Monday, the U. S. Supreme Court declined to hear appeals from two men convicted of capital murder for killing four people in Wichita in 2000. The Court declined to hear appeals from Jonathan and Reginald Carr, who were convicted of capital murder in relation to the crimes and sentenced to death. The action means the two defendants have exhausted their direct appeals and their convictions and death sentences are considered final.
A total of nine people currently are under sentence of death in Kansas. Including Monday’s decisions, seven of those have exhausted their direct appeals, meaning their convictions and sentences are affirmed and they are now in various stages of collateral litigation. Those who have exhausted their direct appeals, in addition to the Carr brothers, are Gary Kleypas,John Robinson, Sydney Gleason, Scott Cheever, and James Kraig Kahler. The two whose cases are still on direct appeal are Justin Thurber and Kyle Flack, of Ottawa. Flack was convicted in may of 2016 of raping and killing 21-year-old Kaylie Bailey and her infant daughter, as well as 31-year-old Steven White and 30-year-old Andrew Stout on a farm on Georgia Road, outside of Ottawa
