May 16, 2023 • 38 mins
Welcome to Season 7! This week we discuss the case of the Kahler Family Massacre.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Dot Caast Network bringing our indie podcastsout of the shadows. Just before we
dive into this week's episode, tothe promo, Welcome to Murder and Mimosas.
(00:28):
I'm Shannon and I'm Dannica. Togetheras a mother and daughter duo,
we host Murder mimosas true crime podcastwith an episode released every Saturday at ten
am so you can listen to itduring prime brunch time. While we don't
require a mimosa, we do highlyrecommend one. All of our episodes are
cases that we found really interesting orjust really stuck with us because we hope
(00:51):
they'll do the same for you.You can listen to us on Spotify,
Apple Podcast, or wherever you listento your podcasts. Oh and welcome to
(01:21):
Crime Divers Laura and Angel. Welcometo Seasons of It. Hello everybody,
thanks for coming back because we've beenaway for a while. Yes, we
have had an extended break. Wellyeah, life kind of got in the
way. We were only intending onhaving a couple of weeks off. I
think, weren't we because Laura willwe had the Easter holidays, so obviously
(01:42):
Laura's got a child, so it'snot easy. No, it's not easy
to we're doing stuff. Well,she's doing cartwell around you, because that's
all she don't says it and talks. So yeah, so Chad Easter holidays
and then she decided to go toNew York. I went to New York
and it was fabulous. I know, it looked amazing, absolutely brilliant,
(02:05):
brillant time. I really really did. So that was that was a good
God breath away just me and Justin. We were without child for that holiday,
so our mum kindly looked after Yeah. I thought you weren't going to
saying them there. Thought, oh, people will be like, oh that
was nice, and Jill to lookafter the child, and you just didn't
look after I just wasn't asked tolook after the child. But even a
(02:25):
Jill was asked to look after thechild, she would be probably saying do
I have to? Yeah, Ican't handler for that loot. It was
all fine. So I had areally nice break. Yeah, looterally good.
And as she always does when shegoes to America, she brought me
back, peanut butter, I broughtit back some good days. You did?
You always doing well? Like mewhen I come back from the holiday,
Yeah, she bought her. Shewent to the Friends Experience because we
(02:46):
love friends, don't we. Yes, And she brought it back a water
bottle, a friend's water bottle.Yes, even though it was free.
It was free. Well, we'vegot a free gift sign up two,
so I didn't need to. Yeah, so I give you one. Yeah.
I like some cheos. Tried cheos, Yeah, recommend them. They
make your fingers, got orange forages. Yeah, I recommend them because
we don't get cheatos here the waywe might. But I'm not in the
(03:07):
normal shops. You probably have toget like the specialist like American American shops
and things. Yeahs like twice theprice. Yeah exactly. So she got
me them and they were lovely.So yeah. So Easter Holidays, New
York. And what did Jill do? Went to the hospital, which I
(03:28):
had to take her. Yeah,well, I was getting sedated, so
I needed somebody to give me alift, so I just went on for
a minor procedure. Nothing bad,just yeah. So, and I haven't
been feeling too great recently, solife just kind of got in the way
for a bit. But we're backnow, exactly. We're back to tackle
seasons seven. Yeah, and beforewe get started, I would just like
(03:50):
to say we got a new Patreonwho actually joined I think a few weeks
ago, and we haven't had achance to say thank you because obviously we
haven't been here exactly. So weare now taking over. Say thank you
too, Amy Everett. Thank youvery much, Amy. I mean I
did when when she joined, Ihad sent obviously I send a message,
which I always do, well alwaysdoes. We'll send a message just say
(04:12):
thank you. But it's nice togive you a shower on the show.
So thank you, Amy. Yoursupport means the world. And if anyone
else wants to join Amy over're thereand get some bonus episodes, early access
to episodes, add free episodes.Then it's pet john dot com, slash
Crime diver Ours and our tears juststart from a pound a month or the
(04:33):
equivalent in whatever currency whenever you arein the world. So well, all
that said, shall we we're inyeah, because we're on season seven,
we're actually starting off. Yes,I have a lot of soodes, so
we're in the world our way,We're in the USA. Okay, and
what is the name of your episode? It's called the Kaylor Family Massacre.
(04:56):
Okay, So let's dive in,then let's go today. This case takes
us to the city of Weatherford inTexas, USA, which was home to
the Kaylor family, who consisted ofJames Craig Kaylor. He went by the
name of Craig, his wife Karen, their two daughters, eighteen year old
Emily in sixteen year old Lauren.They also had a ten year old son
(05:16):
called Sean. So Craig and Karenthey have been together like for many years.
Craig had been in his last yearalways engineering degree at Kansas State University
when he met Karen, who wasin our first year. The couple.
They were both the couple were bothambitious, and they were very bright students,
and they shared a lot in common. So friends said that they,
you know, they were a coupleof everyone tried to live up to,
(05:38):
and everyone knew that they were tobe really successful when they both graduated.
So they were like, you know, in a couple of things, as
you would say, you know,the howbody looked up to them and was
like, oh, we want tobe like them and look at the end,
yeah, basically yeah. So theysoon married and had their first star
at Emily in nineteen and so Theysoon married and they had their first star
(05:58):
at Emily the nighteen ninety nine andan opportunity came along. Craig was offered
the job of utility director of Weatherford, Texas. So it was not only
a well paying job, but itwas also a very respected one as well.
So they settled into a nice homeand they had two more children,
which is Lauren and Sean. Andneighbor said that the family they were a
key part of the community. Youknow, they were always involved in everything,
(06:20):
and they were key welcome new peopleto the area. You know,
Kara would off obviously, so Ioften be baking cakes and making food of
everyone. So they were just likeall around nice. Really, I like
people who make food. I actuallywish I had something that was really good
cakes. Although I am, well, well okay, just move on.
(06:45):
Yeah, we'll just move one ofthat. I think I'm better than you
now anyway. So Emily like sheattended the Saint Louis College of Pharmacy and
Lauren was an honor student at ColumbiaHigh School and the teens, they were
also in a band where they bothplayed us often showcasing their talents around town.
So you know, the kids theywere doing well for themselves as well,
so a lot of people in thearea admired the Kaylor family. But
(07:08):
all was not as it seemed okay. So one day Karen's sister Lynn got
a call and it was Karen.She wanted to confide in her about the
true state of her marriage. Shetold Lynne. Over the years, Craig
had changed. He had started givingher curfews and an elements which he supervised,
and curfews tag why yeah, ohyeah, okay, I would have
(07:33):
been like yours mate, Yeah Itry. That doesn't work. Yeah,
I get told the fuck off.So obviously give her an allowance of money
as well, which he supervised andscrutinized, demanding to see receipts for all
of her purchases, even on everydaythings like food. That's awful. I
(07:53):
don't know how you could love.That's awful. I know when you're you
know, you're obviously you know,relationship, you're married. I got money.
Obviously, I need to like beaware of what you're spending between you.
You know, you need to budgetand all that sort of stuff.
But I think there's a difference forthat than actually being like, here's your
allowance, but actually, I wantto see everything receipt that you're my heart
(08:13):
goes out to anybody that would haveto deal with that exactly. So also
he would also demand sex every nightat eight pm. My god, and
everything that she did in the househad a timer on it. She did
everything that she was asked to keepthe peace, but things were getting worse
and she felt trapped and scared,which totally understand. That's awful, that
(08:39):
is terrible. So Karen told hersister that she wanted to look for an
outlet, something that was just hersthat he couldn't control. So she actually
decided to join a local gym,and that was around us the children's school
hours and Craig being at work,so there was no reason why she couldn't,
you know, go and do thatbecause obviously she obviously I don't think
she was working at this point fromwhat I understand. Um, so yes,
(09:05):
so friends said that you know,she was soon there so much and
keen to learn that she was eventuallyactually hired as a fitness instructor, so
she must have been working naturally,but because she was at the time,
she got hired as a fitness instructor, and it was a completely different career
path. But that's something that shewas totally excited. She must have been
good at it. Yeah, andto her surprise, when Craig find out
found out that she that she hadbeen going, he was actually totally fine
(09:30):
with it. I wasn't expecting that. I was totally find it as long
as that she was home to lookafter the children, so it was totally
fine, you know, but youknow, make sure you're going to look
after the children. Okay, Soone day at the gym, Karen bumped
into a woman called Sonny Reese.Sonny Reese. I'm not sure to present
Sonny Sonny Sunny sounds better but spelledanounce the nation, because I don't I
(09:54):
would say sunny Sunny Sunny Reese.She was another personal trainer. So from
the get go, I mean theyare totally inseparable. We had a lot
in comment and they spent all theirshifts together. Before long, a romantic
relationship developed and the couple began anaffair. Okay, well I'm not condoning
that. I know you're on aship marriage, but yes, still not
(10:16):
condoning. Not so Lynn was Kara'ssister said that she felt like her sister
was so mentally beaten down at thatpoint that when she found someone that seemed
to really care about her and whodidn't want to control her, the relationship
just fell together naturally. Yeah,I mean I can I can understand it.
