That a jury of their peers convicted the Carrs of capital murder and sentenced them to death suggests that they agreed with “H.G.” that her attackers are “soulless monsters.” Yet on Friday, July 25, by a 6-1 decision, the Kansas Supreme Court, citing procedural problems, maintained the convictions while overturning the Carrs’ death sentences.
In December of 2000, within the span of less than a week, two brothers, Reginald and Jonathan Carr, engaged in a series of crimes in Wichita that Kansans recognize as among the worst in their state’s history.
First, they abducted and robbed assistant baseball coach Andrew Schreiber. Three days later, the Carrs set their sights upon 55 year-old librarian and cellist, Ann Walenta: they shot and killed Walenta as she attempted to flee them in her automobile.
But it wasn’t until three days after this murder that the Carrs’ campaign of evil reached its horrifying climax.
On the night of December 14, the Carrs broke into the residence of Brad Heyka, Aaron Sander, and Jason Befort. Heyka was a financial analyst, Sander a seminary student preparing for the priesthood, and Befort a high school science teacher and coach. Also in the home that evening were Heather Muller, Sander’s former girlfriend and a graduate student who also happened to work as a pre-school teacher at a local church, and a young woman named “H.G.”—a school teacher to whom Befort was about to propose and who would be the sole survivor of the grisly events that were about to unfold over the next few hours.
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