Defense Seeks Mercy in Kan. Murders [Wichita Horror]

AP via Yahoo! News ^ | Tue, Nov 05, 2002 | ROXANA HEGEMAN

[Conagher]

Reginald Carr watches as the jury is polled on their verdict in his murder trial, Monday, Nov. 4, 2002, in Wichita, Kan. Reginald, along with his brother, Jonathan, were found guilty of four counts of capital murder for the execution-style killing of four people two years ago in a soccer field. (AP Photo/Dave Williams, POOL)

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Defense attorneys pleaded with jurors Tuesday to show mercy on two brothers who were convicted of five killings, including a quadruple murder of friends who were forced to engage in sex acts before each was shot in the head.

Reginald Carr, 24, and Jonathan Carr, 22, did not show any visible reaction when they were convicted Monday after a nearly two-month trial. On Tuesday, jurors began considering whether they should be sentence to death or to life in prison.

"We accept your verdict. We understand it. We respect what you have done in this case," Jay Greeno, an attorney for Reginald Carr, said in his opening statement in the penalty phase.

Defense attorney Ron Evans told jurors Jonathan Carr had no serious involvement with the law before the crime spree. And both attorneys said the brothers had a troubled childhood.

"This was a very dysfunctional family — they fought, they drank, they drugged in front of the kids," Evans said.

Prosecutors, who argued that the defendants were motivated by greed and lust, told jurors that the two should be put to death.

In December 2000, prosecutors said, the men entered a Wichita home and forced two women and three men inside to engage in sexual acts with each other and to withdraw money from ATMs.

The women were repeatedly raped before all five friends were taken to a soccer field, forced to kneel in the snow and shot in the back of the head.

The Carrs were convicted of capital murder in the deaths of four of them: Aaron Sander, 29; Brad Heyka, 27; Jason Befort, 26; and Heather Muller, 25.

"I ask you to extend mercy to Reginald Carr that he did not extend to those four individuals," Greeno said to jurors Tuesday.

The fifth friend, then a 25-year-old teacher, survived the shooting and ran bleeding and naked through the snow to seek help. She identified the Carr brothers as the assailants and testified how she remembered her boyfriend, Befort, beg "Please, no," as the shooting began.

The brothers were also convicted of first-degree murder for the shooting of Wichita symphony cellist Ann Walenta, also in December 2000.

During the main phase of the trial, lawyers for each of the brothers sought to blame the other. Jonathan Carr's attorney said Reginald was the leader in the quadruple murder. Reginald Carr's attorney contended that most DNA evidence pointed to Jonathan.

More than 850 pieces of evidence were introduced and 97 witnesses testified.

After Monday's verdict, the victims' relatives hugged one another, as well as prosecutors and an investigator who worked on the case.

"This should not happen in Wichita," Detective Ken Landwehr said outside of court. "That scene ... was a war, rather than anything else. It belonged in Bosnia."

The case has become a rallying cry for white supremacists groups across the nation because the defendants are black while the victims were white. But prosecutors did not cite racial hatred as a motive.

[Conagher]

In case anybody's counting, here's the score against the duo:

THE COUNTS AND THE VERDICTS

Reginald Carr: Guilty on all 50 counts, including four counts of capital murder, one of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder and multiple counts of aggravated kidnapping and robbery.