I mean, I'm saying I don'tcondone it, but I can understand,
(10:37):
you know, because that will obviouslybe so much different to what she's
used to and somebody who's actually camein towards her not controlling. Yeah,
I get it. Yeah, it'sunderstandable. So Karen news that she had
to come clean. Yeah, well, I'll Craig everything. Yeah, but
her total shock. Craig didn't seemto have an issue with it, and
(11:00):
he actually encouraged and started messaging Sonny, sending her flowers and asking for a
threesome. Ah. People will thinkthat he saw it as an opportunity to
spice up his marriage in sex life, and he told Karen he didn't have
any problem with it as long ashe was included and she didn't leave him.
Oh, well I do he hadto be included. Well, he's
just spun it. Well exactly,But Karen and Sonny they wanted no part
(11:28):
threesome. They just wanted it tobe then. Yeah, So Craig he
was a bit embarrassed at the rejection, and now that he knew that there
was no chance of bringing Sonny intohis marriage, he wanted the affair to
stop. But of course he wasonly okay with it when it suited him.
Yeah, So if he was gettinginvolved, yeah, and then he
was like, all right, okay, well that's fine because I'm getting something
(11:48):
out that. Yeah. When herealized that that clearly wasn't going to happen,
then he's like, yeah, butof course Karen Sonny. They continued
the relationship, and it seemed thatKaren was well and truly wanted to be
out of marriage right. But aftera few months, Craig decided that the
best way to put a stop toit was to move the family out of
(12:09):
town. So he started looking fora career change elsewhere so that he could
make that happen. So they're stilllearn together, but yes, yeah,
so there there were still together.But I think, like I think when
I say out of the manage,it was probably like emotionally out of it,
Like she was like dead in thewater for her. She was what
he was sunny out and I'm assumingit wasn't that easy just to get up.
No, probably especially the two girlswere obviously a bit older because they
(12:33):
were eighteen and sixteen. But I'vebeen still had ten year old shot and
so I mean he would have needed, yeah, the kids, and obviously
money and stuff as well, exactly. So yeah, so basically decided,
you know what's I'm gonna move thefamily. So he actually did, getting
on our job in a Columbia,Missouri, and it saw him become the
highest paid person in the city.And in June two thousand and eight he
the sort of the family all movedthere. So Craig hoped that things would
(12:56):
return to normal, and as Karenas Sonny were almost seven hundred miles apart,
he felt confident that the affair wouldcome to an end. But I
mean, I said, reused along way. But yeah, but I
was just thinking, but just becauseyou moved away, maybe she'll stop that
relationship. But wants to stop hergetting into our relationship with somebody else in
(13:18):
the new place. You could havemet somebody else, baby, Um.
Yeah, So but anyway, theycarried on with a long distance relationship,
right, So they would email,they would call, and they would text
each other, and to be fair, they would actually sneak visits, but
they would kind of each other halfway, so they would both travel right and
meet someone halfway to see each other. So it didn't stop at all.
(13:39):
So Karen and Craig's marriage, ofcourse, that was now in a very
bad, toxic place, you know, wasn't good. So in New Year's
Eve, the Kailer's attending a partyback in Weatherford from where they were,
and Sonny was there. At variouspoints during the party, some guests saw
Karen Sonny to get her, andit was very obvious that something was going
(14:01):
on between them. So what hadbeen a secret between the three of them
was now out in the open,right. So Craig he was mortified.
Yeah, I was going to say, he'll be humiliated feeling humiliated. Yes,
So a huge fight broke out betweenhim and Karen and it carried obviously
they must have decided to leave,and it carried on as left and Craig.
So Karen said that Craig pushed herso hard that she smashed her head
(14:24):
on like the street, you know, the ground on the street all so
obviously was totally waiting and got abit of Violet um So a matter of
days later, Karen told Craig thatshe was filing for divorce. Because that
must have been the last straw forher. Yeah, I'm assuming she started
the legal proceedings and moved into thespare room. So Craig spent hours calling
(14:46):
Karen's family and friends asking them toconvince her not to go ahead with a
divorce. Embarrassing and that was like, that was in one breath, but
in the next, you know,he was telling them that she was leaving
for another woman and want to stealon his money and take the children.
So one moment he's like, please, don't like her to leave, but
actually she's leaving me and she's takingthe kids and the money. And it
(15:07):
was obviously maybe it wasn't getting whathe was looking for the conversation. Yeah,
I don't know, but like,mate, that's embarrassing. It is
like that, I mean, puthis behavior aside. I mean, obviously
it must be maybe he's horrible.He's obviously upset that he's lost his wife
(15:30):
and she's met an other woman.And I get that, but I mean
be phone in her family and sayingI'll convince it to stay. That's embarrassing
exactly, But then I'm not funnyof me. You've kind of brought it
on yourself because you're the one thatwas horrible to her in controlling and stuff,
so exactly. I mean, buthere's to say. I mean,
it might have happened anyway. Youknow, it sounds like he's pushed her.
Maybe if she'd had a happy marriage, she would never look to anybody
(15:52):
else like that. But because she'sbeen so miserable, somebody has shown her
a bit of affection, and youknow, that's what happened. That is
what happens. So Si started tocontact Craig and tell him to leave Karen
alone and that she was never happywith them anyway. So it was now
March two thousand and nine, andthings escalated even more after a fight became
(16:14):
physical. Craig was arrested and hetold police that he had hugged Karen tightly
and that she had resisted. Aaronsaid that he had actually violently grabbed her,
giving her bruises, so he wasjust O he I've done. She
got bruised basically because he hugged herso tight, but no, apparently not
that people bruise them. She gavea statement, and it said, over
(16:37):
time it has become a parent thatCraig is controlling. I have learned along
the way that he is capable ofusing force. The issues vary, but
I figured out how to keep thingsfrom becoming ugly when money was when money
was a problem, when money wastalking. When money was a problem,
I wouldn't tell him him what thingslike groceries and clothing, caust etc.
