December 12, 2023 • 28 mins
In December of 2000, two men wen on on violent spree, robbing, assaulting and even killing multiple people in Wichita, Kansas. By the time they were caught, their crime would be known as the Wichita Massacre.
You can find our merch strore plus contact info at our website: https://thisismonsters.com/
For more stories of the worst people on earth, visit our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/thisisMONSTERS
You can check out my other channel Sinister here: https://www.youtube.com/@SomewhereSinister or as a podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/show/somewhere-sinister
To support the show, donate a few bucks through Buy Me A Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/monsters
You can find our merch strore plus contact info at our website: https://thisismonsters.com/
For more stories of the worst people on earth, visit our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/thisisMONSTERS
You can check out my other channel Sinister here: https://www.youtube.com/@SomewhereSinister or as a podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/show/somewhere-sinister
To support the show, donate a few bucks through Buy Me A Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/monsters
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
On December eighth, two thousand,twenty three year old Andrew Schreiber was abducted
at gunpoint. Andrew was an assistantbaseball coach at Newman University and was an
avid baseball lover, so it washis dream job. He had been shopping
at a convenience store in Wichita,Kansas, when he was startled by a
man pointing a gun at him.Andrew did as he was told, moving
(00:21):
from the driver's seat to the passengerseat of his nineteen ninety eight Ford expedition.
The gunman pulled the suv into analley and another armed man got into
the vehicle. Andrew was a young, fit athlete who kept on the right
side of the law. This kindof danger was completely foreign to him,
and he was terrified, but managedto keep his cool. He followed the
(00:42):
orders his abductors gave him as theydrove from at M to at M and
withdrew the maximum sum of cash fromeach Andrew would later say quote, I
was just hoping that if I didwhat they said, they'd let me live.
The men drove the suv around abit before driving to a field nearby.
When they arrived at the location,Andrew's anxiety reached its peak, but
(01:03):
instead of turning the gun on him, the two men told him to lie
on the floor of the back seat. They told him that they would leave
the keys in the road, andthen they asked him if he had a
spare tire. When he said yes, they shot at one of the tires
of his car and told him towait twenty minutes before moving. Then they
stole his watch and fled the scene. As Andrew made his way back into
(01:26):
town to report the crime, hehad no way of knowing that what he'd
experienced wasn't a one off incident.In fact, it was the beginning of
a crime spree that would terrify thecity of Wichita. This is monsters.
(02:04):
Once the assailants were gone, Andrewwent out to the road and found his
keys. Then he limped his vehiclehome on the flat tire, where he
called nine one one. It seemedhe didn't have the ability to change the
tire if he had a spare,but it's not explained anywhere. Andrew had
been hit on the head multiple times, but he was lucky to be live.
Linda Ann Wallenta, who went byAnne, was a fifty five year
(02:25):
old librarian and cellist who worked forthe Wichita Symphony Orchestra. On December eleventh,
two thousand, Anne finished up alate rehearsal with the orchestra and returned
home at around nine thirty pm.She had just finished parking her car in
the usual place on the street directlyoutside the house she shared with her husband,
when a man walked up to her, telling her that he needed some
(02:47):
help. As Anne rolled the windowdown, the man pulled out a gun
and aimed it at her head.Anne's first instinct was to turn the car
back on and attempt to drive away, but it was still running. As
she turned the key, the mantold not to move, but she put
the car in reverse anyway. That'swhen the man opened fire. The bullet
pierced the window on the driver's side, severely wounding her. Unable to continue
(03:10):
driving, Anne repeatedly hit the car'shorn, causing the neighbors to call the
police. Unfortunately, by the timeofficers arrived, Anne had fallen unconscious and
there was no sign of her attacker. The man had fired three bullets,
and one of them severed Anne's spinalcord, instantly paralyzing her from the waist
down. While Anne was fighting forher life in the hospital, drifting in
(03:32):
and out of consciousness. Her assailantand his accomplice struck again. Late in
the evening of December fourteenth, twoarmed men broke into a house on East
Birchwood Drive. The house's usual occupantswere three men in their twenties, twenty
six year old Jason Beffert, twentyseven year old Brad Haka, and twenty
(03:53):
nine year old Aaron Sander. Thatnight, they had two visitors at the
house with them, twenty five yearold Heather Muller, who was Aaron Sanders's
ex girlfriend, and the other twentyfive year old woman known only as Holly
G. Hally, had also broughther beloved pet schnauzer, Nikki with her.
Hally was a teacher at rose HillElementary and had been dating Jason for
(04:14):
a while. He was also ateacher, and the pair were completely smitten.
Jason had actually been trying to workup the courage to propose to her,
even buying a ring and a bookfull of proposal tips, but he
still hadn't found the right moment topop the question. Holly arrived at the
triplex before Jason, so she usedthe time to grade some papers as she
waited for Jason to get home frombasketball practice. He was the science teacher
(04:38):
and coach for the junior varsity basketballteam at Augusta High School. That night,
the five friends spent some time catchingup over dinner, then watched television
for a few hours before they wentto sleep. Holly and Jason were in
bed together when the room was suddenlyilluminated by the porch light. Jason was
annoyed, saying to Holly, quote, don't tell me you have to get
(04:59):
up and turn off off the lightagain. Holly tried to check the clock
next to the bed to see whatthe time was. She couldn't see the
whole screen because Jason's head was blockingher view, but she could tell that
it was at least eleven pm.Suddenly, the bedroom door flung open,
and a man holding a gun appearedin the doorway. He strode into the
room and pulled back the sheets thatwere covering Holly and Jason. A second
(05:23):
man walked in a few seconds later, dragging erin with him and pushed him
down onto the bed. Holly's dog, Nicki, who had been woken up
by the intruders, began to growl. One of the intruders told Holly and
Jason, quote, grab your dogor we'll shoot her. The other man
asked if there were any other peoplein the house, and once they were
given directions to the rooms where Bradand Heather were sleeping, one assailant went
(05:45):
downstairs to retrieve them. Because thebedroom was mostly dark, Holly found it
hard to tell the two intruders apart. She could see that both of them
were black, and the one whohad entered the room first was slightly taller
and more muscular than the second intruderher. One by one, Brad and
Heather were brought into the room,With all of the houses occupants now confined
(06:05):
in one room, The intruders orderedthem to hand over all of their cash,
but none of the five victims hadany cash on them, so they
handed their debit cards over instead.While the intruders were burgling the house,
one of them called out that theyhad found a diamond ring hidden inside a
box of popcorn. That's how Hollyfound out that her boyfriend was planning on
(06:27):
proposing to her. Then the intrudersordered them to take off all of their
clothes, tied them up, andforcibly pushed all five people into a small
closet in the bedroom. Over thenext few hours, they would remove holly
in heather from the closet to sexuallyassault them, and on several occasions Brad,
Jason and Aaron were forced to performsexual acts with the women at gunpoint.
