2000 with her beloved snower Nikki riding shotgun 25-year-old school

teacher Holly drives through the snowy streets of Witchita to an address on East Birchwood Drive planning to spend

the night with her boyfriend sharing the triplex condo with two roommates her 26-year-old boyfriend Jason beffort a

Charming High School teacher and junior basketball coach is isn’t there when she arrives but having been given a key of

Her Own Holly lets herself into the house inside she’s greeted by Jason’s

two warm and welcoming roommates 29-year-old budding priest Aaron sander and 27-year-old financial analyst Brad

haah soon after 25-year-old preschool teacher Heather Mueller arrives at the apartment to join them although she had

once dated Aaron as devout Catholics the two had ultimately chosen to part ways with Aaron intending to become a priest

and Heather planning to become a nun despite this the pair were still extremely close friends waiting for

Jason as he finishes coaching basketball at Augusta High School Holly grades papers in his room when Jason finally

arrives home the group sit down for dinner together planning to have a cozy evening eating great food watching TV

and chatting into the night as the night comes to a close Jason checks all of the doors are locked before everyone heads

to bed with Heather taking his room Aaron sets himself up on the living room couch in his bedroom Jason Holly and

Nikki the schneer curl up together but just as they get comfortable the porch light suddenly flicks on as Jason

complains he’s going to have to get up and turn it off again they overhear what sounds like Aaron talking to someone

presumably at the front door Hol glances at the clock over Jason’s shoulder seeing that it’s past 11:00 p.m. which

seems late for someone to be knocking at the door the muffled voices grow louder turning into what sounds like shouting

and then the bedroom door suddenly flies open without warning startled by the loud bang they both jump out of their

skin their shock instantly turns to Terror as they look up to see a tall man standing in the doorway pointing a gun

at them the man storms into the room and Yanks the blankets off the bed followed by a second man who drags Aaron into the

room at gunpoint and shoves him onto the bed in the darkness it’s hard to see the faces of the two men clearly though the

second man looks to be shorter and less muscular than the first Nikki begins growling and barking at The Intruders

bearing her teeth so one of the gunmen points his gun at her and coldly mutters

grab your dog or we’ll shoot her terrified Holly does as she’s told before the two Intruders demand to know

who else is in the apartment too scared to defy them the trio tell them about Brad and Heather so one of the men

leaves the room the other keeping Holly Jason Aaron and the dog at gunpoint

moments later the first man returns with Brad in his boxer shorts and Heather still fully clothed with guns pointed at

the five friends the two gunmen then order them all to remove their clothes and so begins one of the most brutal

acts of violence in the history of Kansas that has come to be known

[Music]

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as around a week earlier on December 8th 23-year-old Witchita State University

baseball player Andrew shriber stopped at a come and go convenience store for some chewing tobacco when two young men

approached him pulling a gun on him the pair forced him into his own car ordering him to drive to a number of

ATMs with one of them holding him at gunpoint and the other following in a different vehicle his heart pounding

Andrew tried to stay calm and to do what he was told hoping it would mean they might let him go unharmed handing over a

total of $800 he was able to withdraw before his card was blocked they made Andrew drive to a field Northeast of

town there they beat him with a pistol pushed him out of the car and shot out his tires before fleeing the scene in

the other vehicle 4 days later on December 11th at around half n in the evening a pair of armed men crossed

paths with 55-year-old librarian Anne walenta a talented chist who played with the witcha symphony orchestra Anne was a

devoted wife and mother to two known for assisting various programs to help introduce young African-American

students to classical music on that night in her quiet neighborhood in East Witchita Anne pulled up in her SUV in

front of her Suburban home when a man suddenly appeared beside her car asking for help having already suspected she

was being followed she only cracked the window open slightly so she could hear him but before she could even react the

man shoved a gun into the opening and ordered her not to move with a second man suddenly appearing out of nowhere

terrified an ignored his command and kicked her car into gear but as she tried to drive away the man opened fire

on her vehicle shattering the window and hitting her body three times critically wounded and clinging to life Anne forced

herself to act pushing herself onto the car horn in such a quiet neighborhood there was no chance that the police were

not going to be called with the loud car horn blaring following the sound of potential gunshots rushed to hospital