(16:59):
When it was about X, Idecided it was easier to give him what
he wanted every night than to refuse. On occasions I would refuse. He
has been known to be forceful andmean. I'm afraid it will escalate so
far that someone is going to beseriously hurt. So so Karen pressed charges
and she and the children moved outat the house. So people said this
(17:22):
was when Craig became quite reclusive anderratic. He no longer wanted anything to
do with Emily and Lauren the girls, and only wanted to see Sean why,
saying, well, now seeing hisdaughters had failed him by taking their
mum's side, his daughters have failedhim. Yes. Apparently this was made
worse when Lauren and Emily said thatthey accepted sonny, and they said that
(17:45):
they were happy to see their mumhappy, but of course Craig he was
enraged and he referred to his daughtersas rotten corpses and friends said that friend's
friendly. So friends said that hestarted stalking Karen and spying on her,
and he got also got in atour house to install cameras and hacked in
emails. Oh my god, yourkids, I mean, your kids are
(18:07):
like, obviously to an extent,they're going to be involved, but you
can't expect them to like take sideor if they do kind of out beside
we want, you know, yeah, it's hard, then you can really
hold it against them their fault.I mean, they have seen the way
that their mum has been treated bytheir dads, so it's not surprising that
they took their mum's side. Soagain, she didn't fault me. And
(18:33):
obviously they want to see their momhappy. So she's going to move on
and be with somebody else, then, I guess you do have to come
to an acceptance. To me,that sounds quite mature for the girls to
be like, well, we wantto see our mom happy, but you
know, normally you're thinking, well, we can still do that because I
have Ladghip with their dad and ourmom and stuff. You know, it
doesn't it shouldn't. It shouldn't affectthat. But then that's unfortunately where parents
(18:56):
split up and it gets nasty thatkids get fired on't this? Oh it
is, It's awful, It reallyis. I know, I think it's
terrible. Yeah, so yeah,obviously say I say. It starts spiring
and somehow got cameras in their houseand stuff, so a place were called
to the house one day when Karenfound out that Craig had slashed their tires
(19:17):
and that he was ripping out cablesfrom outside our house. Um and Craig
himself, he was He was soonstarting to slip up at work, choosing
to show his colleagues family albums overand over, leaving work unannounced to see
what Karen was doing. Given giveneverything that was going on, Craig's manager,
Bill actually quietly asked him to resigned. This guy's unhinged. Yeah,
(19:41):
totally. He was basically starting tostop them and stuff and just just feel
like, okay. He couldn't acceptwhat was going on, So his focus
on the department obviously had been affectedin a way that was not likely to
change in the near future, sohis boss paid Craig two months salary and
one month of sevens um. So, with any other job prospects looking unlikely,
(20:03):
Craig actually had to move back athis parents, so it was probably
his ego would have been bruised.Really hard to have any sympathy for this
guy, I know. So asKaren and Craig were now legally separated,
Craig still old Karen over three thousanddollars a month in child support, which
is quite a lot. Americans topay a lot for child because that's what
I say. I was like,I mean, obviously, how could how
(20:27):
do you afford that they must getmore money than us? Well, yeah,
I mean I have at the timethe best paid job, yeah,
in the city. But still,I mean, I don't know. That
just seems quite a lot. Imean it does. But I'm sure we
did another case about something something todo with child support. We were talking
about it, and it just seemedto be like I'm really, I mean,
(20:48):
I don't know how much here peoplepay for a child support. I
don't think it's as much like,but it just seems an awful lot the
American I don't think people a lotof people that in a month here exactly.
Yeah, that sounds quite a lot. I mean, oh, I'm
sure it is based on your earnings. Of course, so at the time,
maybe that is something that he wasable to afford. But he's also
lost a shopping lists. Poor peoplethat were here. We can't afford child
(21:11):
support. I'm glad they're all grownup. Yeah, yours, but you
better keep gusting je. So let'sfast forward to Thanksgiving two thousand and nine
and Karen, Sunny and the twogirls spent it with Karen's sister Lynne at
her house. Sean spent it withCraig, but Karen wanted all her children
(21:34):
and sorry to visit her grandmother,Dorothy age in the holiday period two.
So the next day she went overto pick up Sean so that they could
make their way to where eight tonine year old Dorothy lived, which was
in a quiet little farmhouse in acity of less than a thousand people in
Burlingam, Kansas. How can youcall that a city? Just what it
(21:55):
said, that's not a city,that's a village. Yeah, maybe they
call it a city over there,that's what it was called. We would
call it a village, Yeah,but that sounds nice, A little farmhouse.
Yeah. So despite Karen and Craig'smany arguments and fights about the divorce,
questions about where the children would live, and issues with finances, Karen
was hopeful that a resolution would soonbe ficked. Craig was just days away
(22:21):
from going to court in regards tothe incident several months earlier about the stocking
and not the violent one where Ithink I think it was that one the
Bruce Huggy um and the hearing hadbeen scheduled for January to start going through
the divorce, so as soon asthe holiday period was over, everybody was
optimistic that things might start to moveforward a bit more, that's the word.
(22:48):
So on Saturday, the twenty ninthof November two thousand and nine,
Deputy Sheriff Nathan Perlin was finishing upsome paperwork in his office when a call
came in at about a suspicious vehicleand them. It was just after six
pm and someone had reported that asmall truck was speeding around near their house.
They had watched as a man hadpulled up and got out the truck
and started walking down the road.He was then seen coming back carrying a
(23:12):
large object that they couldn't identify whatit was, Thinking that he was stealing,
they grabbed a torch and harried outsideto confront the man, and he
placed the object in the backseat,got in the truck and drove off just
as a couple approach, so theynever actually managed to have the confrontation with
them, which to be Fairst quitebrave, because I'm not sure that I
(23:32):
would. No, I don't likeconfrontation. I don't think that would be
me. I would be brave enoughfor that. We're not brave exactly.
So Deputy Parlor and he set offto see what was going on. But
just a couple of minutes later,another call came in over the radio,
and it was coming from the samearea, but this time it was more
alarming. The caller was shouting,help, help, somebody is coming in
(23:52):
to kill us. He's killing us, get out, and then line went
dead. So no sooner had theyreceived that awful call when a third person
called in, they had opened theirfront door to find a ten year old
child crying and asking for help.That was Sean k. He said he
needed help at Dorothy White's house asthere had been a shooting officers. Officers
(24:15):
said that they knew it was goingto be a bad scene, but nothing
quite prepared them for what they wereabout to find. Laura and this is
going to get a bit not sogood. Yeah, it sounds sounds terrifying
already. They entered the home andfirst they found eighty nine year old Dorothy.
She was bleeding really bad on thekitchen floor. She had been shot
(24:36):
several times, but she was stillalive. Just They then found Karen Kaylor
in the dining area. She hadbeen shot twice. She was dead.
Eighteen year old Emily was found behindthe sofa in the lounge and she had
also been shot twice. She wasalso dead. Police thought she was likely
(24:56):
trying to hide from the shore,which so Depthtay Pearl and then heard a
faint voice calling from help from upstairs. It was Lauren. She was heard
saying I don't want to die,and the officer officer was saying, who
did this to you? And justlike Dorothy, she was alive. Only
just as Dorothy and Lauren were takenaway, Lauren turned to an officer and
(25:18):
said Craig. The officer said,who's that and she said, it's my
dad. Dorothy also identified Craig asa shooter. So tragically, Lauren succumbed
to her injuries and was pronounced deadshortly after getting to the hospital. Dorothy
was still fighting, but it wasn'tlooking very hopeful. Police then realized that
ten year old Sean had witnessed thelat Oh God that poor kids. Sean
(25:44):
had said that he had been cleaningsome old coins that he and his mom,
Karen, had found, and asthe two of them were stood at
the sink, Craig entered the housewhere the back door, holding a rifle
and shot at Karen. Sean saidthat he ducked down and just ran as
fast as he could to get outof the back door. He ran around
to the front, hoping to getback in and get to a phone.
(26:07):
He carefully opened the door, hearingmore shots being fired, and he said
he saw his dad, so heclosed the door and he ran to get
help instead. So that's when heended up at imagine that poor kids seeing
that, and especially because it's hisdad, seeing his dad do that well
at all, because obviously, imean, being ten years old, I'm
sure it would have been aware tenextent of the divorce. In the facts
(26:30):
but I mean he was still goingto his dad's house and having a relationship
with Yah, So I mean,you know, and you're not going to
expect your dad to do that anyway. I mean, even if you're not
having a great relationship with them,I'm sure nobody's expecting the dad to do
that. And imagine like also thegirls, well, I mean, but
dad's killed them. That's awful,and she was able to say that it
(26:51):
was him, But still that's Ican't even imagine that. No, that's
awful. So place had police hadput out an alert to try and locate
Craig, my resident then spotted someoneabandoning their vehicle in the middle of nowhere
and running down a desserted road,so she called him with the tip.
(27:11):
Police found the vehicle and it matchedthe description of the one the neighbors had
seen earlier that night, and feltconfident that it was Craigs. A search
of the car found more ammunition andsome unopened anxiety medications. A backpack was
also found, some soap tills,toilet paper, cotton balls, and some
tins of food, but Craig therewas nowhere to be found. And I
(27:34):
wrote here, how could a fatherdo that to his children, because I
was like, I just had abit in display at this point. How
the hell I'd have a moment there, like, how the hell could a
father do that to his kids?As it's just unbelievable because I didn't they
were well obviously they're all in acenter. But I mean, yeah,
I mean, like it its endsof the day. It's it's his wife
(27:56):
that's hurt him. No, youdon't, bloody go and kill but it's
hard to see it without sounding youknow what I mean, Like why what
you shouldn't kill anybody, but whyare you killing your kids? And your
grant was it or Mummer or granor whoever it was was Dorothy. Dorothy
(28:17):
was the grandmother. So what she'ddone exactly, she was in the wrong,
Yeah, exactly. I mean,I mean he shouldn't have been killing
anybody, but they didn't do anythingwrong. After eight hours of searching,
Craig Killer was finally found and itwas now about seventy am and he was
(28:41):
wandering on the side of the road, looking confused and lost. He knew
what was obviously coming, so heturned to officers and said, I'm the
guy you're looking for, And hesaid he was armed with a revolver as
well as some pocket knives, andthey also found hundreds of dollars in cash,
some gloves and a flashlight and ahunting bag. He was arrested and
taken to the station. So Craigwas actually fairly open and they told the
(29:06):
detectives a lot. He basically saidit was because of the Sunny situation.