(06:49):
They were told that if they weren'table to perform, they would be
shot. One by one, Thevictims were driven to nearby ATMs, where
they were forced to withdraw all themoney they could When the crime was complete,
the car brothers were willing to destroyfive lives for about eighteen hundred and
fifty dollars. After that process hadbeen completed for all five victims, the
(07:11):
intruders forced them into Aaron's car.Jonathan drove the car while Reginald drove Jason's
truck to the outskirts of the city, stopping at the Striker Soccer Complex.
At the soccer field, the victimswere forced out of the car in order
to kneel down next to each otherin a line. All five victims were
executed. They were shot once atpoint blank range in the back of the
(07:33):
head. As the attackers fled thescene, they carried out one last act
of violence, deliberately driving the truckover the dead bodies of their victims.
Heather, Brad, Jason, andAaron were either dead or dying, but
miraculously, Holly was still alive.She had been wearing a plastic bread in
her hair, and the bullet hadglanced off the smooth plastic, grazing the
(07:56):
side of her head and fracturing herskull instead of entering her brain. In
the dark, her attackers hadn't noticedthat Holly was simply stunned instead of dying.
Holly had been awake when she'd heardthe intruders talking about what to do
next, and she'd been awake whenthey had slowly deliberately driven their truck over
her body. One she was surethat the killers were gone, Holly desperately
(08:18):
tried to save Jason's life by bandaginghis head wound. At that point,
Holly was freezing cold, She wascompletely naked and not wearing any shoes,
and the ground was covered in snow. Despite the weather, the bullet wound
to her head, and the factthat she'd recently been run over. When
she saw a building in the distance, she managed to walk over a mile
to get to the front door onher way. Every time she saw headlights,
(08:43):
she dove to the ground and coveredherself with snow because she was afraid
the monsters that had terrorized her werecoming back. When the homeowner saw a
bleeding, naked woman on their doorstep, they led her inside the house and
called nine one one. Holly wasconcerned that she was going to die from
her injuries, so she rushed throughthe description of the crime, sharing as
much information as she could with thetwo strangers who had invited her into their
(09:07):
home. Police and ambulances rushed tothe scene, but it was too late
to save any of Holly's friends.They were also too late to save holly
schnauzer Niki. After shooting the fivefriends, the two killers had gone back
to the house and beaten Nikki todeath with a golf club. It turned
out that the brothers returned to thehouse and, along with murdering a dog,
(09:28):
stole anything else of value. Theythen returned to the vehicle they had
driven to the area in a borrowedTan Toyota, and returned to their homes.
The horrifying nature of the crime shockedthe community, and the events that
had taken place that night soon becameknown as the Wichita massacre. Shortly after
the murders, the police arrested aman matching the description of one of the
(09:50):
killers. His name was Reginald Carr. At the time he was apprehended,
Reginald was carrying Heather Muller's watch andJason Beffert's gas card. A brief search
of his apartment revealed a collection ofother items that belonged to the victims,
but there was no sign of whoeverhis accomplice in the crimes had been.
When the news that one man hadbeen arrested in connection to the crime broke,
(10:13):
a tip was quickly called in tothe police. Reginald's brother, Jonathan
Carr, was staying at the apartmentof one of his friends, and the
friend was watching the news when shesaw a report about Reginald's arrest. Immediately
she knew who the accomplice was.Reginald had committed the crimes with his own
brother. The friend and her mothercalled the police, telling them that they
(10:33):
believed they knew who the killer was. Jonathan was quickly arrested, and just
like his brother, he was inpossession of multiple items that belonged to the
victims. One of them was adiamond engagement ring, the one that Jason
had planned to use to propose toHolly. Based on the evidence, the
police theorized that the car Brother's motivehad truly been financial. Once they decided
(10:56):
they were going to rob people,they saw no reason why they shouldn't sexually
assault, terrorize, and murder theirvictims. Ann Wallenta, who was still
in critical condition, positively identified Reginaldcar as one of her assailants. Shortly
afterwards, she passed away from herinjuries, increasing the car Brother's death toll
by one more victim. But despitebeing shot in the head, one of
(11:18):
the victims of the Wichita massacre survivedto testify the car Brother's trial. Holly
g As the date of the trialcame closer, media outlets speculated that the
crime may have been racially motivated becauseall of the victims were white and Reginald
and Jonathan were black. From themoment that Reginald and Jonathan were arrested,
race had become a key factor inthe coverage of the case, even though
(11:41):
there was no concrete evidence to suggestthat race had been a factor in the
killings. During jury selection, theprospective jurors were questioned on their views about
race, as well as what theyalready knew about the spree of crimes that
Reginald and Jonathan had carried out.One potential juror was excused because he had
a strong more opposition to the deathpenalty. Three more were excused because they
(12:03):
personally knew at least one of Reginaldand Jonathan's victims. Finally, a jury
was selected, five women and sevenmen. The twelve jurors sat through an
emotional and gruesome collection of testimonies.Doctor Scott Porter, a trauma surgeon,
used a mannikin to demonstrate the fatalgunshot wounds that had led to Anne Willent
his death. His description was sodetailed and graphic that one of the jurors
(12:28):
fainted. It had to be examinedat the hospital. Andrew Schreiber, the
car brother's first victim, told thestory of how he was abducted and robbed,
and then he and his car weredumped in a field. He was
able to positively identify Reginald as beingone of the perpetrators, but was unable
to say whether or not Jonathan hadbeen the second assailant. In the early
(12:48):
days of the trial, Holly wascalled to the stand. She painstakingly described
the fear and pain that the carbrothers had put her and her friends through,
telling the court that she and Heatherhad been repeatedly rape and that the
brothers had forced their male friends toengage in sexual activity with her and Heather
at gunpoint. At one point,one of the brothers had told one of
the men that he would be shotif he couldn't perform. Mary Dudley,
(13:11):
the coroner for Sedgwick County, describedthe fatal wounds that had been inflicted on
the victims. They hadn't just beenshot at point blank range. Heather and
Aaron had actually been shot with themuzzle of the gun pressed to the back
of their heads. Hally, Brad, and Jason had all been shot by
someone standing slightly farther away. JonathanCarr's attorney asked Mary if that could mean
(13:33):
that only one of the brothers hadshot the victims, but Mary replied that
it was impossible to tell. Forensicexperts testified about Holly's survival, proving that
the small hair clip she had beenwearing was likely the only reason that she
had been able to survive. Herhad wound. Amongst the other charges against
them. Reginald and Jonathan were alsofacing account of animal cruelty for their killing
(13:54):
of Holly's dog. A crime sceneinvestigator testified that Nicky had been beaten to
death with a golf club before beingstabbed repeatedly with an ice pick. To
prove that the car brothers had robbedthe house on East Birchwood Drive, the
prosecution brought a large collection of itemsinto the courtroom. All of them had
belonged to the victims, and allof them had since been found in Reginald's
(14:16):
apartment. The items ranged from jacketsand shoes to remote controls, a tool
set, and a big screen TV. One by one, family members and
friends testified that those items belonged tothe victims. A forensic investigator told the
court that Jonathan had lost one ofhis shoes while attempting to run from the
police. The print of that shoeexactly matched a footprint that had been lifted
(14:39):
from the garage floor at East BirchwoodDrive. The investigators had also been able
to link Ann Wallenta and Andrew Schreiber'scrimes after finding that bullets from the same
gun had been used to fatally woundAnne and shoot the tires of Andrew's car.
