2 brothers condemned to die for the ‘Wichita massacre’ want a new sentencing hearing
Lawyers for two brothers sentenced to death in a quadruple murder known as the “Wichita Massacre” will argue Monday for a formal hearing on their sentences, the latest in a long line of appeals.
How the sentencing was handled has long been a point of contention, as the two brothers – Jonathan and Reginald Carr – had a joint hearing as jurors considered their punishment. Prosecutors plan to oppose the latest attempt.
Prosecutors have long argued that the brothers broke into a home in December 2000 and forced the three men and two women there to have sex with each other and later withdraw money from ATMs. Jonathan Carr was 20 and Reginald Carr 23 when the murders occurred; They are now 44 and 46 years old and are both being held at the maximum-security state prison in El Dorado, about 30 miles northeast of Wichita.
Authorities say the women were raped repeatedly before all five victims were taken to a soccer field and shot. Four of them died: Aaron Sander, 29; Brad Heyka, 27; Jason Befort, 26; and Heather Muller, 25. The woman who survived testified against the Carr brothers. They were also convicted of killing another person in a separate attack.
Each of the brothers accused the other of committing the crimes.
Kansas has nine death row inmates, but the state has not executed anyone since the murderous duo of James Latham and George York were hanged on the same day in June 1965.
Lawyers for both brothers have raised concerns in the latest round of court filings that trial lawyers were ineffective — Reginald Carr’s defense said this was “egregiously” the case — and failed to aggressively pursue insist on continuation to give themselves more time to prepare. They also agreed that prospective jurors were not properly questioned about racial bias. The brothers are black, their victims white.
Reginald Carr’s attorney also investigated members of the Wichita Police Department who exchanged racist, sexist and homophobic texts and images. Several were eventually punished, and Carr’s attorney wrote that one of them was involved in the investigation into the brothers.
From there, the brothers’ lawyers diverge in their lawsuits. Jonathan Carr’s attorneys argued that trial attorneys failed to investigate and present evidence that Reginald Carr, who is older, had a powerful influence on his younger brother and sexually abused him. A Kansas Department of Correction review conducted just days after Jonathan Carr was sentenced to death said he “appears to idolize his brother,” his lawyers wrote.
Meanwhile, Reginald Carr’s attorneys wrote that trial lawyers were unprepared to refute Jonathan’s defense, which it described as “consisting largely of family members willing to promote the saving of Jonathan Carr’s life rather than that of his elder brother.” And they further argued that DNA evidence and identification were actually stronger against Jonathan Carr.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to require a formal sentencing hearing for each suspect. That action came just less than a year after the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the two brothers had received a fair trial and upheld their death sentences.
The Kansas court upheld their convictions in 2014 but overturned their death sentences, concluding that failure to hold separate hearings violated the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed that decision in 2016, sending the case back to the Kansas Supreme Court.
When the Kansas Supreme Court took up the brothers’ cases again, their attorneys raised questions about how their cases were not heard separately as jurors questioned whether the death penalty was justified. Other issues they raised included the instructions given to jurors and how closing arguments were delivered.
The majority of the Kansas court concluded that while the lower court judge and prosecutors had made errors, those errors did not justify reversing their death sentences.