Anne clung desperately to life managing to offer a handful of details about her attackers to

investigators enough for them to believe she had been targeted by the same two men who had robbed and abducted Andrew

days earlier in the area but despite her fight to survive her injuries were too

severe and Anne passed away a couple of weeks later because the actions of the two men had escalated substantially in a

matter of days investigator Kevin brasser believed that if they didn’t find them they were likely to strike

again and again with their crimes getting worse and worse each time and sadly he was right while Anne was still

alive and fighting to survive in hospital the two men selected their next Target this time they arrived at the

house on East Birchwood Drive picking it at random with Holly Jason Brad Aaron

and Heather about to become the next victims in their unprecedented spree of

()

violence ordered to remove their clothes at gunpoint all five of the captives had no choice but to obey naked and

shivering they were forced to stand in silence as the shorter gunmen left the room and began ransacking the house

searching for valuables unable to find anything much the taller gunman shook his weapon at them demanding them to

tell him where their money was where their safe was certain they would have one but there was no safe to be found so

pleading for their lives the group told the two men to take anything they wanted they even each listed off the amount of

money in their accounts when asked telling the two gunmen they could take their bank cards and withdraw everything

they had but it wasn’t just money The Intruders were after they then took Holly and Heather out of the bedroom

over to a small wet bar area just outside the room held at gunpoint they forced the two women to perform sexual

acts on each other before bringing Heather back into the bedroom and dragging out Brad in her place with

their guns trained on him they commanded Brad to have sex with Holly but through Terror and disgust for what was

happening Brad was unable to get aroused and do as they ordered him growing frustrated and angry with him the gunmen

yanked him away and replaced him with Jason but Jason’s body was similarly unable to obey the demands remembering

Jason was Holly’s boyfriend one of the gunmen muttered that’s his girl before telling him he wasn’t allowed to do it

with his own girlfriend anyway so they shoved him back in the bedroom and then dragged Aaron out to the bar but Aaron

refused to assault Holly as he had been ordered to pleading with them to stop so one of the gunmen struck him hard in the

back of the head with his weapon knocking him to the floor terrified but knowing they had no

choice if they wanted to stay alive Aaron and Holly tried to do what Their attackers wanted them to eventually the

gunman took Holly back into the bedroom with Brad and Jason shoving all three of them into a closet with Nikki the dog

and telling them to be quiet or they’d face severe consequences then they pulled Heather back to the bar trying to

force Aaron to have sex with her instead when Aaron again couldn’t do what they commanded of him they gave him an

ultimatum he had 2 minutes to get hard and do what they told him or they’d start hurting them they counted down the

minutes from 11:52 to 11:54 but nothing changed for Aaron so

one of them grabbed a golf club and began viciously beating him with it as punishment this routine continued with

the attackers forcing Jason and then Brad to have sex with Heather beating them when they tried to refuse the rest

of the friends were forced to listen in the closet shivering and crying as Nikki the dog whimpered in fear the whole

ordeal went on for around an hour with all five of the friends left feeling broken and traumatized eventually they

told the group that they were now going to be taken individually to ATMs to withdraw money letting them out of the

closet to locate their car ke keys with this pause in the abuse the group were able to subtly begin noting details of

what their attackers looked like both were black men with similar enough features it looked like they could be

brothers the taller man was wearing a black leather coat and gloves with an orange fuboo sweater while the shorter

man had hair Holly would later describe as clumped and poofy with everything that was going on none of them were able

to locate their keys in the rans sacked house causing the two gunmen to lose their patience and threatened to kill

one of them if the keys didn’t show up soon finally Jason spotted the keys to his truck back in his bedroom so the

taller gunman ordered him to dress before leaving with him the shorter man remaining with the other four friends

sending Aaron Brad and Heather back into the closet the remaining Intruder made Holly lie down on the floor lowering his

gun as he prepared to assault her himself as he began Holly’s eyes glanced to the gun less than 2 ft away her mind

raced could she grab it before he could stop her could she actually shoot Sho him even if she did manage to grab it

unable to overcome the fear of what would happen to them all if she failed Holly eventually chose not to try and

grab it silently enduring the assault for around 5 minutes before she was taken back to the closet the Intruder

then took Heather out with him forcing the remaining three friends to listen in silence as she cried out Aaron in

particular couldn’t stop himself from crying as he listen to her being assaulted eventually Aaron whispered to