Shell casings from that same gun hadalso been found in the house on
East Birchwood Drive. However, thegun had been dumped on the side of
(15:01):
the road only a couple of blocksaway from the soccer field where the victims
were killed without a DNA link.That meant that even though the gun had
been used in all three crimes,it was impossible to prove that the weapon
had belonged to either of the Carbrothers. Fortunately, there was also other
forensic evidence that placed the Car brothersat the crime scene. Jonathan Seaman had
(15:22):
been found on the carpet at EastBirchwood Drive, and it was also a
match to swabs taken from Holly aftershe survived her ordeal. While Reginald Seaman
wasn't found in the house, spotsof Heathermuller's blood had been left on his
clothing. After the assault, Hollyhad contracted a sexually transmitted disease, which
she had likely caught from Reginald,whose ex girlfriend reported that she had the
(15:43):
same condition. Even the people closeto the Car brothers didn't believe they were
innocent Reginald's girlfriend, Stephanie Donneley,took the stand, saying that she had
become suspicious when Reginald suddenly had alot of cash in December, even though
he didn't have a job. Whenshe asked him how he was getting this
money, Reginald told her that hehad been entering his pet pit bull into
illegal dog fights, and the cashcame from the winnings. During that same
(16:07):
month, Reginald had moved several itemsinto Stephanie's house which were later identified as
belonging to his victims. Stephanie hadalso testified that on December fourteenth, she
had let Reginald and his brother borrowher car at around five thirty p m.
They returned the vehicle to her twelvehours later, after the Wichita massacre
(16:29):
had taken place. Tronda Adams,Reginald's friend whose mother had tipped off the
police, testified that he had cometo her house on the evening of December
eleventh and handed her a handgun.She had no idea that it was the
gun that he had used to roband fatally shoot Ann Wallenta only an hour
before. Tronda held onto the gunfor several days until December fourteenth, when
(16:51):
Reginald came to pick it up.Tronda's mother told the story of how she'd
begun to suspect that Jonathan was theaccomplice. After seeing the news report about
Reginald's she had rushed across the streetwith Tronda and one of her nieces,
and together they placed the nine oneone call that resulted in Jonathan being arrested.
In the face of hundreds of exhibitsand multiple eyewitness testimonies, the defense
(17:12):
faced an uphill battle. The attorneysfor both brothers attempted to argue that the
other brother had been the perpetrator,while their defendant had some sort of alibi
for the date the Wichita massacre tookplace. Reginald's lawyers attempted to get him
to testify in his own defense,claiming that Jonathan had been telling stories about
spending time with another man who wasshooting people. According to Reginald, that
(17:37):
anonymous second perpetrator had been the oneto carry out the crimes with Jonathan,
and Reginald had just been trying tohelp his brother by holding on to the
victim's stolen property. However, thejudge ruled that admitting that testimony was hearsay
and couldn't be admitted as evidence.Jonathan's defense was even weaker than his brothers.
His attorneys presented an unused train ticketas VA evidence, telling the jury
(18:00):
that Jonathan had planned to take thetrain out of Wichitah on the evening of
December fourteenth. However, he hadn'tended up using the ticket. Not because
he had been carrying out a quadruplerobbery and homicide. No, no,
no, it was because he hadsomehow become lost and had missed his train
completely. His defense also leaned onthe fact that Reginald had been positively identified
(18:22):
as the perpetrator more consistently than Jonathan, and Reginald had also been the brother
who was in possession of more ofthe victim's stolen property. Jonathan's attorney said,
quote, Reginald Carr was not alone, but the evidence will show who
was taking the lead role that night, directing things, taking things. Don't
just go back there and check thebox. Guilty on all counts. Please
(18:44):
consider his guilt and innocence separate fromthe damning evidence against his brother Reginald.
During the closing arguments, one prosecutorsaid to the jury, quote, this
is a crime driven by greed andlust, by selfishness, and driven by
twisted sexual greth ratification. Finally,the trial came to a close and the
jury began their deliberation. On Novemberfour, two thousand and two, they
(19:07):
came back with their verdict. Reginaldand Jonathan Carr faced a total of one
hundred and thirteen criminal charges, andthey were convicted of almost all of them,
including one count of first degree murder, four counts of capital murder,
and a collection of charges for therobbery, sexual assault, and kidnapping of
their victims. Crucially, the menweren't just convicted of sexually assaulting their female
(19:30):
victims. They were also convicted ofraping the male victims who they had forced
to engage in sexual activity, andfor the beating and stabbing of Holly's dog,
Nikki, they were found guilty ofanimal cruelty. Now, the jury
were left with an even more difficulttask deciding what the appropriate punishment was for
the crimes the car brothers were guiltyof. During the penalty phase of the
(19:52):
trial, the residents of Wichita werecalling for both brothers to be executed.
One local man bought two he humanshaped dummies with dark skin representing Reginald and
Jonathan, and then displayed the dummieshanging from a tree in his yard.
That display caused a public outcry becauseit reminded the community of the lynchings of
black men that had taken place inthe past. After a large number of
(20:15):
other residents complained about the dummies,the man agreed to take them down,
claiming that he had only been tryingto show his distaste for the car Brothers
and that he hadn't been making aracial statement. The car brother's attorney called
on witnesses to describe the brother's upbringing, hoping to paint their clients in a
sympathetic light. Like many people whoend up carrying out evil acts, both
(20:37):
Reginald and Jonathan Carr had a troubledchildhood filled with violence and abuse. Reginald
and Jonathan's mother, Janis, toldthe jury that her two sons had grown
up in a household that didn't showphysical affection or celebrate holidays. She stated
that the boys had a traumatic childhood. One of their sisters died when she
was three, and their father wasoften violent to Janie. Janis had had
(21:00):
enough, she told the court quote, I picked up a bat and beat
him with it. I told himhe wasn't going to hit me again.