He also imagine how she must befeeling like he's blaming it on her.
Basically say, yeah, because ofher, that's why I've done this,
basically. So he also told themabout the New Year's Eve party and how
the pair was stake visits out oftown. He said he was particularly upset
(29:27):
when he realized his daughters not onlyapproved, but we're traveling with Karen to
meet Sunny as well. So Ithink that's why he obviously killed the girls
as well. That's no reason tobe killing anybody else. That's what his
justification is, that he saw themmistaking her side. So that's why he
obviously killed them, clearly, whichwhy I didn't kill Sean because obviously why
(29:47):
did he kill grandmother? Probably justcaught in the crossfire area. So Craig
Killer was charged with first degree murderand aggravating burglary. His bill was set
at ten million dollars wow. Sadly, on the first of December, Dorothy
White past she died. That wastwo days after she had been shot.
(30:08):
So in December twenty ten, Craighad his preliminary preliminary that's the one trial
where he entered a play of insanity, the only defense against capital murder.
His lawyers claimed that he had hada mental breakdown due to Karen's affair,
and they said along with losing's joband having to move in with his parents,
(30:30):
it only added fuel to the fire. They said that an open medication
in his car, ongoing erratic behavior, and the fact he did not cover
up what he had done and wasevidence that he was not of a sound
state of mind and that his pleaof insanity was fair. In nineteen ninety
five, the state of Kansas passeda law which revoked the traditional insanity of
(30:52):
defense. The new law stated thatdefendants could no longer argue that because of
mental health issues, they were incapableof decide right from wrong. Instead,
defendants suffering from mental health issues werestill legally responsible for crime unless these mental
health issues prevented them from forming anintent to commit or act with premeditation.
(31:14):
So his defense team argued that ismental health issues were so severe that it
proved he had not premeditated anything,that he had premeditate anything. He had
just snapped in that moment, Butthe prosecution said it was premeditated, as
his behavior over the past year especiallyshowed that this was all just building up
to what eventually he wanted to do, which was kill his wife and anyone
(31:37):
who stood in the way of that. It was pointed out that he did
not shoot his son Sean, eventhough he was stood right there with his
mum, showing Craig was in controland hadn't just snapped. Yea. Sean,
who was now twelve years old,appeared as the key witness via video
link and told what he had witnessed. Sonny also testified. He described Karen
(32:00):
and Craig's relationship as abusive and saidCraig wasn't bothered and her and Carrot,
who wasn't wasn't bothered about her andKaren until he realized he had to let
Karen go. So on the twentyfifth of August twenty eleven, after just
two hours of deliberation, the juryhad reached an unanimous verdict. Craig Kyler
(32:21):
was found guilty of capital murder andhis pleas of insanity were not believed.
This meant that he would face thedeath penalty or life without parole. There
were many victim impact statements, andSean said that he did not want his
dad to get the death penalty becauseit was hard on his grandparents and he
did not want his whole family gone. Oh that was quite sad, but
(32:43):
because I mean his dad's kilroy's badly. But yeah, he still didn't want
his dad to get death penalty forit. However, Craig Keayler was sentenced
to death for his crime, sothey didn't obviously. He asked to leave
the courtroom so that he didn't haveto hear the victim's statements, but the
made him steak Yeah, quite rightas well. Upon hearing his face,
(33:05):
he showed no remorse, no sadness, no emotion. It was said he
only ever looked proud of himself,often smirking and muttering sarcastic comments dickhead,
and as he left the court roomto begin his sentence, he shouted to
his mom and dad, take careof Sean, so he's not raised by
a bunch of freaks, so heobviously I was referring to Carn's side of
(33:29):
the family. Yeah, but thankfullyI think Sean did actually gonna love with
herself of the family, not anabsolute dick. Craig started writing letters to
people who then the lead prosecutors,saying he felt relief for what happened as
he was able to free Sean.I'm not sure how he freed Sean.
No, you free Sean. Youtraumatize that kid for life. One.
(33:52):
You not only killed his family,but he witnessed she doing that. Yeah,
so I don't see how you've freedom. You've given him a life of
probably nightmares, I would say,and therapy, and you know, I
don't see how you freed him.No. So his team appealed, but
the peal was denied. He triedto appealing again in twenty and eighteen and
twenty, but again the appeals weredenied good in January twenty twenty three,
(34:15):
so this year another appeal has beenlaunched, which might be his last chance.
Obviously, That's that's all I knowup to date now, so keep
you updated if I do here anymore, and make sure, and of course
no execution date has been set untilall legal options have been exhausted, so
until the come of this latest appeal, they will not set up a date.
(34:37):
At the moment, he's still ondeath row. Still just leave him
there, acute, but don't executeit. I'm just leaving there. Just
slap him raw. What a horrible, fast piece of shit. There's not
even any words bad enough. Imean to me, you know, one
name was a horrible person as itwas. If he was controlling and was
canon the first place, which allright, it led an affair, which
(35:00):
yes, she shouldn't have had,but then a least she did tell about
it, so she wasn't like,yeah, I mean, I don't think
you know, she shouldn't hide itfrom forever. So she did eventually confess
that there wasn't affair going on.Obviously she wanted to move on with her
life and what to get with him, and he obviously couldn't stand that then
couldn't stand it is daughters were acceptingof the new relationship. I mean obviously
(35:23):
lost his job, very well paidjob. I mean, he obviously was
completely easygoing being bruised or definitely sohe clearly retalitied and and and so you
know, absolutely four people, pieceof shit, and yeah, yeah,
we've got nothing else about that.I just thought it was I mean,
(35:43):
as of his research that I justthought, my god, I just just
yeah, I just couldn't believe whatI was writing and reading and stuff,
and I was just like, that'sjust awful, Like how can anybody?
How could ended to anyone? ButI just think when you can do it
to your own family, that justseems a hell a lot worse than it
does to do it to strangers.I mean, it's obviously to anybody,
but to do it to your ownfamily, well, these are the people
(36:04):
that you're supposed to love. Theseare the people are supposed to be closest
to you. You know, youbrought your children out you being married,
exactly ship ahead, piece of shithead Wanka. I don't know what he
was thinking, like, because one, he already lost her and he was
certainly not going to get her backthis way, So I mean, I
don't know what he was wanting outthat, but I mean, you know,
well he's got what he's deserved,what is deserved, and to be
(36:28):
honest, I hope he does getDefinitely, I don't want to jail.
Yeah, that right? Why shouldhe get to die? Well, that's
true, Actually yeah, maybe shouldjust rot exactly? What like, just
let him rot on death row?Because how ship must that be to think?
Well, when am I going to? Nobody knows when they're going to
die, but you're just living life, wondering when some of these people are
(36:52):
going to decide when you die.So just let him rot there. That
would be absolutely horrendous because he doesn'tdeserve to die, That's what true.
But you know that's why I don'tlike the death penalty. I don't think
that's the right thing. Yeah,because I get out of it. Really,
yes, yeah, life, butI think it's rotten. Be punished.
That's not punished, man, bepunished. So thank you to everybody
(37:15):
for our first listening to our firstepisode after our break, and we'll try
and be here every week. We'lltry not you know, go off on
our jollies in New York. Whereyou got next? Just a trip to
the Late District that August and thenpotentially maybe a week in November for about
(37:36):
winter Son maybe to where we're maybegoing to go to Lansi. Oh,
I've got four of it for nextyear, right, Okay, We're just
gonna go now. Thanks. Ifyou'd like to get in contact with us
(38:06):
or follow us on our social media, we are on Instagram and Twitter at
Crime Unscored Divers Underscore Pod. Youcan email us at Crime Underscored Divers Underscore
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(38:30):
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Dot Caast Network bringing our indie podcastsout of the shadows. Just before we
dive into this week's episode, tothe promo, Welcome to Murder and Mimosas.