Brad do you think they’re going to kill kill us to which Brad remained silent

after a while the taller attacker returned with Jason forcing him to remove all of his clothes again before

making Brad dress and accompany him outside to withdraw money in his place after Brad the man chose Holly as the

next one to accompany him outside but unlike the two men he only let her put a sweater on leaving her completely naked

from the waist down as she stepped out into the snow with him getting into Jason’s truck the gunman instructed her

to drive keeping his weapon focused on her as she backed out of the driveway and onto the icy streets alone with him

the unnerving silence was broken when the gunman asked her what his partner had done to her and the others while he was gone telling him the truth she

explained what had happened including how the other gunman had forced her to have sex with him but rather than

showing any sort of compassion he simply laughed at the idea asking her if she enjoyed it scared of enraging him Holly

made the Split Second decision to lie to him and to play along simply respond ING with a yes hoping to keep him calm he

continued questioning her asking if his partner was better than Jason if she’d ever been with a black man before and if

she’d enjoyed being intimate with a girl after a while of playing along with him Holly’s fear finally took over and she

couldn’t help but ask if they were planning to kill them offering him to take anything he wanted as long as he

didn’t kill them the gunman assured her that once they were finished they would all be left alive at an ATM Holly rolled

down her window and slid her card into the machine to withdraw as much cash as she was able to as she pressed buttons

on the machine she felt the gunman’s hand slide in between her legs and start to touch her shocked and struggling to

keep calm Holly finished the transaction and handed him the money as the pair continued to drive around to ATMs the

man sighed and remarked that he’d wish they’d met under different circumstances as he thought they would have probably

hit it off disgusted but still not wanting to aggravate him Holly once again played along with him when they

arrived back at the house Aaron was forced to take her place and leave with the attacker with Holly being stripped

and led back into the closet by the bar with Heather the shorter gunman lifted a bottle of whiskey pouring himself a

drink he then opened the cupboard door asking Brad Jason and Holly if they wanted some an offer they all turned

down then he passed Holly Nikki’s muzzle watching as she put it on her dog before he slammed the door shut again as he

sipped his drink the Intruder picked up a popcorn tape which made an odd sound as he shook it opening it he found what

appeared to be an engagement ring Jason then revealed that he was planning to give it to Holly on December 22nd in

this horrible unimaginable situation Holly had just leared that the man she loved was going to ask her to marry him

showing no emotion the Intruder pocketed the ring when Aaron and The Tall Man returned Holly was yanked out of the

closet seeing how scared she was the shorter man then said something that shook her to her core relax

we’re not going to shoot you yet Holly flinched at the final word

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despite the conversation she’d had with the other man in the car she was now certain that duo intended to kill them

he then forced her onto all fours and proceeded to assault her again finished he took her to the bathroom where the

taller man was assaulting Heather when he finished despite his claims in the car of how he’d like to have met Holly

under different circumstances the taller man then assaulted her too throwing what was likely a condom into the toilet and

flushing it the two men brought Holly and Heather back to the bar where the two women watched as they whispered

among themselves planning their next moves eventually they had them both put sweaters on again before leading them

Barefoot and naked from the waist down out into the garage where they made them both climb into the trunk of Aaron’s

Honda Accord moments later Brad Jason and Aaron were brought down all completely naked this time and told to

get into the trunk with the two women but realizing all five of them clearly couldn’t fit the attackers changed their

plan the three men were locked in the trunk while the two women were LED over to Jason’s truck with the tall man

driving the truck and the shorter man driving the Honda Accord with the three men in the trunk the vehicle set off

eventually Holly summoned the courage to ask where they were being taken to which she was told they’re going to be dropped

off somewhere far enough away to not cause them any issues eventually the two vehicles came to a stop on a snow

covered field where the trunk of the car was opened and the three three men were dragged out they then ordered them to

kneel in front of the car knowing they were about to be shot Holly and Heather could do nothing to help as they too

were forced out of their vehicle and made to kneel beside the three men in the snow Heather knelt beside her

ex-boyfriend Aaron while Holly took her place beside Jason the man she loved and was going to ask her to marry him and

then Aaron pleaded for his life stuttering please no sir please but

and then the gun was placed behind Holly and Holly’s Vision exploded as she

dropped down onto the snowy grass but somehow despite being shot in the head she remained conscious in Holly’s own

words I felt the bullet hit the back of my head it went kind of gray with white

like stars I wasn’t knocked unconscious I didn’t fall forward then someone

kicked me and I had fallen forward I was playing dead I didn’t move I didn’t want

them to shoot me again then after a painful silence she heard an engine Rumble to

life before Holly could even contemplate moving the truck accelerated forward and

ran over the five bodies it took everything in her not to scream as the truck moved across her body but she

remained silent and somehow still remained conscious she listened as the sounds of the truck grew quieter moving

further and further away eventually she dared to move her head enough to see that the truck and the two gun men were

gone struggling to move to even breathe Holly tried to call out for Jason Brad

Aaron and Heather but nobody responded to her when she was certain the truck’s

()

headlights had completely vanished Holly forced herself up from the snow turning to see the man she loved and their three

friends all lying face down in the blood covered snow unsure if anyone was alive or dead she dropped to Jason’s side