Shortly afterwards, the couple divorced,and Reginald and Jonathan's father vanished from their
lives completely, something that's common whenan abuser realizes their victims won't take their
shit anymore. Janie remarried, butfaced the same issues with her second husband,
(21:22):
who even threatened her with a gun. She would sometimes send the boys
to stay with their grandmother instead,but she was also erratic, often having
outbursts where she would yell at theboys. Finally, Janie turned towards her
sons and spoke to them directly.She said quote, I don't know what
went wrong, but I love you. I'm sorry. If I did something
wrong, I'm sorry. Reginald andJonathan's older sister confirmed Janii's story of a
(21:48):
chaotic childhood, adding that she hadbeen sexually abused by her father and that
several of Janis's boyfriends had sexually abusedReginald to Jonathan. She alleged that the
abuse had caused the brothers to actout at school, and that Jonathan had
tried to end his life when hewas sixteen years old by drinking a bottle
of ani freeze. A forensic pathologisttestified that Reginald had been exposed to violence,
(22:11):
sex, and drugs from a youngage, including finding pornographic material that
featured his own mother. It wasrevealed that starting at only six years old,
Reginald was sexually abusing children that hismother baby sat. At eleven years
old, he was being given drugsand alcohol by his older relatives, and
by the time he started eighth grade, he had attended a total of eight
(22:32):
different schools. He started dealing drugsat thirteen, and his own mother was
one of his customers. His behavioralproblems included fighting with other students and sexually
harassing his teachers, and finally,in ninth grade he dropped out. He
had spent time in prison before heeven turned eighteen. Another psychologist described Jonathan
(22:52):
as having a childhood that was quotehopeless, helpless, homeless, hungry,
and hugless. He alleged that thatupbringing left Jonathan and Reginald quote so void
of empathy and attachment that he coulddo this crime to other young people.
However, both psychologists agreed that Reginaldand Jonathan were able to tell the difference
between right and wrong, but theysimply didn't care about doing the right thing.
(23:17):
Both Andrew Schreiber and Holly g choseto make further statements to the jury.
Andrew shared that he had been sufferingfrom survivor's guild since the Wichita massacre,
ever since he found out that mostof the victims had not survived their
encounter with the Carr brothers. Eversince that day, he had been constantly
reminded of the fear and pain ofhis ordeal. Hally began her statement by
(23:37):
saying, quote, I speak onbehalf of Brad, Aaron, Heather,
Anne, Andy, Jason, andmyself. One of my favorite seven year
olds lost her uncle on the fifteenththis year. When her mom asked her
what she wanted for Christmas, shereplied that if she had wings and if
they were real, that she couldfly to heaven and see her uncle Jason
(23:59):
and her Papa. I wish lifewere that simple. I wish that I
could put on a pair of wingsand that I could go see Jason.
But we all know that these arewishes, and they are wishes that we
have to wish because of two soullessmonsters. Hally went on to describe the
impact that the trauma and grief hadon her life. She said, quote,
every day there is a memory ora scar that reminds me of that
(24:19):
night. I wake up in sweatsfrom my nightmares. I pace at night
because of noises that I think aresomebody breaking into my house. Every morning,
I carefully blow dry my hair tocover up the spot that can no
longer grow hair. I look atmy knees and see the scars from the
carpet burns that I got from therape, and in the back of my
mind, I wonder will it happenagain. Reginald's attorney pleaded with the jury,
(24:44):
saying, quote, I ask youto extend mercy to Reginald car that
he did not extend to those fourindividuals. Meanwhile, Norah full Stan,
one of the attorneys for the prosecution, advised the jury that they should avoid
recommending a lighter sentence because they feltsympathy for the brothers due to their childhood
trauma. She said, quote,there is no excuse for an individual's conduct.
(25:06):
You can't blame your family for whatwent wrong in your life. After
seven hours of deliberation, the juryreached their decision. While Jonathan was convicted
of seven less counts than his brother. The verdict was the same for both.
They were sentenced to death for capitalmurder. Holly told the court that
although Reginald and Jonathan had taken somuch from her, there was one thing
(25:29):
they would never be able to takeaway. She said, quote, I
had no choice in what Reginald andJonathan Carr did that night. I wasn't
given the choice to save Brad orAaron, or Heather or Jason. I
had the choice to lie there anddie or to get up and live.
I chose to live, and Iwill still choose to live. Like any
death penalty case, the car brother'ssentences have gone through a lengthy appeals process.
(25:55):
On July twenty fifth, twenty fourteen, the Kansas Supreme Court announced it
had overturned the death sentences on appeal. The sixth Justice majority said they did
so because the trial judge failed toadequately separate the penalty proceedings for each defendant.
According to a release from the KansasSupreme Court Public Information officer, the
court unanimously reversed three of each defendant'sfour capital convictions because jury instructions on sex
(26:22):
crime based capital murder were quote fatallyerroneous, and three of the multiple homicide
capital murder charges duplicated the first.The Kansas Attorney General appealed the High Court's
ruling to the U. S.Supreme Court. In January of twenty sixteen,
the United States Supreme Court reinstated thedeath sentences, overturning the Kansas Supreme
(26:42):
Court, deciding that neither the juryinstructions, which were challenged by the car's
Legal Council, nor the combined sentencingproceedings violated the Constitution. The Kansas Supreme
Court affirmed the death penalty for thebrothers on January twenty first, twenty twenty
two of Jonathan and Reginald Carr willnever bring back the people they so viciously
(27:03):
killed, nor will it remove thepain that Andrew and Holly will experience for
the rest of their lives. Butat least it gives some sense of justice
for what two monsters did because theysimply wanted money for nothing. If you're
the victim of domestic abuse, pleasereach out to someone for help. Please
talk to your local shelter or callthe National Domestic Abuse Hotline at one eight
hundred seven nine nine safe. That'sone eight hundred seven ninety nine seven two
(27:27):
three three, or you can goto the Hotline dot org to chat with
someone online. This website is setup so that at any time, hitting
the escape key twice will take youto a Google search page. That way,
if your abuser is nearby, youwon't get caught seeking help. If
you're having feelings of harming yourself orsomeone else, or even just need someone
to talk to, please contact yourlocal mental health facility call nine one one,
(27:51):
or call the National Suicide Prevention Hotlineby simply dialing nine eight eight in
the United States. They're available twentyfour hours a day, seven days a
week, and we'll talk to youabout any mental health issue you may be
facing. If you are a memberof the LGBTQ plus community and suffering from
discrimination, depression, or are inneed of any support, please contact the
lgbt National Hotline at one eight eighteight eight four three four five six four,
(28:15):
or go to Lgbthotline dot org.Thanks so much for letting me tell
you this story. If you enjoyedit, subscribe on whatever platform you're on
it, like rate us, orleave us a comment. You can check
out our other show somewhere sinister onYouTube or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
If you'd like to support the show, check out our merchandise at this ismonsters
dot com. The link is inthe description. Thanks again, and be safe.
