FRIDAY, NOVEMBER1, 2002
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A
Carr brothers' murder trial goes to deliberation
The Associated Press
WICHITA — After emotional closing arguments from prosecutors, jurors began deliberations late last night in the trial of two brothers accused of a nine-day crime spree that left five people dead.
One juror was in tears during District Attorney Nola Foulston's fiery oration that included a computer presentation of graphic pictures of four victims lying in the snow-covered soccer field were they died.
"You have four people frozen in time — bullets that thrashed through their brains that drew the life out of them, that froze their hearts on that field of snow. They died by criminal means and they died together at the hands of two brothers, Jonathan and Reginald Carr," Foulston told jurors in her closing arguments.
Jurors deliberated for about 90 minutes before ending for the night.
Family members of the victims filled the courtroom, most looking away from the screen whenever Foulston signaled them that a bloody photograph was coming.
The crime spree that ended with the shootings of five friends
in a remote soccer field two years ago was driven by greed and lust, Deputy District Attorney Kim Parker told jurors.
"The crimes ended because of one girl who had the resolve to survive to tell the story. ... The crimes ended because of responsible citizens — people in this community — that were alert and responsible," Parker said during closing arguments in the murder trial of Reginald and Jonathan Carr.
The survivor of the quadruple killing sat quietly in the front row throughout the arguments, averting her eyes whenever photographs of her dead friends were projected onto the screen.
The Carr brothers are charged with numerous crimes. The most notorious involves the events of Dec. 14-15 2000, when two armed intruders entered a Wichita home. The two women and three men inside were forced to engage in sexual acts with each other and to withdraw money from ATMs.
The women were repeatedly raped before the five friends were taken to the soccer field and shot.
Aaron Sander, 29; Brud Heyka, 27; Jason Befort, 26; and Heather Muller, 25, died. Befort's girl
friend, then a 25-year-old teacher, survived and ran a mile to find help.
She identified the Carr brothers as her attackers.
"This is a case about living out your worst nightmare," Parker said.
Jurors are deliberating over 47 counts filed against each brother, including four counts of capital murder for the quadruple killings and first-degree murder for a separate homicide days earlier.
All the counts are identical, with an additional three weapons charges filed against Reginald Carr because he is a convicted felon.
The Carrs also are being tried in the Dec. 11, 2000, attempted robbery and shooting of Ann Walenta, 55, who later died, and a robbery four days earlier in which Andrew Schreiber was abducted and forced to withdraw cash from ATMs.
Parker told jurors the two armed intruders separated the friends during their ordeal and they feared that if they attacked one intruder their friend would be harmed.
"They acted for one another and it did no good," she said.
A total of 97 witnesses testified,
including five for Reginald Carr. More than 850 pieces of evidence were admitted.
Parker told jurors that they can view the crimes only from a distance. They cannot hear the sound of the car window shattering in Walenta's car when she was shot or the blasting horn she pushed down to call for help, she said.
Nor can they hear the cries of the friends as the huddled in the closet or of Aaron Sander screaming as he realized Muller had been shot beside him as they knelt in the snow, she said.
She also took to the jury box the diamond engagement ring that Befort had planned to give his girlfriend for Christmas and that police found in his coat jacket.
John Val Wachtel, attorney for Reginald Carr, told jurors that the crime scene contained a lot of DNA evidence, which he said belonged to Jonathan Carr.
Val Wachtel also focused on discrepancies in the description of Reginald Carr from the survivor of the quadruple killings. He noted that the woman could not identify him as the second attacker during a preliminary hearing and did so only during this trial.
"You have to ask yourselves why given this good common sense, why this information about Reginald Carr suddenly appears — it is critical information." Val Wachtel said.
Mark Manna, attorney for Jonathan Carr, said no evidence connected his client to Walenta's shooting or to Schreiber's robbery.
Neither Schreiber nor Walenta before her death was able to identify Jonathan Carr as one of the two men who attacked them — but both of them identified Reginald Carr, Manna said.
He told jurors that one gun and one shooter were tied to all the crimes and that the gun belonged to Reginald Carr. He also said Reginald Carr had most of the property stolen from the victims of the quadruple killings.
"Reginald Carr was not alone, but the evidence will show who was playing the lead role that night — directing things, taking things." Manna said.
Manna said Jonathan Carr is innocent of some of the charges.
"Don't just go back there and check the box guilty on all counts," he said. "Please consider his guilt and innocence separate from damning evidence against his brother, Reginald."
