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Wichita Massacre

Also known as: Carr brothers, Reginald Carr, Jonathan Carr

Active

2000–2000

Region

Wichita, Kansas, USA

State

KS

Kind

Spree

Status

Convicted

Victims

5

Over a week in December 2000, brothers Reginald and Jonathan Carr committed a string of robberies, kidnappings, rapes and murders in Wichita, Kansas. On December 8 they robbed and wounded a man; on December 11 they shot Ann Walenta, 55, as she tried to escape them in her car, and she died weeks later. On the night of December 14 they broke into a home where five young friends were gathered, held them for hours, forced them to withdraw money from ATMs, and drove them to a soccer field on the edge of the city and shot them; Jason Befort, Brad Heyka, Aaron Sander and Heather Muller were killed, and one woman survived to testify. The brothers were arrested the next day, convicted in 2002 and sentenced to death. After years of appeals, the sentences were upheld again in 2026; they remain on death row.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

• Ann Walenta, 55 · December 11, 2000

  A cellist and librarian; she died of complications on January 2, 2001.

• Jason Befort, 26 · December 15, 2000

  A local high school teacher.

• Brad Heyka, 27 · December 15, 2000

  A director of finance at a local financial services company.

• Aaron Sander, 29 · December 15, 2000

  A former financial analyst who was studying to become a priest.

• Heather Muller, 25 · December 15, 2000

  A local preschool teacher.

Timeline of locations

1. December 11, 2000
   Walenta shooting, Wichita (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Ann Walenta was shot three times as she tried to escape the brothers in her car.

2. December 14, 2000
   Home on Birchwood Drive, Wichita (Abduction, approximate area)

   The brothers broke into a Wichita home where five friends were gathered, held them for hours, and forced them to withdraw money from ATMs.

3. December 15, 2000
   Soccer complex, northeast Wichita (Crime scene, approximate area)

   The five were driven to the closed Stryker soccer complex on the outskirts of the city and shot. Four died; one woman survived.

4. 2002
   Sedgwick County Courthouse (Court / trial)

   A Sedgwick County jury convicted both brothers of capital murder and dozens of other counts in 2002, and they were sentenced to death.

5. 2002
   El Dorado Correctional Facility (Prison)

   Both brothers have been held on death row at El Dorado since 2002. Their death sentences were upheld again in June 2026 and clemency was denied in July 2026; no execution date has been set.

Sources

• Wichita Massacre (Wikipedia)
• Death sentences of Carr brothers upheld in case known as 'the Wichita massacre' (Lawrence Journal-World, 2022)
• Kansas Supreme Court upholds death sentences for Carr brothers (Lawrence Journal-World, 2026)
• DA says legal process 'nowhere near finished' after Gov. Kelly denies clemency request for Carr brothers (KWCH, 2026)

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.