On December eighth, two thousand,twenty three year old Andrew Schreiber was abducted
at gunpoint. Andrew was an assistantbaseball coach at Newman University and was an
avid baseball lover, so it washis dream job. He had been shopping
at a convenience store in Wichita,Kansas, when he was startled by a
man pointing a gun at him.Andrew did as he was told, moving
(00:21):
from the driver's seat to the passengerseat of his nineteen ninety eight Ford expedition.
The gunman pulled the suv into analley and another armed man got into
the vehicle. Andrew was a young, fit athlete who kept on the right
side of the law. This kindof danger was completely foreign to him,
and he was terrified, but managedto keep his cool. He followed the
(00:42):
orders his abductors gave him as theydrove from at M to at M and
withdrew the maximum sum of cash fromeach Andrew would later say quote, I
was just hoping that if I didwhat they said, they'd let me live.
The men drove the suv around abit before driving to a field nearby.
When they arrived at the location,Andrew's anxiety reached its peak, but
(01:03):
instead of turning the gun on him, the two men told him to lie
on the floor of the back seat. They told him that they would leave
the keys in the road, andthen they asked him if he had a
spare tire. When he said yes, they shot at one of the tires
of his car and told him towait twenty minutes before moving. Then they
stole his watch and fled the scene. As Andrew made his way back into
(01:26):
town to report the crime, hehad no way of knowing that what he'd
experienced wasn't a one off incident.In fact, it was the beginning of
a crime spree that would terrify thecity of Wichita. This is monsters.
(02:04):
Once the assailants were gone, Andrewwent out to the road and found his
keys. Then he limped his vehiclehome on the flat tire, where he
called nine one one. It seemedhe didn't have the ability to change the
tire if he had a spare,but it's not explained anywhere. Andrew had
been hit on the head multiple times, but he was lucky to be live.
Linda Ann Wallenta, who went byAnne, was a fifty five year
(02:25):
old librarian and cellist who worked forthe Wichita Symphony Orchestra. On December eleventh,
two thousand, Anne finished up alate rehearsal with the orchestra and returned
home at around nine thirty pm.She had just finished parking her car in
the usual place on the street directlyoutside the house she shared with her husband,
when a man walked up to her, telling her that he needed some
(02:47):
help. As Anne rolled the windowdown, the man pulled out a gun
and aimed it at her head.Anne's first instinct was to turn the car
back on and attempt to drive away, but it was still running. As
she turned the key, the mantold not to move, but she put
the car in reverse anyway. That'swhen the man opened fire. The bullet
pierced the window on the driver's side, severely wounding her. Unable to continue
(03:10):
driving, Anne repeatedly hit the car'shorn, causing the neighbors to call the
police. Unfortunately, by the timeofficers arrived, Anne had fallen unconscious and
there was no sign of her attacker. The man had fired three bullets,
and one of them severed Anne's spinalcord, instantly paralyzing her from the waist
down. While Anne was fighting forher life in the hospital, drifting in
(03:32):
and out of consciousness. Her assailantand his accomplice struck again. Late in
the evening of December fourteenth, twoarmed men broke into a house on East
Birchwood Drive. The house's usual occupantswere three men in their twenties, twenty
six year old Jason Beffert, twentyseven year old Brad Haka, and twenty
(03:53):
nine year old Aaron Sander. Thatnight, they had two visitors at the
house with them, twenty five yearold Heather Muller, who was Aaron Sanders's
ex girlfriend, and the other twentyfive year old woman known only as Holly
G. Hally, had also broughther beloved pet schnauzer, Nikki with her.
Hally was a teacher at rose HillElementary and had been dating Jason for
(04:14):
a while. He was also ateacher, and the pair were completely smitten.
Jason had actually been trying to workup the courage to propose to her,
even buying a ring and a bookfull of proposal tips, but he
still hadn't found the right moment topop the question. Holly arrived at the
triplex before Jason, so she usedthe time to grade some papers as she
waited for Jason to get home frombasketball practice. He was the science teacher
(04:38):
and coach for the junior varsity basketballteam at Augusta High School. That night,
the five friends spent some time catchingup over dinner, then watched television
for a few hours before they wentto sleep. Holly and Jason were in
bed together when the room was suddenlyilluminated by the porch light. Jason was
annoyed, saying to Holly, quote, don't tell me you have to get
(04:59):
up and turn off off the lightagain. Holly tried to check the clock
next to the bed to see whatthe time was. She couldn't see the
whole screen because Jason's head was blockingher view, but she could tell that
it was at least eleven pm.Suddenly, the bedroom door flung open,
and a man holding a gun appearedin the doorway. He strode into the
room and pulled back the sheets thatwere covering Holly and Jason. A second
(05:23):
man walked in a few seconds later, dragging erin with him and pushed him
down onto the bed. Holly's dog, Nicki, who had been woken up
by the intruders, began to growl. One of the intruders told Holly and
Jason, quote, grab your dogor we'll shoot her. The other man
asked if there were any other peoplein the house, and once they were
given directions to the rooms where Bradand Heather were sleeping, one assailant went
(05:45):
downstairs to retrieve them. Because thebedroom was mostly dark, Holly found it
hard to tell the two intruders apart. She could see that both of them
were black, and the one whohad entered the room first was slightly taller
and more muscular than the second intruderher. One by one, Brad and
Heather were brought into the room,With all of the houses occupants now confined
(06:05):
in one room, The intruders orderedthem to hand over all of their cash,
but none of the five victims hadany cash on them, so they
handed their debit cards over instead.While the intruders were burgling the house,
one of them called out that theyhad found a diamond ring hidden inside a
box of popcorn. That's how Hollyfound out that her boyfriend was planning on
(06:27):
proposing to her. Then the intrudersordered them to take off all of their
clothes, tied them up, andforcibly pushed all five people into a small
closet in the bedroom. Over thenext few hours, they would remove holly
in heather from the closet to sexuallyassault them, and on several occasions Brad,
Jason and Aaron were forced to performsexual acts with the women at gunpoint.
