"Wichita Massacre" murder trial "Ping List"
Posted on 11/01/2002 6:56:22 AM PST by KS Flyover
Deliberations begin in Carr trial
Killing spree: Closing arguments that included graphic pictures of shooting victims move juror to tears
WICHITA -- After emotional closing arguments from prosecutors, jurors began deliberations late Thursday 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 where 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; Brad Heyka, 27; Jason Befort, 26; and Heather Muller, 25, died. Befort's girlfriend, 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 couldn't 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, please consider his guilt and innocence separate from damning evidence against his brother, Reginald," he said.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/4417889.htmJury deliberations begin in Carr case
District Attorney Nola Foulston's voice quavers as she appeals to the jury. The Carrs' lawyers repeatedly object to her graphic presentation.By Ron Sylvester - The Wichita Eagle - Nov. 01, 2002
Crime scene photos and jail mugs of Jonathan and Reginald Carr beside smiling portraits of the victims illustrated the state's emotional closing plea Thursday in the murder trial of Jonathan and Reginald Carr.
Lawyers from each side closed their cases, ending nearly four weeks of testimony. The jury received the case by midafternoon and deliberated for a short time before being dismissed by Judge Paul Clark. Jurors will resume deliberations today.
District Attorney Nola Foulston's voice quavered while asking the jury for multiple capital murder verdicts. Such a decision would send the trial into a penalty phase, where the jury would then listen to more evidence and decide whether the Carr brothers should be put to death.
But Foulston's closing drew repeated objections from both defense teams when she included a graphic computer presentation, using Microsoft PowerPoint.
The presentation flashed portraits of four victims and the survivor of a multiple homicide Dec. 15, 2000. The portraits showed two women, the survivor and Heather Muller, smiling by trees. There were similar pictures of Jason Befort, Aaron Sander and Brad Heyka. Foulston had placed those pictures next to crime-scene photos of the four bodies shot in the head at a soccer complex.
Foulston also showed pictures of rooms in the triplex at 12727 E. Birchwood Drive, where the survivor said the five friends were sexually assaulted and beaten for three hours before the shootings. Over the rooms, Foulston superimposed pictures of the smiling women. Then up popped the jail photos of the scowling Carr brothers.
At least one juror was close to tears. Relatives of the victims sobbed in the gallery.
The defenses' objections were based on recent appellate court decisions that have criticized prosecutors for trying to inflame jurors' emotions.
Kim Parker, Foulston's chief deputy, struck a similarly passionate tone during her portion of the state's closing. And though Parker did show an evidence slide and a glimpse of the soccer field, she relied on the strength of her words to outline the case.
"These are crimes driven by greed, driven by selfishness, driven by lust, by twisted sexual gratification, disregard for the value of human life, disregard for life -- to kill a dog," Parker said.
The Carr brothers are charged with dozens of crimes. Their combined 113 charges were grouped together into 97 for the jury to consider. That includes 47 counts against each brother plus three against Reginald Carr of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Included is a cruelty to animals charge for the death of a schnauzer, the pet of the woman who survived the rampage.
But it's the quadruple homicide that could bring them death. Kansas law allows the state to seek execution in certain circumstances, including killing more than one person at one time, or during or after a sexual assault.
Val Wachtel, one of Reginald Carr's lawyers, focused his arguments on the varying stories told by eyewitnesses over the past two years.
"The problem...when you signed on for this trek is that you've got to make your decision based on the evidence," Wachtel said.
Wachtel pointed out that Ann Walenta, shot Dec 11, 2000, described Reginald Carr six ways before she died Jan 2, 2001. Wachtel said the survivor of the multiple homicide failed on at least two other occasions to identify Reginald Carr.
Wachtel also questioned DNA evidence, as the lawyers for each of the brothers began blaming the other.
"The evidence shows that the crime scene had all sorts of DNA," Wachtel said. "All of it, that could be identified, was Jonathan Carr."
Mark Manna, one of Jonathan Carr's lawyers, pointed to tests that show that the same gun was used in three different crimes, including the carjacking and robbery of Andrew Schreiber.
"One gun, one shooter," Manna said.
Manna pointed out that Schreiber, since being kidnapped, terrorized and robbed Dec 7, 2000, always pointed to Reginald Carr, not Jonathan Carr, as his attacker.
Manna also portrayed Jonathan Carr as a follower of his older brother. Manna admitted that evidence proved some of the crimes against Jonathan Carr.
"But don't go back and just check the boxes guilty on all counts," Manna said. "It shouldn't be guilty by association. It should be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."
Foulston, however, said the jury should do exactly that -- check all the boxes guilty.
"The evidence is everywhere," Foulston said, pointing to a courtroom packed with more than 800 exhibits. "People have come from everywhere to tell you what has happened.
"You have no question or doubt."
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
"Wichita Massacre" murder trial "Ping List"
The old way from a coservitive friend from Jamaca.
Know someone who knows something about that (on a federal level)... The local police department has the authority to label a hate crime. Clearly, the local police department in this case is going the PC route. Curious to know if the local police department has labeled any crime as hate crime and if so how (white on black, black on white, etc.). The community should be on the local police department like white on rice and demand they get their act straight when it comes to reporting hate crime and that it most certainly includes BLACK on white.
grrrr..In my opinion, this had nothing to do with lust or sexual gratification, it had to do with gratification of the humiliation of white men and women.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.