Count Charge Verdict 1. Capital murder, Heather Muller Guilty 2. Capital murder, Aaron Sander Guilty 3. Capital murder, Brad Heyka Guilty 4. Capital murder, Jason Befort Guilty 5. Attempted first-degree murder, survivor* Guilty 6. Aggravated kidnapping, Heather Muller Guilty 7. Aggravated kidnapping, Aaron Sander Guilty 8. Aggravated kidnapping, Brad Heyka Guilty 9. Aggravated kidnapping, Jason Befort Guilty 10. Aggravated kidnapping, survivor Guilty 11. Aggravated robbery, Heather Muller Guilty 12. Aggravated robbery, Aaron Sander Guilty 13. Aggravated robbery, Brad Heyka Guilty 14. Aggravated robbery, Jason Befort Guilty 15. Aggravated robbery, survivor Guilty 16. Aggravated burglary Guilty 17. Rape, survivor Guilty 18. Rape, Heather Muller Guilty 19. Aggravated criminal sodomy, survivor Guilty 20. Aggravated criminal sodomy, Heather Muller Guilty 21. Rape, survivor Guilty 22. Rape, Brad Heyka Guilty 23. Rape, survivor Guilty 24. Rape, Jason Befort Guilty 25. Rape, survivor Guilty 26. Rape, Aaron Sander Guilty 27. Attempted rape, Aaron Sander Guilty 28. Attempted rape, Heather Muller Guilty 29. Attempted rape, Jason Befort Guilty 30. Attempted rape, Heather Muller Guilty 31. Attempted rape, Brad Heyka Guilty 32. Attempted rape, Heather Muller Guilty 33. Rape, survivor Guilty 34. Rape, survivor Guilty 35. Attempted rape, Heather Muller Guilty 36. Rape, survivor Guilty 37. Aggravated criminal sodomy Guilty 38. Rape, Heather Muller Guilty 39. Rape, survivor Guilty 40. Burglary Guilty 41. Theft Guilty 42. Cruelty to animals Guilty 43. First-degree murder, Linda A. Walenta Guilty 44. Kidnapping, Andrew Schreiber Guilty 45. Aggravated robbery, Andrew Schreiber Guilty 46. Aggravated battery, Andrew Schreiber Guilty 47. Criminal damage to property, Andrew Schreiber Guilty 48. Criminal possession of a firearm Guilty 49. Criminal possession of a firearm Guilty 50. Criminal possession of a firearm Guilty

Jonathan Carr: Guilty on all but four charges, which involved the kidnapping and robbery of Andrew Schreiber.

Count Charge Verdict 1. Capital murder, Heather Muller Guilty 2. Capital murder, Aaron Sander Guilty 3. Capital murder, Brad Heyka Guilty 4. Capital murder, Jason Befort Guilty 5. Attempted first-degree murder, survivor Guilty 6. Aggravated kidnapping, Heather Muller Guilty 7. Aggravated kidnapping, Aaron Sander Guilty 8. Aggravated kidnapping, Brad Heyka Guilty 9. Aggravated kidnapping, Jason Befort Guilty 10. Aggravated kidnapping, survivor Guilty 11. Aggravated robbery, Heather Muller Guilty 12. Aggravated robbery, Aaron Sander Guilty 13. Aggravated robbery, Brad Heyka Guilty 14. Aggravated robbery, Jason Befort Guilty 15. Aggravated robbery, survivor Guilty 16. Aggravated burglary Guilty 17. Rape, survivor Guilty 18. Rape, Heather Muller Guilty 19. Aggravated criminal sodomy, survivor Guilty 20. Aggravated criminal sodomy, Heather Muller Guilty 21. Rape, survivor Guilty 22. Rape, Brad Heyka Guilty 23. Rape, survivor Guilty 24. Rape, Jason Befort Guilty 25. Rape, survivor Guilty 26. Rape, Aaron Sander Guilty 27. Attempted rape, Aaron Sander Guilty 28. Attempted rape, Heather Muller Guilty 29. Attempted rape, Jason Befort Guilty 30. Attempted rape, Heather Muller Guilty 31. Attempted rape, Brad Heyka Guilty 32. Attempted rape, Heather Muller Guilty 33. Rape, survivor Guilty 34. Rape, survivor Guilty 35. Attempted rape, Heather Muller Guilty 36. Rape, survivor Guilty 37. Aggravated criminal sodomy, survivor Guilty 38. Rape, Heather Muller Guilty 39. Rape, survivor Guilty 40. Burglary Guilty 41. Theft Guilty 42. Cruelty to animals Guilty 43. First-degree murder, Linda A. Walenta Guilty 44. Kidnapping, Andrew Schreiber Not guilty 45. Aggravated robbery, Andrew Schreiber Not guilty 46. Aggravated battery, Andrew Schreiber Not guilty 47. Criminal damage to property, Andrew Schreiber Not guilty

Note: The survivor is not being identified because she is a victim of sexual assault.