(06:49):
They were told that if they weren'table to perform, they would be
shot. One by one, Thevictims were driven to nearby ATMs, where
they were forced to withdraw all themoney they could When the crime was complete,
the car brothers were willing to destroyfive lives for about eighteen hundred and
fifty dollars. After that process hadbeen completed for all five victims, the
(07:11):
intruders forced them into Aaron's car.Jonathan drove the car while Reginald drove Jason's
truck to the outskirts of the city, stopping at the Striker Soccer Complex.
At the soccer field, the victimswere forced out of the car in order
to kneel down next to each otherin a line. All five victims were
executed. They were shot once atpoint blank range in the back of the
(07:33):
head. As the attackers fled thescene, they carried out one last act
of violence, deliberately driving the truckover the dead bodies of their victims.
Heather, Brad, Jason, andAaron were either dead or dying, but
miraculously, Holly was still alive.She had been wearing a plastic bread in
her hair, and the bullet hadglanced off the smooth plastic, grazing the
(07:56):
side of her head and fracturing herskull instead of entering her brain. In
the dark, her attackers hadn't noticedthat Holly was simply stunned instead of dying.
Holly had been awake when she'd heardthe intruders talking about what to do
next, and she'd been awake whenthey had slowly deliberately driven their truck over
her body. One she was surethat the killers were gone, Holly desperately
(08:18):
tried to save Jason's life by bandaginghis head wound. At that point,
Holly was freezing cold, She wascompletely naked and not wearing any shoes,
and the ground was covered in snow. Despite the weather, the bullet wound
to her head, and the factthat she'd recently been run over. When
she saw a building in the distance, she managed to walk over a mile
to get to the front door onher way. Every time she saw headlights,
(08:43):
she dove to the ground and coveredherself with snow because she was afraid
the monsters that had terrorized her werecoming back. When the homeowner saw a
bleeding, naked woman on their doorstep, they led her inside the house and
called nine one one. Holly wasconcerned that she was going to die from
her injuries, so she rushed throughthe description of the crime, sharing as
much information as she could with thetwo strangers who had invited her into their
(09:07):
home. Police and ambulances rushed tothe scene, but it was too late
to save any of Holly's friends.They were also too late to save holly
schnauzer Niki. After shooting the fivefriends, the two killers had gone back
to the house and beaten Nikki todeath with a golf club. It turned
out that the brothers returned to thehouse and, along with murdering a dog,
(09:28):
stole anything else of value. Theythen returned to the vehicle they had
driven to the area in a borrowedTan Toyota, and returned to their homes.
The horrifying nature of the crime shockedthe community, and the events that
had taken place that night soon becameknown as the Wichita massacre. Shortly after
the murders, the police arrested aman matching the description of one of the
(09:50):
killers. His name was Reginald Carr. At the time he was apprehended,
Reginald was carrying Heather Muller's watch andJason Beffert's gas card. A brief search
of his apartment revealed a collection ofother items that belonged to the victims,
but there was no sign of whoeverhis accomplice in the crimes had been.
When the news that one man hadbeen arrested in connection to the crime broke,
(10:13):
a tip was quickly called in tothe police. Reginald's brother, Jonathan
Carr, was staying at the apartmentof one of his friends, and the
friend was watching the news when shesaw a report about Reginald's arrest. Immediately
she knew who the accomplice was.Reginald had committed the crimes with his own
brother. The friend and her mothercalled the police, telling them that they
(10:33):
believed they knew who the killer was. Jonathan was quickly arrested, and just
like his brother, he was inpossession of multiple items that belonged to the
victims. One of them was adiamond engagement ring, the one that Jason
had planned to use to propose toHolly. Based on the evidence, the
police theorized that the car Brother's motivehad truly been financial. Once they decided
(10:56):
they were going to rob people,they saw no reason why they shouldn't sexually
assault, terrorize, and murder theirvictims. Ann Wallenta, who was still
in critical condition, positively identified Reginaldcar as one of her assailants. Shortly
afterwards, she passed away from herinjuries, increasing the car Brother's death toll
by one more victim. But despitebeing shot in the head, one of
(11:18):
the victims of the Wichita massacre survivedto testify the car Brother's trial. Holly
g As the date of the trialcame closer, media outlets speculated that the
crime may have been racially motivated becauseall of the victims were white and Reginald
and Jonathan were black. From themoment that Reginald and Jonathan were arrested,
race had become a key factor inthe coverage of the case, even though
(11:41):
there was no concrete evidence to suggestthat race had been a factor in the
killings. During jury selection, theprospective jurors were questioned on their views about
race, as well as what theyalready knew about the spree of crimes that
Reginald and Jonathan had carried out.One potential juror was excused because he had
a strong more opposition to the deathpenalty. Three more were excused because they
(12:03):
personally knew at least one of Reginaldand Jonathan's victims. Finally, a jury
was selected, five women and sevenmen. The twelve jurors sat through an
emotional and gruesome collection of testimonies.Doctor Scott Porter, a trauma surgeon,
used a mannikin to demonstrate the fatalgunshot wounds that had led to Anne Willent
his death. His description was sodetailed and graphic that one of the jurors
(12:28):
fainted. It had to be examinedat the hospital. Andrew Schreiber, the
car brother's first victim, told thestory of how he was abducted and robbed,
and then he and his car weredumped in a field. He was
able to positively identify Reginald as beingone of the perpetrators, but was unable
to say whether or not Jonathan hadbeen the second assailant. In the early
(12:48):
days of the trial, Holly wascalled to the stand. She painstakingly described
the fear and pain that the carbrothers had put her and her friends through,
telling the court that she and Heatherhad been repeatedly rape and that the
brothers had forced their male friends toengage in sexual activity with her and Heather
at gunpoint. At one point,one of the brothers had told one of
the men that he would be shotif he couldn't perform. Mary Dudley,
(13:11):
the coroner for Sedgwick County, describedthe fatal wounds that had been inflicted on
the victims. They hadn't just beenshot at point blank range. Heather and
Aaron had actually been shot with themuzzle of the gun pressed to the back
of their heads. Hally, Brad, and Jason had all been shot by
someone standing slightly farther away. JonathanCarr's attorney asked Mary if that could mean
(13:33):
that only one of the brothers hadshot the victims, but Mary replied that
it was impossible to tell. Forensicexperts testified about Holly's survival, proving that
the small hair clip she had beenwearing was likely the only reason that she
had been able to survive. Herhad wound. Amongst the other charges against
them. Reginald and Jonathan were alsofacing account of animal cruelty for their killing
(13:54):
of Holly's dog. A crime sceneinvestigator testified that Nicky had been beaten to
death with a golf club before beingstabbed repeatedly with an ice pick. To
prove that the car brothers had robbedthe house on East Birchwood Drive, the
prosecution brought a large collection of itemsinto the courtroom. All of them had
belonged to the victims, and allof them had since been found in Reginald's
(14:16):
apartment. The items ranged from jacketsand shoes to remote controls, a tool
set, and a big screen TV. One by one, family members and
friends testified that those items belonged tothe victims. A forensic investigator told the
court that Jonathan had lost one ofhis shoes while attempting to run from the
police. The print of that shoeexactly matched a footprint that had been lifted
(14:39):
from the garage floor at East BirchwoodDrive. The investigators had also been able
to link Ann Wallenta and Andrew Schreiber'scrimes after finding that bullets from the same
gun had been used to fatally woundAnne and shoot the tires of Andrew's car.