(00:28):
I'm Shannon and I'm Dannica. Togetheras a mother and daughter duo,
we host Murder mimosas true crime podcastwith an episode released every Saturday at ten
am so you can listen to itduring prime brunch time. While we don't
require a mimosa, we do highlyrecommend one. All of our episodes are
cases that we found really interesting orjust really stuck with us because we hope
(00:51):
they'll do the same for you.You can listen to us on Spotify,
Apple Podcast, or wherever you listento your podcasts. Oh and welcome to
(01:21):
Crime Divers Laura and Angel. Welcometo Seasons of It. Hello everybody,
thanks for coming back because we've beenaway for a while. Yes, we
have had an extended break. Wellyeah, life kind of got in the
way. We were only intending onhaving a couple of weeks off. I
think, weren't we because Laura willwe had the Easter holidays, so obviously
(01:42):
Laura's got a child, so it'snot easy. No, it's not easy
to we're doing stuff. Well,she's doing cartwell around you, because that's
all she don't says it and talks. So yeah, so Chad Easter holidays
and then she decided to go toNew York. I went to New York
and it was fabulous. I know, it looked amazing, absolutely brilliant,
(02:05):
brillant time. I really really did. So that was that was a good
God breath away just me and Justin. We were without child for that holiday,
so our mum kindly looked after Yeah. I thought you weren't going to
saying them there. Thought, oh, people will be like, oh that
was nice, and Jill to lookafter the child, and you just didn't
look after I just wasn't asked tolook after the child. But even a
(02:25):
Jill was asked to look after thechild, she would be probably saying do
I have to? Yeah, Ican't handler for that loot. It was
all fine. So I had areally nice break. Yeah, looterally good.
And as she always does when shegoes to America, she brought me
back, peanut butter, I broughtit back some good days. You did?
You always doing well? Like mewhen I come back from the holiday,
Yeah, she bought her. Shewent to the Friends Experience because we
(02:46):
love friends, don't we. Yes, And she brought it back a water
bottle, a friend's water bottle.Yes, even though it was free.
It was free. Well, we'vegot a free gift sign up two,
so I didn't need to. Yeah, so I give you one. Yeah.
I like some cheos. Tried cheos, Yeah, recommend them. They
make your fingers, got orange forages. Yeah, I recommend them because
we don't get cheatos here the waywe might. But I'm not in the
(03:07):
normal shops. You probably have toget like the specialist like American American shops
and things. Yeahs like twice theprice. Yeah exactly. So she got
me them and they were lovely.So yeah. So Easter Holidays, New
York. And what did Jill do? Went to the hospital, which I
(03:28):
had to take her. Yeah,well, I was getting sedated, so
I needed somebody to give me alift, so I just went on for
a minor procedure. Nothing bad,just yeah. So, and I haven't
been feeling too great recently, solife just kind of got in the way
for a bit. But we're backnow, exactly. We're back to tackle
seasons seven. Yeah, and beforewe get started, I would just like
(03:50):
to say we got a new Patreonwho actually joined I think a few weeks
ago, and we haven't had achance to say thank you because obviously we
haven't been here exactly. So weare now taking over. Say thank you
too, Amy Everett. Thank youvery much, Amy. I mean I
did when when she joined, Ihad sent obviously I send a message,
which I always do, well alwaysdoes. We'll send a message just say
(04:12):
thank you. But it's nice togive you a shower on the show.
So thank you, Amy. Yoursupport means the world. And if anyone
else wants to join Amy over're thereand get some bonus episodes, early access
to episodes, add free episodes.Then it's pet john dot com, slash
Crime diver Ours and our tears juststart from a pound a month or the
(04:33):
equivalent in whatever currency whenever you arein the world. So well, all
that said, shall we we're inyeah, because we're on season seven,
we're actually starting off. Yes,I have a lot of soodes, so
we're in the world our way,We're in the USA. Okay, and
what is the name of your episode? It's called the Kaylor Family Massacre.
(04:56):
Okay, So let's dive in,then let's go today. This case takes
us to the city of Weatherford inTexas, USA, which was home to
the Kaylor family, who consisted ofJames Craig Kaylor. He went by the
name of Craig, his wife Karen, their two daughters, eighteen year old
Emily in sixteen year old Lauren.They also had a ten year old son
(05:16):
called Sean. So Craig and Karenthey have been together like for many years.
Craig had been in his last yearalways engineering degree at Kansas State University
when he met Karen, who wasin our first year. The couple.
They were both the couple were bothambitious, and they were very bright students,
and they shared a lot in common. So friends said that they,
you know, they were a coupleof everyone tried to live up to,
(05:38):
and everyone knew that they were tobe really successful when they both graduated.
So they were like, you know, in a couple of things, as
you would say, you know,the howbody looked up to them and was
like, oh, we want tobe like them and look at the end,
yeah, basically yeah. So theysoon married and had their first star
at Emily in nineteen and so Theysoon married and they had their first star
(05:58):
at Emily the nighteen ninety nine andan opportunity came along. Craig was offered
the job of utility director of Weatherford, Texas. So it was not only
a well paying job, but itwas also a very respected one as well.
So they settled into a nice homeand they had two more children,
which is Lauren and Sean. Andneighbor said that the family they were a
key part of the community. Youknow, they were always involved in everything,
(06:20):
and they were key welcome new peopleto the area. You know,
Kara would off obviously, so Ioften be baking cakes and making food of
everyone. So they were just likeall around nice. Really, I like
people who make food. I actuallywish I had something that was really good
cakes. Although I am, well, well okay, just move on.
(06:45):
Yeah, we'll just move one ofthat. I think I'm better than you
now anyway. So Emily like sheattended the Saint Louis College of Pharmacy and
Lauren was an honor student at ColumbiaHigh School and the teens, they were
also in a band where they bothplayed us often showcasing their talents around town.
So you know, the kids theywere doing well for themselves as well,
so a lot of people in thearea admired the Kaylor family. But
(07:08):
all was not as it seemed okay. So one day Karen's sister Lynn got
a call and it was Karen.She wanted to confide in her about the
true state of her marriage. Shetold Lynne. Over the years, Craig
had changed. He had started givingher curfews and an elements which he supervised,
and curfews tag why yeah, ohyeah, okay, I would have
(07:33):
been like yours mate, Yeah Itry. That doesn't work. Yeah,
I get told the fuck off.So obviously give her an allowance of money
as well, which he supervised andscrutinized, demanding to see receipts for all
of her purchases, even on everydaythings like food. That's awful. I
(07:53):
don't know how you could love.That's awful. I know when you're you
know, you're obviously you know,relationship, you're married. I got money.
Obviously, I need to like beaware of what you're spending between you.
You know, you need to budgetand all that sort of stuff.
But I think there's a difference forthat than actually being like, here's your
allowance, but actually, I wantto see everything receipt that you're my heart
(08:13):
goes out to anybody that would haveto deal with that exactly. So also
he would also demand sex every nightat eight pm. My god, and
everything that she did in the househad a timer on it. She did
everything that she was asked to keepthe peace, but things were getting worse
and she felt trapped and scared,which totally understand. That's awful, that
(08:39):
is terrible. So Karen told hersister that she wanted to look for an
outlet, something that was just hersthat he couldn't control. So she actually
decided to join a local gym,and that was around us the children's school
hours and Craig being at work,so there was no reason why she couldn't,
you know, go and do thatbecause obviously she obviously I don't think
she was working at this point fromwhat I understand. Um, so yes,
(09:05):
so friends said that you know,she was soon there so much and
keen to learn that she was eventuallyactually hired as a fitness instructor, so
she must have been working naturally,but because she was at the time,
she got hired as a fitness instructor, and it was a completely different career
path. But that's something that shewas totally excited. She must have been
good at it. Yeah, andto her surprise, when Craig find out
found out that she that she hadbeen going, he was actually totally fine
(09:30):
with it. I wasn't expecting that. I was totally find it as long
as that she was home to lookafter the children, so it was totally
fine, you know, but youknow, make sure you're going to look
after the children. Okay, Soone day at the gym, Karen bumped
into a woman called Sonny Reese.Sonny Reese. I'm not sure to present
Sonny Sonny Sunny sounds better but spelledanounce the nation, because I don't I
(09:54):
would say sunny Sunny Sunny Reese.She was another personal trainer. So from
the get go, I mean theyare totally inseparable. We had a lot
in comment and they spent all theirshifts together. Before long, a romantic
relationship developed and the couple began anaffair. Okay, well I'm not condoning
that. I know you're on aship marriage, but yes, still not
(10:16):
condoning. Not so Lynn was Kara'ssister said that she felt like her sister
was so mentally beaten down at thatpoint that when she found someone that seemed
to really care about her and whodidn't want to control her, the relationship
just fell together naturally. Yeah,I mean I can I can understand it.