turning him over to see blood squirting everywhere even out of his eyes so she pulled her sweater off and wrapped it

around his head hoping it might stop the bleeding refusing to believe he wasn’t still alive Brad was the next one she

turned over but his body was in such a bad state it was immediately clear he was dead Heather and Aaron were in

equally bad States freezing cold as she stood naked in the snow blood oozing from the gunshot wound in her head her

body aching from being run over Holly looked around desperately for help then she spotted lights in the distance near

the highway that looked like a house strung up with Christmas decorations despite being Barefoot naked and shot in

the head she somehow managed to walk over a mile in the freezing cold trudging through snow across a field

over barbed wire past a construction site around a pond and through thick brush yet if it wasn’t a difficult

enough journey to make already every time headlights appeared on the road she threw her naked body down against the

snow until they passed worried her attackers might be returning eventually she reached the house with the beaming

Christmas lights shining into the night so she rushed to the front door pounding on it and ringing the bell over and over

inside the house a young couple peered out of the window to see the naked woman covered in blood and shivering on their

porch they hurried to get her inside and wrap her in blankets before they could call 911 she stopped them certain she

was about to die she needed to tell them everything that had happened first listening to her horrifying story they

finally called the police but having still remained conscious Holly took over the phone and managed to explain to the

dispatcher exactly where the field was so they could go and find her friends still clinging to the belief that at

least Jason was still alive detective Rick Craig was among the emergency responders who arrived at the field

around 3:00 a.m. that night approaching the scene detective Craig shivered from the bitter cold made worse by a strong

icy wind but as he saw the four naked bodies lying in the bloodied snow each

with gunshot wounds to the back of their head he counted that I wasn’t cold

anymore as you’ve already guessed all four of the friends were dead speaking to Holly briefly before paramedics

rushed her to hospital they were able to put an alert out on Jason’s stolen truck it would later turn out that the bullet

meant for her brain had been miraculously deflected by a butterfly hair clip and the truck had equally

miraculously failed to crush her body unbeknownst to her while Holly was fighting to survive and make it to the

house the two men had returned to the triplex on Birchwood Drive to continue pillaging it sadly as well as Jason

Aaron Brad and Heather they murdered Holly’s dog Nikki leaving her in a pool of blood on one of the

()

beds that morning Sedwick County district attorney Nola Fon was informed that detectives were investigating a

quadruple homicide bizarrely only 8 days earlier another unrelated quadruple

homicide had occurred in the area with the two perpetrators already in custody initially falston thought the dispatcher

informing her was mistakenly referring to the previous case unable to believe that another quadruple murder could have

occurred in the space of a single week in the same county just like falston all of Witchita was in disbelief when the

news of what had happened hit their television screens that morning with stations broadcasting the plate number

of Jason’s truck watching the story on the news Christian Taylor suddenly realized that he had seen a truck that

perfectly matched the description parked near his apartment complex earlier that morning reporting it to the police

officers rushed to the apartment complex and were able to immediately confirm that it was in fact Jason’s truck parked

outside then another Resident of the complex approached the officers telling them that he had helped a man carry a

large screen TV into an upstairs apartment wondering if it could be connected with the resident signaling

which apartment it was the officer surrounded it and knocked on the door moments later a tall black man stepped

out onto the back balcony raising up his leg onto the railing to jump out but he froze as he saw more officers waiting

for him out back causing him to retreat back inside a white woman Stephanie Donley answered the door to the police

who rushed inside and handcuffed The Tall Man as he looked for another way to flee this man was Reginald Carr a

22-year-old from Dodge City with an extensive criminal record perfectly matching Holly’s description of the

taller gunman police suspected the shorter man to be his younger 20-year-old brother Jonathan from

Stephanie who turned out to be Reg ‘s girlfriend the police learned that his brother Jonathan was driving a late

model Plymouth Fury so this detail was added to the news reports on the case by the afternoon Andrew shriber the

baseball player the two men had robbed saw Reginald’s face on the news and instantly recognized him without

hesitation he picked up the phone and called the police telling them that Reginald was one of the two men who had

robbed and abducted him days earlier around the same time healthcare worker Tony Green returned home early from work

as she was feeling sick in her house she saw that her daughter tra’s boyfriend was sleeping on her couch having only

been dating for a couple of weeks she didn’t know him well and looking at him now having heard all of the news reports

about what had happened that morning she couldn’t shake the feeling that he perfectly matched the description of one

of the attackers and she was right sleeping on her couch was the shorter gunman Jonathan Carr trusting her gut

Tony subtly lifted his leather jacket and searched through the pockets locating a small jewelry box containing

the diamond engag engagement ring she had heard had been stolen on the news looking outside she then saw a Plymouth

