -- reasons the jury should consider life in prison over lethal injection. But the law says mitigators are not considered excuses or meant to diminish the severity of the crime.
The state, meanwhile, must present its reasons to impose death -- known as aggravators.
"The state's objective is to prove the aggravators outweigh the mitigators," District Attorney Nola Foulston said after Monday's verdict.
The law outlines what aggravators the state may use to seek the death penalty. Foulston outlined the four she will pursue in the penalty phase:
More than one person was killed.Defense lawyers, who declined to comment after the verdicts, are expected to call mental health professionals and the defendant's relatives.The killing was done for financial gain .
The murders took place to eliminate witnesses and avoid prosecution.
The killings were carried out in an atrocious manner.
The state often doesn't have to provide any additional evidence, other than cross-examining the defense witnesses. Foulston said the verdicts showed the strength of their case.
But testimony isn't the only factor jurors can consider. They may also decide on life in prison based on any reason they choose, even if it's not presented by the defense.
For detais about the murders see: The Wichita MassacreWichita Massacre Trial Threads:
Wichita to revisit brutal slayings as testimony begins - 10/07/2002
Deputy recalls moment of discovering bodies [Wichita Murders] Day 1 - 10/07/2002
WICHITA MASSACRE TRIAL UNDERWAY Day 1 - 10/08/2002
Legal wrangling opens Carr trial [Wichita Murders] Day 1 - 10/08/2002
Carr trial: Survivor describes sexual attacks by armed intruders [Wichita Massacre] Day 2 - 10/09/2002
Witchita Case of Black Racist Crime Survivor's testimony horrifies courtroom Day 2 - 10/10/2002
Woman testifies that Carrs killed her friends in a soccer field [Wichita Massacre Day 3] - 10/10/2002
Prosecutors Downplay Racial Element in Kansas Murder Trial - 10/11/2002
Reginald Carr had $996, victims' credit card, watch [Wichita Massacre Day 4] - 10/11/2002
Wichita Massacre Audio of 911 Call by Female Survivor with Court Room Video Footage From Day 1- 10/11/2002
Victims' belongings linked to defendant [Wichita Massacre Day 5] - 10/12/2002
Trial opens window into night of fear - 10/13/2002
Media Ignore Kansas Interracial Mass Murder - 10/14/2002
AP Finally Reports Wichita Trial... But Mentions "White Supremacist" Support - 10/14/2002
Nosey mom tips off cops (Wichita Massacre) Day 6 - 10/15/2002
'I was afraid,' witness says [Wichita Massacre Day 6] - 10/15/2002
ATM photos shown in Carr trial [Wichita Massacre Day 7] - 10/16/2002
Testimony on cellist slaying fills Carr trial [Wichita Massacre Day 8] - 10/17/2002
Survivor says she caught STD [Wichita Massacre Day 9] - 10/18/2002
Carr trial to focus on guns and DNA [Wichita Massacre Day 10] - 10/19/2002
Luck, vivid memories helped cops [Wichita Massacre] - 10/20/2002
Wichita Massacre -- The Latest in the Black Racist Hate Crime Trial - Carrs linked to crime scene - Day 11 - 10/22/2002
Hate crime reversed - By Armstrong Williams - 10/23/2002
Evidence in Carr trial gruesome, unavoidable [Wichita Massacre Day 12] - 10/23/2002
Jurors view Wichita crime scenes / DNA ties Carrs to victims [Wichita Massacre day 13] - 10/24/2002
State to rest case against the Carrs [Wichita Massacre Day 14] - 10/25/2002
State rests; Carrs begin their side [Wichita Massacre Day 15] - 10/26/2002
DNA lets the dead speak in Carr trial [Wichita Massacre] - 10/27/2002
Carr jurors get break as deliberation rules ironed out [Wichita Massacre] - 10/28/2002
Multiple-killings suspect unlikely to testify [Wichita Massacre] - 10/29/2002
Survivor's police interview rattles Carr trial jurors [Wichita Massacre Day 16] - 10/30/2002
Carrs' defense rests; jury deliberation near [Wichita Massacre Day 17] - 10/31/2002
Deliberations begin in Carr trial - Closing arguments move juror to tears [Wichita Massacre Day 18] - 11/01/2002
Carr jury recesses for weekend [Wichita Massacre] - 11/02/2002
Behind the scenes during the Carr trial [Wichita Massacre] - 11/03/2002Carr Brothers Guilty! - Carr Brothers GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY! - Carr Brothers Found Guilty of Capital Murder - 11/04/2002
"Wichita Massacre" murder trial "Ping List"Please let me know if you want on (or off) this list.
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Too bad we can't bring back Breaking on the Wheel or Drawing and Quartering.
You might hurt someone's feelings, you know, 8)
Funny how the article does not say the criminals were black and ALL the victims were white.Good point!
During Trial
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