Shell casings from that same gun hadalso been found in the house on
East Birchwood Drive. However, thegun had been dumped on the side of
(15:01):
the road only a couple of blocksaway from the soccer field where the victims
were killed without a DNA link.That meant that even though the gun had
been used in all three crimes,it was impossible to prove that the weapon
had belonged to either of the Carbrothers. Fortunately, there was also other
forensic evidence that placed the Car brothersat the crime scene. Jonathan Seaman had
(15:22):
been found on the carpet at EastBirchwood Drive, and it was also a
match to swabs taken from Holly aftershe survived her ordeal. While Reginald Seaman
wasn't found in the house, spotsof Heathermuller's blood had been left on his
clothing. After the assault, Hollyhad contracted a sexually transmitted disease, which
she had likely caught from Reginald,whose ex girlfriend reported that she had the
(15:43):
same condition. Even the people closeto the Car brothers didn't believe they were
innocent Reginald's girlfriend, Stephanie Donneley,took the stand, saying that she had
become suspicious when Reginald suddenly had alot of cash in December, even though
he didn't have a job. Whenshe asked him how he was getting this
money, Reginald told her that hehad been entering his pet pit bull into
illegal dog fights, and the cashcame from the winnings. During that same
(16:07):
month, Reginald had moved several itemsinto Stephanie's house which were later identified as
belonging to his victims. Stephanie hadalso testified that on December fourteenth, she
had let Reginald and his brother borrowher car at around five thirty p m.
They returned the vehicle to her twelvehours later, after the Wichita massacre
(16:29):
had taken place. Tronda Adams,Reginald's friend whose mother had tipped off the
police, testified that he had cometo her house on the evening of December
eleventh and handed her a handgun.She had no idea that it was the
gun that he had used to roband fatally shoot Ann Wallenta only an hour
before. Tronda held onto the gunfor several days until December fourteenth, when
(16:51):
Reginald came to pick it up.Tronda's mother told the story of how she'd
begun to suspect that Jonathan was theaccomplice. After seeing the news report about
Reginald's she had rushed across the streetwith Tronda and one of her nieces,
and together they placed the nine oneone call that resulted in Jonathan being arrested.
In the face of hundreds of exhibitsand multiple eyewitness testimonies, the defense
(17:12):
faced an uphill battle. The attorneysfor both brothers attempted to argue that the
other brother had been the perpetrator,while their defendant had some sort of alibi
for the date the Wichita massacre tookplace. Reginald's lawyers attempted to get him
to testify in his own defense,claiming that Jonathan had been telling stories about
spending time with another man who wasshooting people. According to Reginald, that
(17:37):
anonymous second perpetrator had been the oneto carry out the crimes with Jonathan,
and Reginald had just been trying tohelp his brother by holding on to the
victim's stolen property. However, thejudge ruled that admitting that testimony was hearsay
and couldn't be admitted as evidence.Jonathan's defense was even weaker than his brothers.
His attorneys presented an unused train ticketas VA evidence, telling the jury
(18:00):
that Jonathan had planned to take thetrain out of Wichitah on the evening of
December fourteenth. However, he hadn'tended up using the ticket. Not because
he had been carrying out a quadruplerobbery and homicide. No, no,
no, it was because he hadsomehow become lost and had missed his train
completely. His defense also leaned onthe fact that Reginald had been positively identified
(18:22):
as the perpetrator more consistently than Jonathan, and Reginald had also been the brother
who was in possession of more ofthe victim's stolen property. Jonathan's attorney said,
quote, Reginald Carr was not alone, but the evidence will show who
was taking the lead role that night, directing things, taking things. Don't
just go back there and check thebox. Guilty on all counts. Please
(18:44):
consider his guilt and innocence separate fromthe damning evidence against his brother Reginald.
During the closing arguments, one prosecutorsaid to the jury, quote, this
is a crime driven by greed andlust, by selfishness, and driven by
twisted sexual greth ratification. Finally,the trial came to a close and the
jury began their deliberation. On Novemberfour, two thousand and two, they
(19:07):
came back with their verdict. Reginaldand Jonathan Carr faced a total of one
hundred and thirteen criminal charges, andthey were convicted of almost all of them,
including one count of first degree murder, four counts of capital murder,
and a collection of charges for therobbery, sexual assault, and kidnapping of
their victims. Crucially, the menweren't just convicted of sexually assaulting their female
(19:30):
victims. They were also convicted ofraping the male victims who they had forced
to engage in sexual activity, andfor the beating and stabbing of Holly's dog,
Nikki, they were found guilty ofanimal cruelty. Now, the jury
were left with an even more difficulttask deciding what the appropriate punishment was for
the crimes the car brothers were guiltyof. During the penalty phase of the
(19:52):
trial, the residents of Wichita werecalling for both brothers to be executed.
One local man bought two he humanshaped dummies with dark skin representing Reginald and
Jonathan, and then displayed the dummieshanging from a tree in his yard.
That display caused a public outcry becauseit reminded the community of the lynchings of
black men that had taken place inthe past. After a large number of
(20:15):
other residents complained about the dummies,the man agreed to take them down,
claiming that he had only been tryingto show his distaste for the car Brothers
and that he hadn't been making aracial statement. The car brother's attorney called
on witnesses to describe the brother's upbringing, hoping to paint their clients in a
sympathetic light. Like many people whoend up carrying out evil acts, both
(20:37):
Reginald and Jonathan Carr had a troubledchildhood filled with violence and abuse. Reginald
and Jonathan's mother, Janis, toldthe jury that her two sons had grown
up in a household that didn't showphysical affection or celebrate holidays. She stated
that the boys had a traumatic childhood. One of their sisters died when she
was three, and their father wasoften violent to Janie. Janis had had
(21:00):
enough, she told the court quote, I picked up a bat and beat
him with it. I told himhe wasn't going to hit me again.