Wife of John Robinson testifies in murder trial
The Associated Press
OLATHE — After all his affairs, previous prison sentences and two convictions for capital murder. Nancy Robinson is still standing by her man.
She testified yesterday, pleading with jurors to sentence John Robinson to life in prison instead of death for the murders of two women whose bodies were found in barrels on his property.
John Robinson has been a devoted father and grandfather for 38 years, his wife testified, though the trial and convictions were nearly more than the family could stand.
"It's devastating. Absolutely devastating." she told jurors.
John Robinson, 58, of Olathe, was convicted Tuesday of capital murder in the slayings of Suzette Trouten, 27, of Newport, Mich., and Izabela Lewicka, 21, a former Purdue University student from West Lafayette, Ind.
Their bodies were discovered on June 3,2000, inside 85-gallon barrels on Robinson's rural property in Linn County.
He also was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Lisa
Stasi, 19, whose body has never been found.
Defense attorneys said they would present only a handful of witnesses, but none who will speak to John Robinson's mental health. Two witnesses yesterday afternoon testified that he would not be a risk to cause violence while in prison, based on his age and good conduct during five years in Kansas and Missouri prisons from 1987 to 1992.
Sean O'Brien, lead attorney for the defense, asked Judge John Anderson III to grant a continuance so that the defense would have more time to delve into John Robinson's psychological history.
"We're just not prepared to present that kind of evidence," O'Brien said.
Robinson was on suicide watch inail for most of his trial.
Anderson denied the motions, reiterating previous rulings that any delays or lack of preparation were related to the defendant's desire to change attorneys midway through the two-year case.
Jurors were expected to begin deliberating the penalty phase by the weekend.
mony, Nancy Robinson said the couple's grandchildren were a major part of her husband's life.
She said her husband's arrest was particularly tough on an 8-year-old granddaughter, who spent extended hours each week at their Olathe home. Nancy Robinson and the girl's mother arranged a brief meeting between the girl and her grandfather at the Johnson County jail in Olathe.
During her emotional testi-
Nancy Robinson said the girl ran to her grandfather, grabbed him, hugged him and said "Papa, orange is not your color."
With that, John Robinson cried and wined tears from his face.
Robinson still faces trial in Missouri on charges of killing two women and a girl whose bodies were found in barrels in a storage locker in the Kansas City suburb of Raymore, Mo.
Under Kansas law, capital murder trials are divided into two phases. After a conviction, prosecutors present evidence why the aggravating circumstances of the crimes merit death, while defense attorneys argue that mitigating circumstances justify a sentence of life in prison without parole for 50 years.
Shallenburger seeks vital votes
The Associated Press
TOPEKA—Republican Tim Shallenburger acknowledges that as of early September, he trailed Democrat Kathleen Sebelius in the governor's race by as much as 25 percentage points.
He has been closing that gap. Activists in both parties expect the result to be much closer in Tuesday's general election.
"We've had nights we were have been real close, clearly, several that were statistically even, but never a night when we've been ahead," Shallen-burger said.
Shallenburger has remained the underdog despite being the GOP nominee in a state with a strong Republican heritage, and his pledge not to increase taxes.
Promises to not raise taxes normally resonate with voters, but Shallenburger said it has been a hard sell this year. Shallenburger said crime remains an important issue as the campaign ends, saying believes Sebellus' votes on crime issues as a legislator were dangerous.
He also said she's misled voters by suggesting he would decrease aid to public schools.
"I believe that she is saying what people want to hear," he said, "Knowing that she can't deliver."
But, Shallenburger said, not enough voters see Sebelius as he does.
Though Shallenburger raised $2 million for his campaigns, Sebelius raised $4 million. She spent $2.5 million on television advertisements.
"She's pounded this message so long that people believe it," he said.
Shallenburger said his campaign is sticking with its strategy. Volunteers will work to turn out the Republican base, which he described as anti-tax groups.
The last media poll, from The Kansas City Star, had the difference at 9 percentage points Sebelius 46 percent; Shallenburger, 37 percent - with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Today's Special
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 3
MINDLESS
SELF
INDULGENCE
DEADSY
ADVANCE TICKETS
Saturday NOVEMBER 2
JOHN
BROWN'S
BODY
Monday NOVEMBER 4 OPEN MIC'S LAST BAND STANDING
Friday NOVEMBER 1
APPLESEED CAST
SALT THE EARTH
GETAWAY DRIVER
LAST RIDE OUT
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Lunch $5.99 Dinner $8.99
BY RICHARD STRAUSS
PERFORMED IN GERMAN, WITH EASY-TO-READ ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS
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