Fury parked on the street now certain a killer was in her house Tony tried to be as quiet as possible as she told her

daughter to grab her young niece and leave the house immediately not understanding the threat tronda slowly

tried to put her shoes on knowing the ground outside was covered in snow but Tony told her to leave them and run so

the three of them rushed out of the house bare feet slipping on the snow as they stumbled across the road to a

neighbor and dialed N9 11 panicked Tony told the dispatcher that the man they’re looking for is in her house when she

looked back Jonathan was standing on her porch and jeans and a t-shirt staring directly at her then he bolted away

police arrived at the scene almost instantly and gave Chase pursuing him for two blocks before they finally

caught up with him and apprehended him searching his body they found around $1,000 in cash in his pockets alongside

the diamond ring less than 12 hours after the murders both Reginal and Jonathan Carr were in custody detectives

showed their images as part of a lineup to Anne walenta who was still clinging to life in hospital she immediately

identified Reginald as the man she had seen shoot her Holly would later also identify Reginald when she was well

enough to be formally interviewed it’s worth mentioning Anne also pointed out another individual as potentially being

the second man she saw but it wasn’t Jonathan it was a man who was in prison at the time of the shooting it’s clear

Reginald and Jonathan were responsible for her attack but I just thought it was worth including this detail as it helps

highlight the problems in using witness testimony and identification as evidence with a warrant to obtain DNA hair blood

and saliva samples were taken from the two brothers as his were being taken

Jonathan struck up a conversation with one of the detectives on his case Kelly Otis detective Otis recalled that

Jonathan asked him about the other quadruple homicide that happened on the 7th of December inquiring What happened

to the two men who were arrested Otis calmly told him that they were charged with capital murder which he had to

explain to Jonathan meant if they are convicted they could be sentenced to death inquisitive clearly expecting a

similar scenario to play out for himself Jonathan then asked how they execute someone being told it would be by lethal

injection a moment later he asked do you feel anything to which detective Otis simply responded we’ve never been able

to ask anyone after Anne passed away in

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hospital she was officially confirmed as the fifth victim of the car Brothers when a handgun was located along Route

96 near the field where the four friends had been executed the Kansas State Crime Lab then confirmed that the weapon had

been used in the murders of the four friends as well as the murder of Anne and even the shooting out of Andrew’s

tires after he had been abducted and robbed although the full extent of Reginald and Jonathan’s crimes during

this time period was never truly determined there was no doubt that the brothers were responsible for these

three separate incidents as you can imagine witcha was overcome by a wave of fear and paranoia after the case hit the

headlines leading to an immediate surge in sales of home security systems and guns although it appears the victims

chosen by the car brothers were random many commentators picked up on the fact that the two black Killers had only

targeted white victims arguing that hate crime charges should be pursued district attorney foulston dismissed this idea

stating it reasonably appears that these were isolated incidents where individuals were chosen at random in a

random act of violence the fact that the defendants and victims happen to be of different races has no bearing let’s

just look at the underlying crimes Witchita Mayor Bob Knight also chimed in on the topic telling reporters

you have innocent people tortured killed humiliated by someone who is little more than an animal I’m not looking at it as

a black and white issue I’m not a big fan of capital punishment but if anything deserves people losing their

lives it is this kind of H crime despite this certain groups latched on to the

idea to fuel their own narratives in particular a number of white supremacist groups used what the car Brothers had

done to push their own agendas promoting it as an example of a hate crime directed at white people similarly many

witchar residents felt that the barbarity and depravity of their crimes could not have been done without some

sort of hatred motivating them while it’s possible this was the case there isn’t any evidence to back it up if

anything I think it shows just how terrifying and Unthinkable their actions were that people simply couldn’t believe

they were capable of such brutal acts without any real motive Beyond robbery or the thrill of doing it chiming in on

the discussion the Witchita Eagle wrote the randomness of the attacks was especially chilling it could have been

anyone but we go on with our work hold our loved ones a little closer and face down our fears as best we can the

survivors are showing us how Reginald and Jonathan born in Dodge

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City Kansas both had extensive criminal backgrounds by the time the Witchita Massacre took place as children they

lived in a very troubled household which their mother Janice later described as lacking love or warmth their parents

argued relentlessly with their father hitting and abusing their mother at one point Janice herself snapped and beat

their father with a baseball bat in front of them they had two sisters a younger one who died when she was only 3

years old from leukemia and an older one who later recounted that she had been sexually abused used at the hands of

their father when their parents divorced their father completely abandoned and disowned them all and according to their

older sister her mother’s new boyfriends frequently abused both of the brothers Janice would later remarry but her