I mean, I'm saying I don'tcondone it, but I can understand,
(10:37):
you know, because that will obviouslybe so much different to what she's
used to and somebody who's actually camein towards her not controlling. Yeah,
I get it. Yeah, it'sunderstandable. So Karen news that she had
to come clean. Yeah, well, I'll Craig everything. Yeah, but
her total shock. Craig didn't seemto have an issue with it, and
(11:00):
he actually encouraged and started messaging Sonny, sending her flowers and asking for a
threesome. Ah. People will thinkthat he saw it as an opportunity to
spice up his marriage in sex life, and he told Karen he didn't have
any problem with it as long ashe was included and she didn't leave him.
Oh, well I do he hadto be included. Well, he's
just spun it. Well exactly,But Karen and Sonny they wanted no part
(11:28):
threesome. They just wanted it tobe then. Yeah, So Craig he
was a bit embarrassed at the rejection, and now that he knew that there
was no chance of bringing Sonny intohis marriage, he wanted the affair to
stop. But of course he wasonly okay with it when it suited him.
Yeah, So if he was gettinginvolved, yeah, and then he
was like, all right, okay, well that's fine because I'm getting something
(11:48):
out that. Yeah. When herealized that that clearly wasn't going to happen,
then he's like, yeah, butof course Karen Sonny. They continued
the relationship, and it seemed thatKaren was well and truly wanted to be
out of marriage right. But aftera few months, Craig decided that the
best way to put a stop toit was to move the family out of
(12:09):
town. So he started looking fora career change elsewhere so that he could
make that happen. So they're stilllearn together, but yes, yeah,
so there there were still together.But I think, like I think when
I say out of the manage,it was probably like emotionally out of it,
Like she was like dead in thewater for her. She was what
he was sunny out and I'm assumingit wasn't that easy just to get up.
No, probably especially the two girlswere obviously a bit older because they
(12:33):
were eighteen and sixteen. But I'vebeen still had ten year old shot and
so I mean he would have needed, yeah, the kids, and obviously
money and stuff as well, exactly. So yeah, so basically decided,
you know what's I'm gonna move thefamily. So he actually did, getting
on our job in a Columbia,Missouri, and it saw him become the
highest paid person in the city.And in June two thousand and eight he
the sort of the family all movedthere. So Craig hoped that things would
(12:56):
return to normal, and as Karenas Sonny were almost seven hundred miles apart,
he felt confident that the affair wouldcome to an end. But I
mean, I said, reused along way. But yeah, but I
was just thinking, but just becauseyou moved away, maybe she'll stop that
relationship. But wants to stop hergetting into our relationship with somebody else in
(13:18):
the new place. You could havemet somebody else, baby, Um.
Yeah, So but anyway, theycarried on with a long distance relationship,
right, So they would email,they would call, and they would text
each other, and to be fair, they would actually sneak visits, but
they would kind of each other halfway, so they would both travel right and
meet someone halfway to see each other. So it didn't stop at all.
(13:39):
So Karen and Craig's marriage, ofcourse, that was now in a very
bad, toxic place, you know, wasn't good. So in New Year's
Eve, the Kailer's attending a partyback in Weatherford from where they were,
and Sonny was there. At variouspoints during the party, some guests saw
Karen Sonny to get her, andit was very obvious that something was going
(14:01):
on between them. So what hadbeen a secret between the three of them
was now out in the open,right. So Craig he was mortified.
Yeah, I was going to say, he'll be humiliated feeling humiliated. Yes,
So a huge fight broke out betweenhim and Karen and it carried obviously
they must have decided to leave,and it carried on as left and Craig.
So Karen said that Craig pushed herso hard that she smashed her head
(14:24):
on like the street, you know, the ground on the street all so
obviously was totally waiting and got abit of Violet um So a matter of
days later, Karen told Craig thatshe was filing for divorce. Because that
must have been the last straw forher. Yeah, I'm assuming she started
the legal proceedings and moved into thespare room. So Craig spent hours calling
(14:46):
Karen's family and friends asking them toconvince her not to go ahead with a
divorce. Embarrassing and that was like, that was in one breath, but
in the next, you know,he was telling them that she was leaving
for another woman and want to stealon his money and take the children.
So one moment he's like, please, don't like her to leave, but
actually she's leaving me and she's takingthe kids and the money. And it
(15:07):
was obviously maybe it wasn't getting whathe was looking for the conversation. Yeah,
I don't know, but like,mate, that's embarrassing. It is
like that, I mean, puthis behavior aside. I mean, obviously
it must be maybe he's horrible.He's obviously upset that he's lost his wife
(15:30):
and she's met an other woman.And I get that, but I mean
be phone in her family and sayingI'll convince it to stay. That's embarrassing
exactly, But then I'm not funnyof me. You've kind of brought it
on yourself because you're the one thatwas horrible to her in controlling and stuff,
so exactly. I mean, buthere's to say. I mean,
it might have happened anyway. Youknow, it sounds like he's pushed her.
Maybe if she'd had a happy marriage, she would never look to anybody
(15:52):
else like that. But because she'sbeen so miserable, somebody has shown her
a bit of affection, and youknow, that's what happened. That is
what happens. So Si started tocontact Craig and tell him to leave Karen
alone and that she was never happywith them anyway. So it was now
March two thousand and nine, andthings escalated even more after a fight became
(16:14):
physical. Craig was arrested and hetold police that he had hugged Karen tightly
and that she had resisted. Aaronsaid that he had actually violently grabbed her,
giving her bruises, so he wasjust O he I've done. She
got bruised basically because he hugged herso tight, but no, apparently not
that people bruise them. She gavea statement, and it said, over
(16:37):
time it has become a parent thatCraig is controlling. I have learned along
the way that he is capable ofusing force. The issues vary, but
I figured out how to keep thingsfrom becoming ugly when money was when money
was a problem, when money wastalking. When money was a problem,
I wouldn't tell him him what thingslike groceries and clothing, caust etc.
(16:59):
When it was about X, Idecided it was easier to give him what
he wanted every night than to refuse. On occasions I would refuse. He
has been known to be forceful andmean. I'm afraid it will escalate so
far that someone is going to beseriously hurt. So so Karen pressed charges
and she and the children moved outat the house. So people said this
(17:22):
was when Craig became quite reclusive anderratic. He no longer wanted anything to
do with Emily and Lauren the girls, and only wanted to see Sean why,
saying, well, now seeing hisdaughters had failed him by taking their
mum's side, his daughters have failedhim. Yes. Apparently this was made
worse when Lauren and Emily said thatthey accepted sonny, and they said that
(17:45):
they were happy to see their mumhappy, but of course Craig he was
enraged and he referred to his daughtersas rotten corpses and friends said that friend's
friendly. So friends said that hestarted stalking Karen and spying on her,
and he got also got in atour house to install cameras and hacked in
emails. Oh my god, yourkids, I mean, your kids are
(18:07):
like, obviously to an extent,they're going to be involved, but you
can't expect them to like take sideor if they do kind of out beside
we want, you know, yeah, it's hard, then you can really
hold it against them their fault.I mean, they have seen the way
that their mum has been treated bytheir dads, so it's not surprising that
they took their mum's side. Soagain, she didn't fault me. And
(18:33):
obviously they want to see their momhappy. So she's going to move on
and be with somebody else, then, I guess you do have to come
to an acceptance. To me,that sounds quite mature for the girls to
be like, well, we wantto see our mom happy, but you
know, normally you're thinking, well, we can still do that because I
have Ladghip with their dad and ourmom and stuff. You know, it
doesn't it shouldn't. It shouldn't affectthat. But then that's unfortunately where parents
(18:56):
split up and it gets nasty thatkids get fired on't this? Oh it
is, It's awful, It reallyis. I know, I think it's
terrible. Yeah, so yeah,obviously say I say. It starts spiring
and somehow got cameras in their houseand stuff, so a place were called
to the house one day when Karenfound out that Craig had slashed their tires
(19:17):
and that he was ripping out cablesfrom outside our house. Um and Craig
himself, he was He was soonstarting to slip up at work, choosing
to show his colleagues family albums overand over, leaving work unannounced to see
what Karen was doing. Given giveneverything that was going on, Craig's manager,
Bill actually quietly asked him to resigned. This guy's unhinged. Yeah,
(19:41):
totally. He was basically starting tostop them and stuff and just just feel
like, okay. He couldn't acceptwhat was going on, So his focus
on the department obviously had been affectedin a way that was not likely to
change in the near future, sohis boss paid Craig two months salary and
one month of sevens um. So, with any other job prospects looking unlikely,
(20:03):
Craig actually had to move back athis parents, so it was probably
his ego would have been bruised.Really hard to have any sympathy for this
guy, I know. So asKaren and Craig were now legally separated,
Craig still old Karen over three thousanddollars a month in child support, which
is quite a lot. Americans topay a lot for child because that's what
I say. I was like,I mean, obviously, how could how
(20:27):
do you afford that they must getmore money than us? Well, yeah,
I mean I have at the timethe best paid job, yeah,
in the city. But still,I mean, I don't know. That
just seems quite a lot. Imean it does. But I'm sure we
did another case about something something todo with child support. We were talking
about it, and it just seemedto be like I'm really, I mean,
(20:48):
I don't know how much here peoplepay for a child support. I
don't think it's as much like,but it just seems an awful lot the
American I don't think people a lotof people that in a month here exactly.
