The Wichita Massacre, also known as The Wichita Horror,[1] was a murder/assault/rape/robbery spree perpetrated by brothers Reginald and Jonathan Carr against several people in the city of Wichita, Kansas in the winter of 2000. The Carrs killed five people and a dog. A sixth victim, a woman known as HG, survived a gunshot wound to the head. The crimes shocked Wichitans, and purchases of guns, locks, and home security systems subsequently skyrocketed in the city.[2] The brothers were tried, convicted and sentenced to death in October 2002.[3] Although it appeared that a 2004 decision by the Kansas Supreme Court overturning the state death penalty law was going to spare the Carrs, the decision was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld the death penalty law and returned the Carrs and other condemned killers back to death row. The attacks, along with the reemergence of serial killer Dennis Rader and the murder of the Clutter Family in the 1950s, rank as the worst crimes in the history of Kansas.
Contents [hide]
1 Crime spree
2 Controversy
3 Aftermath
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
[edit]Crime spree
The Carr brothers, 22-year-old Reginald and 20-year-old Jonathan, already had serious criminal records when they began their spree.[4] On December 8, 2000, having recently arrived in Wichita, they committed armed robbery against 23-year-old assistant baseball coach, Andrew Schreiber. Three days later, they shot and mortally wounded 55-year-old cellist and librarian, Ann Walenta, as she tried to escape from them in her car; she died three days later.
Their crime spree culminated on December 14, when they invaded a home and subjected five young men and women to robbery, sexual abuse, and murder. The brothers broke into a house chosen nearly at random where Brad Heyka, Heather Muller, Aaron Sander, Jason Befort and a young woman identified as 'H.G.', all in their twenties, were spending the night. Initially scouring the house for valuables, they forced their hostages to strip naked, bound and detained them, and subjected them to various forms of sexual humiliation, including rape and oral sex.[4] They also forced the men to engage in sexual acts with the women, and the women with each other. They then drove the victims to ATMs to empty their bank accounts, before finally bringing them to a snowy deserted soccer complex on the outskirts of town and shooting them execution-style in the backs of their heads, leaving them for dead. The Carr brothers then drove Befort's truck over the bodies.
They returned to the house to ransack it for more valuables, in the process killing Nikki, H.G.'s muzzled dog. H.G. survived (her metal barrette having deflected the bullet), after running naked for more than a mile in freezing weather to report the attack and seek medical attention. In a much-remarked point of tragedy, she had seen her boyfriend Befort shot, after having learned of his intention to propose marriage when the Carrs, by chance, discovered the engagement ring hidden in a can of popcorn. The Carr brothers, who took few precautions, were captured by the police the next day, and Reginald was identified by Schreiber and the dying Walenta. The District Attorney stated that the Carrs' motive was robbery.[5]
[edit]Controversy
Since there was reportedly no prima facie evidence of racial motivation, only that the victims were white and the Carr brothers are African-American, Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston decided not to treat the incident as a hate crime. David Horowitz, Michelle Malkin, and Thomas Sowell all stated that the crime did not garner much airtime or space in the national mainstream media due to political correctness.[6][7] Sowell went on to claim that the media has a double standard regarding interracial offenses, tending to play up "vicious crimes by whites against blacks" but play down equally "vicious crimes by blacks against whites".[2]
Despite the limited news coverage of the incident, The Wichita Eagle commented that four young black people who were murdered only eight days after the "Wichita Massacre" received even less media coverage. Speculation has been raised that this may have been due to the race of the victims.[8]
[edit]Aftermath
Muller was a pre-school teacher at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School. Every year the school awards a deserving 8th grade student the Heather Muller Love of Faith Award.[9] With the help of HG's testimony, the brothers were convicted of nearly all 113 counts against them and were both given the death penalty.
George Emil Banks is an American mass murderer, sentenced to death by electrocution, but later declared by the court to be too psychotic to execute. Banks, a former Camp Hill prison guard, shot 13 people to death on September 25, 1982 in Wilkes-Barre City and Jenkins Township, Pennsylvania, including five of his own children. Banks said he killed his children because he felt they would be tormented by the cruelty of racial views against mixed race children. Since his conviction, Banks has tried to kill himself four times and has gone on hunger strikes that required him to be force fed. A psychiatric report filed in the case says Banks believes he is in a spiritual fight with an Antichrist in New York, that Pennsylvania was controlled by the Islamic religion and he has engaged in a "private war with President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky".