second husband was just as violent as her first one there was even an incident where he put a gun to her head and

threatened to kill her Reginald and Jonathan were often sent to stay at their maternal grandmother’s house but

she was similarly volatile yelling and screaming at them Janice herself wasn’t a lot better in

how she treated her children frequently physically punishing them with electrical cords and other makeshift

weapons as a result of all the violence and Trauma around them both boys struggled in school regularly getting

into violent altercations causing them to have to move to eight different schools by the time they reached e8th

grade it was also claimed that Reginald was protective of his younger brother often taking the blame for things he had

done so he wouldn’t be punished psychologist Thomas Reed later detailed how Reginald was introduced to drugs and

alcohol at the age of six and was drinking heavy liquor by the time he was 11 years old Reginald ultimately dropped

out of high school in ninth grade after attacking another student avoiding being expelled again around the same time

Jonathan actually attempted to take his own life by drinking antifreeze although the majority of the brother’s criminal

records were sealed as part of the trial some of Reginald’s record is publicly available and it shows that he served

multiple stints in prison from the age of 18 onwards predominantly for charges related to drug offenses and aggravated

assault after being released from prison in March of 2000 regginald was arrested in November for assault charges

alongside parole violations and drunk driving but due to a paperwork error he was released in December because of this

error he was able to begin his Crim spree Days Later rather than being in prison as he should have

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been Reginald and Jonathan faced a total of 113 charges which included capital

murder various forms of physical and sexual assault robbery and even animal

cruelty their case was set to be overseen by judge Paul Clark with district attorney falston leading the

prosecution alongside her Deputy Kim Parker Regal’s defense team was led by Jay greo an ex-public Defender and Val

wakel while his brother Jonathan’s lawyers were Mark mana and Ron Evans initially the defense teams tried to

have the trials separated for the two brothers arguing that because both teams were planning to shift blame onto the

opposite brother from the one they were defending they would essentially both be facing two sets of opposition the judge

denied this request citing that the trial was expected to last 2 months and to feature around 70 Witnesses making it

too costly to do twice especially as it was common practice for those accused of committing crimes together to be tried

together the defense also attempted to have the trial moved out of sedick County using a poll that showed 74% of

local residents believed the cars were guilty to show that a fair trial in Witchita would be impossible this motion

was again denied with judge Clark stating that no trial had been moved out of the county in 40 years and he

wouldn’t be making an exception for this one Jonathan’s team even attempted to have him declared unfit to stand trial

but judge Clark ruled him competent after reviewing reports from two mental health experts so with the trial date

finally set both the prosecution and the defense thoroughly questioned potential jurors ruling people out for opinions on

the death penalty being too familiar with the case and having any vague connection to any of the victims

involved in the end a jury of seven men and five women two black and 10 white

was put together pulling people from all walks of life when the trial began almost 2 years after their initial

arrests much of the witness testimony was disturbing but none more so than the account given by Holly about what she

and her friends had endured in graphic detail she recounted all of the assaults robberies and murders identifying

Reginald clearly as the taller gunman Sedwick County coroner Mary Dudley testified about the various wounds on

the four friends explaining that Heather and Aaron had been shot with a gun pressed to their heads while Brad and

Jason had been shot from a slightly further distance Corner Dudley detailed various other injuries on the victims

focusing on evidence that showed Heather had been sexually assaulted and the three men had all been beaten throughout

the night Jonathan’s lawyer Mark man tried to get her to state that the distance of the shootings along beside

the lack of a pause mentioned in Holly’s account implied one person was responsible indicating that Reginald was

the killer but Dudley couldn’t say one way or the other based on the forensic evidence another witness Dr Scott Porter

gave evidence about the injury sustained by Anne after being shot in her car using an anatomical model which led to

one of the jurors fainting Andrew shriber the only Survivor other than Holly provided testimony about how he

had been kidnapped and robbed identifying Reginald as as one of his two kidnappers But like everyone else he

couldn’t directly identify Jonathan when cross-examined Andrew admitted he had

been unable to pick either of the brothers out of a photo lineup shortly after they were arrested as well as this

testimony hundreds of items of physical evidence were used to directly link the two brothers to the murders these

included a wide range of belongings stolen from the Birchwood Drive Apartment that were found in both of their homes such as a TV clothing and

credit cards one of the most damning pieces of evidence was the diamond engagement ring taken from the home and

found in Jonathan’s pocket the prosecution had even located a watch stolen from Andrew at the home of one of

the brothers alongside this evidence forensic investigator Gary Miller testified that a shoe print found at the