Yeah, that sounds quite a lot. I mean, oh, I'm
sure it is based on your earnings. Of course, so at the time,
maybe that is something that he wasable to afford. But he's also
lost a shopping lists. Poor peoplethat were here. We can't afford child
(21:11):
support. I'm glad they're all grownup. Yeah, yours, but you
better keep gusting je. So let'sfast forward to Thanksgiving two thousand and nine
and Karen, Sunny and the twogirls spent it with Karen's sister Lynne at
her house. Sean spent it withCraig, but Karen wanted all her children
(21:34):
and sorry to visit her grandmother,Dorothy age in the holiday period two.
So the next day she went overto pick up Sean so that they could
make their way to where eight tonine year old Dorothy lived, which was
in a quiet little farmhouse in acity of less than a thousand people in
Burlingam, Kansas. How can youcall that a city? Just what it
(21:55):
said, that's not a city,that's a village. Yeah, maybe they
call it a city over there,that's what it was called. We would
call it a village, Yeah,but that sounds nice, A little farmhouse.
Yeah. So despite Karen and Craig'smany arguments and fights about the divorce,
questions about where the children would live, and issues with finances, Karen
was hopeful that a resolution would soonbe ficked. Craig was just days away
(22:21):
from going to court in regards tothe incident several months earlier about the stocking
and not the violent one where Ithink I think it was that one the
Bruce Huggy um and the hearing hadbeen scheduled for January to start going through
the divorce, so as soon asthe holiday period was over, everybody was
optimistic that things might start to moveforward a bit more, that's the word.
(22:48):
So on Saturday, the twenty ninthof November two thousand and nine,
Deputy Sheriff Nathan Perlin was finishing upsome paperwork in his office when a call
came in at about a suspicious vehicleand them. It was just after six
pm and someone had reported that asmall truck was speeding around near their house.
They had watched as a man hadpulled up and got out the truck
and started walking down the road.He was then seen coming back carrying a
(23:12):
large object that they couldn't identify whatit was, Thinking that he was stealing,
they grabbed a torch and harried outsideto confront the man, and he
placed the object in the backseat,got in the truck and drove off just
as a couple approach, so theynever actually managed to have the confrontation with
them, which to be Fairst quitebrave, because I'm not sure that I
(23:32):
would. No, I don't likeconfrontation. I don't think that would be
me. I would be brave enoughfor that. We're not brave exactly.
So Deputy Parlor and he set offto see what was going on. But
just a couple of minutes later,another call came in over the radio,
and it was coming from the samearea, but this time it was more
alarming. The caller was shouting,help, help, somebody is coming in
(23:52):
to kill us. He's killing us, get out, and then line went
dead. So no sooner had theyreceived that awful call when a third person
called in, they had opened theirfront door to find a ten year old
child crying and asking for help.That was Sean k. He said he
needed help at Dorothy White's house asthere had been a shooting officers. Officers
(24:15):
said that they knew it was goingto be a bad scene, but nothing
quite prepared them for what they wereabout to find. Laura and this is
going to get a bit not sogood. Yeah, it sounds sounds terrifying
already. They entered the home andfirst they found eighty nine year old Dorothy.
She was bleeding really bad on thekitchen floor. She had been shot
(24:36):
several times, but she was stillalive. Just They then found Karen Kaylor
in the dining area. She hadbeen shot twice. She was dead.
Eighteen year old Emily was found behindthe sofa in the lounge and she had
also been shot twice. She wasalso dead. Police thought she was likely
(24:56):
trying to hide from the shore,which so Depthtay Pearl and then heard a
faint voice calling from help from upstairs. It was Lauren. She was heard
saying I don't want to die,and the officer officer was saying, who
did this to you? And justlike Dorothy, she was alive. Only
just as Dorothy and Lauren were takenaway, Lauren turned to an officer and
(25:18):
said Craig. The officer said,who's that and she said, it's my
dad. Dorothy also identified Craig asa shooter. So tragically, Lauren succumbed
to her injuries and was pronounced deadshortly after getting to the hospital. Dorothy
was still fighting, but it wasn'tlooking very hopeful. Police then realized that
ten year old Sean had witnessed thelat Oh God that poor kids. Sean
(25:44):
had said that he had been cleaningsome old coins that he and his mom,
Karen, had found, and asthe two of them were stood at
the sink, Craig entered the housewhere the back door, holding a rifle
and shot at Karen. Sean saidthat he ducked down and just ran as
fast as he could to get outof the back door. He ran around
to the front, hoping to getback in and get to a phone.
(26:07):
He carefully opened the door, hearingmore shots being fired, and he said
he saw his dad, so heclosed the door and he ran to get
help instead. So that's when heended up at imagine that poor kids seeing
that, and especially because it's hisdad, seeing his dad do that well
at all, because obviously, imean, being ten years old, I'm
sure it would have been aware tenextent of the divorce. In the facts
(26:30):
but I mean he was still goingto his dad's house and having a relationship
with Yah, So I mean,you know, and you're not going to
expect your dad to do that anyway. I mean, even if you're not
having a great relationship with them,I'm sure nobody's expecting the dad to do
that. And imagine like also thegirls, well, I mean, but
dad's killed them. That's awful,and she was able to say that it
(26:51):
was him, But still that's Ican't even imagine that. No, that's
awful. So place had police hadput out an alert to try and locate
Craig, my resident then spotted someoneabandoning their vehicle in the middle of nowhere
and running down a desserted road,so she called him with the tip.
(27:11):
Police found the vehicle and it matchedthe description of the one the neighbors had
seen earlier that night, and feltconfident that it was Craigs. A search
of the car found more ammunition andsome unopened anxiety medications. A backpack was
also found, some soap tills,toilet paper, cotton balls, and some
tins of food, but Craig therewas nowhere to be found. And I
(27:34):
wrote here, how could a fatherdo that to his children, because I
was like, I just had abit in display at this point. How
the hell I'd have a moment there, like, how the hell could a
father do that to his kids?As it's just unbelievable because I didn't they
were well obviously they're all in acenter. But I mean, yeah,
I mean, like it its endsof the day. It's it's his wife
(27:56):
that's hurt him. No, youdon't, bloody go and kill but it's
hard to see it without sounding youknow what I mean, Like why what
you shouldn't kill anybody, but whyare you killing your kids? And your
grant was it or Mummer or granor whoever it was was Dorothy. Dorothy
(28:17):
was the grandmother. So what she'ddone exactly, she was in the wrong,
Yeah, exactly. I mean,I mean he shouldn't have been killing
anybody, but they didn't do anythingwrong. After eight hours of searching,
Craig Killer was finally found and itwas now about seventy am and he was
(28:41):
wandering on the side of the road, looking confused and lost. He knew
what was obviously coming, so heturned to officers and said, I'm the
guy you're looking for, And hesaid he was armed with a revolver as
well as some pocket knives, andthey also found hundreds of dollars in cash,
some gloves and a flashlight and ahunting bag. He was arrested and
taken to the station. So Craigwas actually fairly open and they told the
(29:06):
detectives a lot. He basically saidit was because of the Sunny situation.
