Kansas governor denies clemency for Carr brothers convicted in Wichita Massacre 

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has denied requests to commute the death sentences of two brothers convicted of torturing and murdering multiple people during a weeklong crime spree.

Kelly rejected clemency requests from Reginald Carr, 48, and Jonathan Carr, 46, who sought to have their death sentences reduced to life in prison. Kelly, a Democrat who has opposed the death penalty, also denied a clemency request from convicted serial killer John Robinson last month.

“Because of the horrific nature of their crimes and because it appears that their punishment was meted out after thoughtful consideration by a jury of their peers, I am denying the death sentence commutation requests of both Reginald Carr and Jonathan Carr,” Kelly wrote in a press release last week.

The Carr brothers carried out a weeklong crime spree in December 2000 that became known as the Wichita Massacre, also called the Wichita Horror.

The older brother began the crime spree by carjacking Andrew Schreiber and forcing him at gunpoint to withdraw money from an ATM. A few days later, the brothers followed Wichita Symphony cellist Linda Ann Walenta as she headed home from orchestra practice. As she tried to escape in her car, she was shot three times and died a month later from her injuries.

On the night of Dec. 14, the Carr brothers entered the home of Jason Befort, Brad Heyka and Aaron Sander armed with golf clubs and handguns. Befort’s girlfriend, identified as Holly G., and Heather Muller, a friend of Sander, were also there.

The brothers tortured the victims while ransacking the home for valuables, forcing them to strip naked, raping them and forcing them to perform sexual acts with one another. The brothers found an engagement ring Befort had purchased for Holly and then subjected her to additional abuse.

After hours of torment, the brothers drove the victims, still naked, to a field and forced them to kneel in the snow. They shot each victim in the head, but a hair clip deflected the bullet that struck Holly, allowing her to survive. Believing she was dead, the brothers forced her face-down into the snow, drove over her with a truck and left the scene.

Holly was able to stand and tied a piece of clothing around Befort’s head in an attempt to stop the bleeding. She then ran barefoot through the snow to a nearby house and called 911.

Holly was the only survivor of the attack.

The Carr brothers were charged with more than 50 counts, including murder, rape, aggravated criminal sodomy and kidnapping, and were convicted on multiple charges. Each received four death sentences for the murders of Befort, Heyka, Sander and Muller.

Kansas reinstated the death penalty in 1994, but the state has not carried out an execution since 1965. In denying the brothers’ requests, Kelly noted she has long supported repealing the death penalty.

“However, the death penalty is current law in Kansas and, if ever there were a situation in which the death penalty is justified, it is that of the unspeakably heinous acts of torture and murder committed by Reginald and Jonathan Carr. …

“I hope that this denial provides some comfort for those who still grieve their loved ones 26 years later.”

(Photo credit: Unsplash, Martin Podsiad; Reginald Carr (L) and Jonathan Carr (R), Kansas Department of Corrections)