Birchwood Drive Apartment had been matched to Jonathan’s shoes he also went into detail to explain how the gun

discovered near the highway could be directly tied to all three separate incidents though he admitted the gun

itself could not be directly linked to either of the car Brothers Sydney Schuler of the Kansas Bureau of

Investigation then took the stand testifying that Jonathan’s DNA and Seaman was found at the Birchwood Drive

apartment as well as on swabs taken from Holly and that blood on Reginald’s clothing had come from Heather though

Reginald’s lawyers tried to argue this Blood could have gotten on him after coming into contact with his brother and

didn’t mean he was actually at the crime scenes tronda Adams Jonathan’s girlfriend also took the stand claiming

she had met up with both brothers on the night that Andrew was kidnapped as well as on the night Anne was shot on that

night Jonathan gave her a black handgun matching the one that was found and asked her to clean it and look after it

for him she even claimed that the brothers had both visited her on the day of the massacre leaving around 900 p.m.

with Jonathan calling her at around 3: in the morning that night this sequence of events perfectly matched the timings

of the Witchita Massacre Reginald’s girlfriend Stephanie Donley also testified claiming she was unaware of

either brother having a job yet saw them carrying large sums of money throughout December she also testified that

Reginald brought several stolen items into her home which were found to belong to the victims having presented nearly a

thousand pieces of evidence against the brothers the prosecution rested its case against them leaving the two teams of

defense attorneys with an impossible mountain to climb if they were going to somehow win their cases Jonathan’s

lawyers only real evidence was an Amtrak ticket dated to the day of the murders claiming Jonathan had planned to use it

but had got gotten lost leaving Witchita that night Reginald’s team wanted to testify that his brother had apparently

told him he’d been with a man who was tripping and shooting people and that he’d moved stolen goods to Stephanie’s

apartment to help his brother but this supposed evidence was ruled as inadmissible hearsay and dismissed

bizarrely they even replayed Holly’s police interview for the jury which only cemented the brutality of what she’d

been through with some jurors as well as Holly having to leave the courtroom because they found it too distressing to

watch seemingly they they had hoped that Holly’s vagueness in identifying Reginald in the footage would help their

case during their closing statements both defense teams shifted blame onto the other brother claiming their client

had nothing to do with it with Jonathan’s team focusing on the various identifications of Reginald and

Reginald’s team focusing on Jonathan’s DNA being linked so solidly to the crimes ultimately on November 4th 2002

the jury reached its verdict and found both regginald and Jonathan guilty on nearly all counts including the capital

murder charges the only charges that didn’t stick were in regards to the kidnapping and robbery of Andrew which

Jonathan was acquitted for due to lack of evidence linking him to the case neither Brother showed any emotion as

they heard their verdicts read aloud with Reginald Shackled due to threats he’d made to deputies during the trial

as they were escorted from the courtroom Reginald stared at the victim’s families while Jonathan avoided eye contact the

following morning the jury was tasked with working out the sentence the two brothers deserved life in prison or

death by execution as the jury deliberated the

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fate of Reginald and Jonathan outrage over their crimes reached an all-time high in Witchita in one incident a

resident displayed Effigies of the two brothers hanging from trees in his front yard with the image recalling the

lynching of black men in America’s recent past it led to widespread condemnation and the resident eventually

took them down claiming it wasn’t meant to have racial implications but to show his anger at the brothers specifically a

number of witnesses and experts presented statements during the sentencing hearing to help determine the fate of the car Brothers with various

psychologists testifying about the damage their childhood filled with violence and abuse had done to them

forensic psychologist Mark Cunningham for example claimed their childhood left both Jonathan and Reginald emotionally

detached and lacking empathy consequently making them capable of committing brutal acts despite this

Cunningham told the prosecution under cross-examination that the brothers unquestionably understood the difference

between right and wrong but that they just didn’t care while the two defense teams pleaded for the jury to give their

clients life sentences prosecutor foulston instead asked them to not show the brother’s Mercy just because they

had a troubled upbringing stating that there was no excuse for what they had done and that they deserved to receive

the death sentence interestingly another expert presented evidence that both brothers had sustained brain damage in

their temporal loes we’ve seen this come up in a number of cases before most recently that of the chessboard killer

where damage to the temporal lobe was cited as a possible explanation for his lack of impulse control and morality

whether brain damage played a role in this case however is unclear Reginald’s Ex-Wives who he had children with also

spoke at the hearing with one of them reading a letter from his 7-year-old son saying he loved him and begging for him

to come back an ex-coworker of Jonathan even told the court how he had always been kind polite and generous when she

had worked with him both Andrew and Holly gave survivors statements to the jury with Holly telling them every day

