LYNDON — James Kraig Kahler has been sentenced to death for murdering his estranged wife, their two daughters and his wife’s grandmother nearly two years ago in Burlingame. Following the recommendation of an Osage County jury, Judge Phillip Fromme sentenced him to death this morning for the deaths of his wife Karen Kahler, 44; their daughters, Lauren Kahler, 18, and Lauren Kahler, 16; and Karen Kahler’s grandmother, Dorothy Wight, 89. Kahler’s family was visiting Wight at her home in Burlingame for Thanksgiving 2009 when the murders occurred. His now-12-year-old son escaped during the murders. His defense attorneys had tried to paint Kahler as someone who snapped because his wife was having an affair with another woman and that their daughters supported their mother. Kahler, 48, Meriden, was the former head of the Columbia, Mo., municipal utility company before he was fired after he was charged with domestic violence.
Tuesday, Oct. 11, 1 p.m.