[Rightly Biased]

PING PING PING!!! MERCY???

[KS Flyover]

    "Wichita Massacre" murder trial "Ping List"

Please let me know if you want on (or off) this list.

[barker]

Show them the same mercy they showed their victims.

[per loin]

Yes, be merciful. Use a rope that will not cause their necks to itch. With their hands tied behind them, they won't be able to scratch.

[colorado tanker]

"Mercy" in a case like this would be the needle instead of the "Braveheart" treatment.

[45Auto]

I see that the jerk who wrote this article just had to mention white supremacists in the last sentence; also, I guess this wasn't billed as a 'hate crime', because it was committed by those poor black boys who had a troubled childhood that they just had to take out their frustration with being an oppressed minority on someone. Why do we not hear about black supremacists like that spokesman for the religion of peace, Louis Farrakhan? Does Kansas use the 'chair' for executions?

[What Is Ain't]

I've got your mercy right here.

[Conagher]

Mercy should not be an option at all in this case.

Every time I read about this case it makes me want to weep and vomit simultaneously. My lone consolation is the fact that Divine punishment awaits them. May God crush their pitiful little souls.

[facedown]

I see that the jerk who wrote this article just had to mention white supremacists in the last sentence;...

That line just jumped off the page as I read the article. Totally out of line.

[boknows]

The prosecutors were smart to leave race out of the equation. The jury may have been racially mixed, but more importantly, it kept the likes of Jesse Jackson and Johnny Cochran away.

Go ahead and sentence them and give them the rope, chair, chamber, firing squad, any or all of the above within the next two weeks so the victim's families can have something, however minimal, to be thankful for by Thanksgiving. Maybe the judicial system can work and show these type of low-lifes that, regardless of your past or your current state of mind, this type of behavior does not belong on God's green Earth.

[TroutStalker]

The case has become a rallying cry for white supremacists groups across the nation because the defendants are black while the victims were white. But prosecutors did not cite racial hatred as a motive.

The bitch that wrote this never hesitates to interject her own agenda into the story. She can go to hell.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

I would give them a type of treatment that would make medieval torture seem humane.

[Backwoods Southern Lawyer]

If these two do not hang, fry, sniff gas, get needled or whatever Kansas does for its capital punishment, it will be clear to all that capital punishment is randomly administered. If there is ever a case for capital punishment, this is it. If these pieces of septic tank scum dodge the executioner, I will have to rethink whether capital punishment can be logically applied.

Fortunately, I do not believe that I will have to trouble my already weak brain over that issue. If the folks that I know from Kansas are a representative sample, the deliberations will not take long.

[IamHD]

I have this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that if either of them get death, it will be Reginald, not Johnathon. The sister stated that it was the older one that did the shooting.

The younger one didn't drink enough anti-freeze when he was a tyke.

[alpowolf]

"Troubled childhood"? Are they serious? That worn-out cliche doesn't come close to absolving them of their responsibility for these acts.

[eniapmot]

Are you referring to ROXANA HEGEMAN ? Do you have other examples?

[rllngrk33]

The only mercy these two animals deserve is a large caliber bullet to the back of the head

[skeeter]

Stone cold cowards to the end.

[republicman]

The case has become a rallying cry for white supremacists groups across the nation because the defendants are black while the victims were white.

There they go again. Anyone who believes that hate crime laws should apply equally to all is a "white supremacist"

As "an amused spectator" might say this little snippet was just another free political commercial for the left