He also imagine how she must befeeling like he's blaming it on her.
Basically say, yeah, because ofher, that's why I've done this,
basically. So he also told themabout the New Year's Eve party and how
the pair was stake visits out oftown. He said he was particularly upset
(29:27):
when he realized his daughters not onlyapproved, but we're traveling with Karen to
meet Sunny as well. So Ithink that's why he obviously killed the girls
as well. That's no reason tobe killing anybody else. That's what his
justification is, that he saw themmistaking her side. So that's why he
obviously killed them, clearly, whichwhy I didn't kill Sean because obviously why
(29:47):
did he kill grandmother? Probably justcaught in the crossfire area. So Craig
Killer was charged with first degree murderand aggravating burglary. His bill was set
at ten million dollars wow. Sadly, on the first of December, Dorothy
White past she died. That wastwo days after she had been shot.
(30:08):
So in December twenty ten, Craighad his preliminary preliminary that's the one trial
where he entered a play of insanity, the only defense against capital murder.
His lawyers claimed that he had hada mental breakdown due to Karen's affair,
and they said along with losing's joband having to move in with his parents,
(30:30):
it only added fuel to the fire. They said that an open medication
in his car, ongoing erratic behavior, and the fact he did not cover
up what he had done and wasevidence that he was not of a sound
state of mind and that his pleaof insanity was fair. In nineteen ninety
five, the state of Kansas passeda law which revoked the traditional insanity of
(30:52):
defense. The new law stated thatdefendants could no longer argue that because of
mental health issues, they were incapableof decide right from wrong. Instead,
defendants suffering from mental health issues werestill legally responsible for crime unless these mental
health issues prevented them from forming anintent to commit or act with premeditation.
(31:14):
So his defense team argued that ismental health issues were so severe that it
proved he had not premeditated anything,that he had premeditate anything. He had
just snapped in that moment, Butthe prosecution said it was premeditated, as
his behavior over the past year especiallyshowed that this was all just building up
to what eventually he wanted to do, which was kill his wife and anyone
(31:37):
who stood in the way of that. It was pointed out that he did
not shoot his son Sean, eventhough he was stood right there with his
mum, showing Craig was in controland hadn't just snapped. Yea. Sean,
who was now twelve years old,appeared as the key witness via video
link and told what he had witnessed. Sonny also testified. He described Karen
(32:00):
and Craig's relationship as abusive and saidCraig wasn't bothered and her and Carrot,
who wasn't wasn't bothered about her andKaren until he realized he had to let
Karen go. So on the twentyfifth of August twenty eleven, after just
two hours of deliberation, the juryhad reached an unanimous verdict. Craig Kyler
(32:21):
was found guilty of capital murder andhis pleas of insanity were not believed.
This meant that he would face thedeath penalty or life without parole. There
were many victim impact statements, andSean said that he did not want his
dad to get the death penalty becauseit was hard on his grandparents and he
did not want his whole family gone. Oh that was quite sad, but
(32:43):
because I mean his dad's kilroy's badly. But yeah, he still didn't want
his dad to get death penalty forit. However, Craig Keayler was sentenced
to death for his crime, sothey didn't obviously. He asked to leave
the courtroom so that he didn't haveto hear the victim's statements, but the
made him steak Yeah, quite rightas well. Upon hearing his face,
(33:05):
he showed no remorse, no sadness, no emotion. It was said he
only ever looked proud of himself,often smirking and muttering sarcastic comments dickhead,
and as he left the court roomto begin his sentence, he shouted to
his mom and dad, take careof Sean, so he's not raised by
a bunch of freaks, so heobviously I was referring to Carn's side of
(33:29):
the family. Yeah, but thankfullyI think Sean did actually gonna love with
herself of the family, not anabsolute dick. Craig started writing letters to
people who then the lead prosecutors,saying he felt relief for what happened as
he was able to free Sean.I'm not sure how he freed Sean.
No, you free Sean. Youtraumatize that kid for life. One.
(33:52):
You not only killed his family,but he witnessed she doing that. Yeah,
so I don't see how you've freedom. You've given him a life of
probably nightmares, I would say,and therapy, and you know, I
don't see how you freed him.No. So his team appealed, but
the peal was denied. He triedto appealing again in twenty and eighteen and
twenty, but again the appeals weredenied good in January twenty twenty three,
(34:15):
so this year another appeal has beenlaunched, which might be his last chance.
Obviously, That's that's all I knowup to date now, so keep
you updated if I do here anymore, and make sure, and of course
no execution date has been set untilall legal options have been exhausted, so
until the come of this latest appeal, they will not set up a date.
(34:37):
At the moment, he's still ondeath row. Still just leave him
there, acute, but don't executeit. I'm just leaving there. Just
slap him raw. What a horrible, fast piece of shit. There's not
even any words bad enough. Imean to me, you know, one
name was a horrible person as itwas. If he was controlling and was
canon the first place, which allright, it led an affair, which
(35:00):
yes, she shouldn't have had,but then a least she did tell about
it, so she wasn't like,yeah, I mean, I don't think
you know, she shouldn't hide itfrom forever. So she did eventually confess
that there wasn't affair going on.Obviously she wanted to move on with her
life and what to get with him, and he obviously couldn't stand that then
couldn't stand it is daughters were acceptingof the new relationship. I mean obviously
(35:23):
lost his job, very well paidjob. I mean, he obviously was
completely easygoing being bruised or definitely sohe clearly retalitied and and and so you
know, absolutely four people, pieceof shit, and yeah, yeah,
we've got nothing else about that.I just thought it was I mean,
(35:43):
as of his research that I justthought, my god, I just just
yeah, I just couldn't believe whatI was writing and reading and stuff,
and I was just like, that'sjust awful, Like how can anybody?
How could ended to anyone? ButI just think when you can do it
to your own family, that justseems a hell a lot worse than it
does to do it to strangers.I mean, it's obviously to anybody,
but to do it to your ownfamily, well, these are the people
(36:04):
that you're supposed to love. Theseare the people are supposed to be closest
to you. You know, youbrought your children out you being married,
exactly ship ahead, piece of shithead Wanka. I don't know what he
was thinking, like, because one, he already lost her and he was
certainly not going to get her backthis way, So I mean, I
don't know what he was wanting outthat, but I mean, you know,
well he's got what he's deserved,what is deserved, and to be
(36:28):
honest, I hope he does getDefinitely, I don't want to jail.
Yeah, that right? Why shouldhe get to die? Well, that's
true, Actually yeah, maybe shouldjust rot exactly? What like, just
let him rot on death row?Because how ship must that be to think?
Well, when am I going to? Nobody knows when they're going to
die, but you're just living life, wondering when some of these people are
(36:52):
going to decide when you die.So just let him rot there. That
would be absolutely horrendous because he doesn'tdeserve to die, That's what true.
But you know that's why I don'tlike the death penalty. I don't think
that's the right thing. Yeah,because I get out of it. Really,
yes, yeah, life, butI think it's rotten. Be punished.
That's not punished, man, bepunished. So thank you to everybody
(37:15):
for our first listening to our firstepisode after our break, and we'll try
and be here every week. We'lltry not you know, go off on
our jollies in New York. Whereyou got next? Just a trip to
the Late District that August and thenpotentially maybe a week in November for about
(37:36):
winter Son maybe to where we're maybegoing to go to Lansi. Oh,
I've got four of it for nextyear, right, Okay, We're just
gonna go now. Thanks. Ifyou'd like to get in contact with us
(38:06):
or follow us on our social media, we are on Instagram and Twitter at
Crime Unscored Divers Underscore Pod. Youcan email us at Crime Underscored Divers Underscore
Pod outlook dot com. We're onYouTube and that's Crindiurs podcast and TikTok is
also crindivers podcast. If you wouldlike to financially support the show, you
could go to www dot buymlcoffee dotcom slash Crimedivers and make a one off
(38:30):
donation our patreon's patreon dot com slashCrindivers. We have three tiers which is
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