there is a memory or a scar that reminds me of that night I wake up in sweats from my nightmares I Pace at night

because of noises that I think are somebody breaking into my house and every morning I carefully blow dry my

hair to cover up the spot that can no longer grow hair before going on to describe how every day she fears she is

going to be assaulted again adding the sentence imposed on them will be a much Kinder sentence than they imposed on me

my friends and family after 7 hours of deliberation the

jury came back with their recommendation for Reginald and Jonathan’s sentences they should both receive the death

sentence for their crimes before he formally sentenced them judge Clark told the defendants of their right to make a

statement but they both declined so judge Clark officially sentenced them both to death once again neither Brother

showed any reaction or emotion to the judge’s words in addition to the death penalty the brothers received life

sentences for the murder of Anne with no possibility of parole as well as around 40 additional years each for the other

charges against them as the brothers were LED away from the courtroom Jason’s brother Mark sarcastically wished

Reginald a happy birthday before swearing at him causing Reginald to snap back and be pulled away outside the

courtroom family members of the victims embraced each other as well as the prosecutors and the crime scene

investigators while the family members chose not to comment publicly prosecutor Kim Parker visibly emotional as she

hugged Holly remarked justice has been served and it is long awaited the families of the victims later filed a

wrongful death lawsuit against the state citing negligence stemming from the paperwork mistake that meant Reginald

was released from prison days before the massacre when he should have remained incarcerated hearing the case in 2004

the judge agreed that the state’s actions had failed the victims with a jury awarding the families around half a

million dollars each however the ordeal of the victim’s families and the two survivors was far from over in Kansas

death sentences automatically trigger appeals which can take several years to resolve since the state reinstated the

death penalty in 1994 every death sentence had been overturned by Kansas’s highest court with no execution having

been carried out since 1965 to make matters more confusing in December 2004 the Kansas Supreme Court

ruled to overturn the state’s death penalty law however the Kansas Attorney General then appealed to the US Supreme

Court which upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty in the state then in 2014 the Kansas Supreme Court

overturned Reginald and Jonathan’s death sentences ruling that their Eighth Amendment rights had been violated when

the trial judge refused to give them separate sentence hearings they ruled that each brother deserved separate

sentencing hearings due to the possibility that one could receive more leniency than the other based on

differences in the evidence against them and in their level of culpability but then once again the US Supreme Court

stepped in and reversed that decision de ision in 2016 claiming it did not violate the brother’s rights and

reinstating their death sentences discussing the situation prosecutor Fon stated no one is entitled to a perfect

trial only a fair one but this came close to being a perfect trial in terms of legal issues and being resolved and

how we went about trying the case on death row at the Eldorado Correctional Facility both brothers hired new legal

teams and attempted to use all of this chaos to be granted resentencing hearings

both of their new teams criticized their trial lawyers calling them inadequate and tried to claim that the jury which

was predominantly white had been racially biased against them their legal Representatives even brought attention

to an investigation into various police officers at the witcha police department in which several officers including one

who had worked their case had been disciplined for exchanging racist sexist and homophobic texts and images

presumably trying to imply that the police had racially targeted the two brothers as well despite all of this

both brothers continued trying to shift the blame onto each other Jonathan’s team tried to claim that Reginald

sexually abused him and held significant power over him forcing him to obey his commands while Reginald’s team once

again tried to claim that almost all of the forensic evidence implicated Jonathan and not him in the end their

request for resentencing was denied and with their death sentences being deemed constitutional by the Kansas Supreme

Court they remain on death row awaiting execution to this day detective Rick Craig who was one of the first to arrive

at the field where the four friends were murdered later told a reporter that he had remained close friends with Holly

ever since Holly herself actually ended up dating and marrying the only other survivor of the car Brothers Crim spree

Andrew shriber before moving out of Witchita with him according to detective Craig he occasionally visits them with

his family though none of them ever discussed the events of the Witchita horror together with him saying of Holly

I am amazed by her strength she is so strong I think she’s great she’s an

angel several scholarships were established to honor the other victims including one at St Thomas aquinus

Catholic school where Heather was a teacher and another at Witchita State University where Anne worked as a librarian and with that our Deep dive

into this very dark and disturbing case comes to a close as always thanks so much for watching if you found this

video interesting please like And subscribe and drop a comment down below to let me know your thoughts about it

this case was actually suggested to me in the comments so if you have any ideas for other cases to cover please feel

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videos up early on patreon when possible speaking of which I want to give a massive shout out to Willow Hoffman in

particular for her support you have no idea how much it means to to me so until next time you have been watching the

mystery Abyss

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