Shortly afterwards, the couple divorced,and Reginald and Jonathan's father vanished from their
lives completely, something that's common whenan abuser realizes their victims won't take their
shit anymore. Janie remarried, butfaced the same issues with her second husband,
(21:22):
who even threatened her with a gun. She would sometimes send the boys
to stay with their grandmother instead,but she was also erratic, often having
outbursts where she would yell at theboys. Finally, Janie turned towards her
sons and spoke to them directly.She said quote, I don't know what
went wrong, but I love you. I'm sorry. If I did something
wrong, I'm sorry. Reginald andJonathan's older sister confirmed Janii's story of a
(21:48):
chaotic childhood, adding that she hadbeen sexually abused by her father and that
several of Janis's boyfriends had sexually abusedReginald to Jonathan. She alleged that the
abuse had caused the brothers to actout at school, and that Jonathan had
tried to end his life when hewas sixteen years old by drinking a bottle
of ani freeze. A forensic pathologisttestified that Reginald had been exposed to violence,
(22:11):
sex, and drugs from a youngage, including finding pornographic material that
featured his own mother. It wasrevealed that starting at only six years old,
Reginald was sexually abusing children that hismother baby sat. At eleven years
old, he was being given drugsand alcohol by his older relatives, and
by the time he started eighth grade, he had attended a total of eight
(22:32):
different schools. He started dealing drugsat thirteen, and his own mother was
one of his customers. His behavioralproblems included fighting with other students and sexually
harassing his teachers, and finally,in ninth grade he dropped out. He
had spent time in prison before heeven turned eighteen. Another psychologist described Jonathan
(22:52):
as having a childhood that was quotehopeless, helpless, homeless, hungry,
and hugless. He alleged that thatupbringing left Jonathan and Reginald quote so void
of empathy and attachment that he coulddo this crime to other young people.
However, both psychologists agreed that Reginaldand Jonathan were able to tell the difference
between right and wrong, but theysimply didn't care about doing the right thing.
(23:17):
Both Andrew Schreiber and Holly g choseto make further statements to the jury.
Andrew shared that he had been sufferingfrom survivor's guild since the Wichita massacre,
ever since he found out that mostof the victims had not survived their
encounter with the Carr brothers. Eversince that day, he had been constantly
reminded of the fear and pain ofhis ordeal. Hally began her statement by
(23:37):
saying, quote, I speak onbehalf of Brad, Aaron, Heather,
Anne, Andy, Jason, andmyself. One of my favorite seven year
olds lost her uncle on the fifteenththis year. When her mom asked her
what she wanted for Christmas, shereplied that if she had wings and if
they were real, that she couldfly to heaven and see her uncle Jason
(23:59):
and her Papa. I wish lifewere that simple. I wish that I
could put on a pair of wingsand that I could go see Jason.
But we all know that these arewishes, and they are wishes that we
have to wish because of two soullessmonsters. Hally went on to describe the
impact that the trauma and grief hadon her life. She said, quote,
every day there is a memory ora scar that reminds me of that
(24:19):
night. I wake up in sweatsfrom my nightmares. I pace at night
because of noises that I think aresomebody breaking into my house. Every morning,
I carefully blow dry my hair tocover up the spot that can no
longer grow hair. I look atmy knees and see the scars from the
carpet burns that I got from therape, and in the back of my
mind, I wonder will it happenagain. Reginald's attorney pleaded with the jury,
(24:44):
saying, quote, I ask youto extend mercy to Reginald car that
he did not extend to those fourindividuals. Meanwhile, Norah full Stan,
one of the attorneys for the prosecution, advised the jury that they should avoid
recommending a lighter sentence because they feltsympathy for the brothers due to their childhood
trauma. She said, quote,there is no excuse for an individual's conduct.
(25:06):
You can't blame your family for whatwent wrong in your life. After
seven hours of deliberation, the juryreached their decision. While Jonathan was convicted
of seven less counts than his brother. The verdict was the same for both.
They were sentenced to death for capitalmurder. Holly told the court that
although Reginald and Jonathan had taken somuch from her, there was one thing
(25:29):
they would never be able to takeaway. She said, quote, I
had no choice in what Reginald andJonathan Carr did that night. I wasn't
given the choice to save Brad orAaron, or Heather or Jason. I
had the choice to lie there anddie or to get up and live.
I chose to live, and Iwill still choose to live. Like any
death penalty case, the car brother'ssentences have gone through a lengthy appeals process.
(25:55):
On July twenty fifth, twenty fourteen, the Kansas Supreme Court announced it
had overturned the death sentences on appeal. The sixth Justice majority said they did
so because the trial judge failed toadequately separate the penalty proceedings for each defendant.
According to a release from the KansasSupreme Court Public Information officer, the
court unanimously reversed three of each defendant'sfour capital convictions because jury instructions on sex
(26:22):
crime based capital murder were quote fatallyerroneous, and three of the multiple homicide
capital murder charges duplicated the first.The Kansas Attorney General appealed the High Court's
ruling to the U. S.Supreme Court. In January of twenty sixteen,
the United States Supreme Court reinstated thedeath sentences, overturning the Kansas Supreme
(26:42):
Court, deciding that neither the juryinstructions, which were challenged by the car's
Legal Council, nor the combined sentencingproceedings violated the Constitution. The Kansas Supreme
Court affirmed the death penalty for thebrothers on January twenty first, twenty twenty
two of Jonathan and Reginald Carr willnever bring back the people they so viciously
(27:03):
killed, nor will it remove thepain that Andrew and Holly will experience for
the rest of their lives. Butat least it gives some sense of justice
for what two monsters did because theysimply wanted money for nothing. If you're
the victim of domestic abuse, pleasereach out to someone for help. Please
talk to your local shelter or callthe National Domestic Abuse Hotline at one eight
hundred seven nine nine safe. That'sone eight hundred seven ninety nine seven two
(27:27):
three three, or you can goto the Hotline dot org to chat with
someone online. This website is setup so that at any time, hitting
the escape key twice will take youto a Google search page. That way,
if your abuser is nearby, youwon't get caught seeking help. If
you're having feelings of harming yourself orsomeone else, or even just need someone
to talk to, please contact yourlocal mental health facility call nine one one,
(27:51):
or call the National Suicide Prevention Hotlineby simply dialing nine eight eight in
the United States. They're available twentyfour hours a day, seven days a
week, and we'll talk to youabout any mental health issue you may be
facing. If you are a memberof the LGBTQ plus community and suffering from
discrimination, depression, or are inneed of any support, please contact the
lgbt National Hotline at one eight eighteight eight four three four five six four,
(28:15):
or go to Lgbthotline dot org.Thanks so much for letting me tell
you this story. If you enjoyedit, subscribe on whatever platform you're on
it, like rate us, orleave us a comment. You can check
out our other show somewhere sinister onYouTube or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
If you'd like to support the show, check out our merchandise at this ismonsters
dot com. The link is inthe description. Thanks again, and be safe.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.