WICHITA MASSACRE TRIAL UNDERWAY
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Posted on 10/08/2002 5:19 PM Pacific by hoosierskypilot


After two years, two brothers accused of a week-long rampage of murder, rape and robbery in the American heartland will have their reckoning in a Kansas criminal court. The trial began Monday.

In all, Reginald Carr, 24, and Jonathan Carr, 22, face 58 charges each. Of the six people they are accused of trying to kill, only one survived. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

The crime spree began with robbery. On Dec. 7, 2000, the Carr brothers allegedly abducted a 25-year-old man at a Wichita convenience store, forced him to withdraw money from an ATM and then stranded him on a dirt road.

The blood began flowing four days later.

On Dec. 11, prosecutors say, the Carr brothers hid out at the home of 55-year-old cellist Ann Walenta. When she came home that night from orchestra practice, one of the brothers approached her car with a gun and, as she tried to drive away, shot her. She died Jan. 2.

The horrors only escalated.

Three days later, on Dec. 14, the brothers allegedly targeted a townhouse where three men and two women, ages 25 to 29, had gathered. High school science teacher Jason Befort, 26, was planning to propose to his girlfriend.

Around 11 p.m., the Carrs burst through the door brandishing guns, prosecutors say. The women were repeatedly raped, and then all five were forced to have sex with each other, according to authorities. Then the Carrs allegedly drove each victim to an ATM to withdraw cash.

Three hours later, the Carrs allegedly drove the five to a frozen field, lined them up and shot them in the head, execution-style. Then, prosecutors say, one of the brothers ran over the victims with his car.

But one woman -- a 25-year-old high school teacher known publicly only as "H.G." -- survived. With a bullet lodged in her skull, having been run over by a car and left naked in 17-degree weather, the woman ran to a nearby house a mile away for help.

Now H.G., who was supposed to have begun a new life that night with Befort, is the prosecution's sole eyewitness.

On Tuesday, jurors heard her 911 call, telling the operator that, if she died, police could find evidence on her body -- the bullet in her head and semen from one of her attackers.

Other pieces of evidence include the engagement ring Befort meant to give H.G., found in one of the brothers' coat pockets. Befort's credit card was found on the other brother.

On Monday, the first officer at the scene described his overwhelming sadness when he found the bodies lying on the field the next morning.

The brothers' lawyers say their clients have alibis and have hinted at a possible third suspect still walking the streets of Wichita.

"We're going to be pointing fingers at each other a lot," Jay Greeno, one of Reginald Carr's lawyers, told the Associated Press.

The trial, in which some 70 witnesses are expected to be called, could take a month to complete. Jury selection took a grueling 18 days.

The case has already reverberated throughout the state. In 2001, it was discovered that Reginald Carr was supposed to have been in prison during the murders, but had been released by mistake. The reason: Two state parole officers made a math error.

Allegations of racial bias also emerged when prosecutors refused to press hate-crime charges. The Carrs are black; all their victims are white.