November 29, 1990, the Pennsylvania State Legislature barred further use of the electric chair amidst debate that electrocution was cruel and unusual punishment and approved lethal injection. December 2, 2004, Banks received a stay of execution. May 12, 2010, Banks was declared incompetent to be executed by Luzerne County Judge Joseph Augello following a week long competency hearing held the previous month.[1][2]
Contents [hide]
1 Victims
2 History
3 Timeline
4 References
5 External links
[edit]Victims
[3] Killed:
Sharon Mazzillo (24) - Former girlfriend of George Banks who was engaged in a custody dispute over their son, Kissmayu Banks. Gunshot wound to the chest.
Kissmayu Banks (5) - The son of Sharon Mazzillo and George Banks. Gunshot wound to the face.
Scott Mazzillo (7) - Nephew of Sharon Mazzillo. Kicked, hit with the rifle butt, killed with a gunshot wound to the face.
Alice Mazzillo (47) - Sharon Mazzillo's mother. Shot in the face while on the phone with police.
Regina Clemens (29) - Girlfriend of George Banks. Gunshot wound to the face.
Montanzima Banks (6) - The daughter of Regina Clemens and George Banks. Gunshot wound to the heart.
Susan Yuhas (23) - Girlfriend of George Banks, sister of Regina Clemens. Gunshot wound to the head.
Boende Banks (4) - The son of Susan Yuhas and George Banks. Gunshot wound to the face.
Mauritania Banks (20 months) - Daughter of Susan Yuhas and George Banks. Gunshot wound to the face.
Dorothy Lyons (29) - Girlfriend of George Banks. Gunshot wound to the neck.
Nancy Lyons (11) - Daughter of Dorothy Lyons. Gunshot would to the head.
Foraroude Banks (1) - The son of Dorothy Lyons and George Banks. Gunshot wound to the head.
Raymond F. Hall Jr. (24) - Bystander who had been attending a party across the street. Gunshot wound to the liver and kidney.
Survived:
Keith Mazzillo (13) - Hid in a closet while he watched his mother Alice die due to a gun shot wound to the head.
Angelo Vitale (10) - Hid under the bed where his mother Alice died.
James Olsen (22) - Survived a gun shot wound to the chest.
Unidentified Man that Banks car jacked at gun point.
[edit]History
[4][5][6] On September 24, 1982 George Emil Banks went to bed at Schoolhouse Lane in Wilkes Barre Pennsylvania after taking a mixture of prescription drugs and straight gin. He awoke on September 25, 1982 when he picked up an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and began what would turn out to be a 13 person killing spree. He began his killing spree by killing his girlfriend, former girlfriends, their families and children he had fathered with them. The ages of his victims ranged from 20 months to 47 years old. The dead were seven children and six adults.
George murdered his family in his own home first. He then dressed in military fatigues and made his way outside. Across the street, 22 year old Jimmy Olsen and 24 year old Ray Hall, Jr were exiting a home and the area when George Banks opened fire on them. It is said that he yelled that they would not tell anyone about this before he fired. Both men were struck. Mr. Olsen survived but Mr. Hall was killed. Banks drove off. He went to Heather Highlands mobile home park to the mobile home of his former girlfriend Sharon Mazzillo and their son Kissamayu. Banks forced his way in and shot Sharon. He then placed the gun to the sleeping child’s forehead and shot one shot killing the boy. Banks then killed Sharon’s mother and brother who were also in the home. Hiding in the closet was Sharon’s other brother whom Banks did not see. He was the only survivor and was able to identify Banks as the shooter.
Police discovered the victims at Heather Highlands mobile home park and made the connection between the Olsen and Hall shooting and the Heather Highlands shooting. The Schoolhouse Lane victims were then discovered. Police began search for Banks who abandoned his car and car jacked another vehicle. He abandoned that vehicle and drove around until he found a desolate area where he laid down in a grassy area and passed out. Banks awoke and went to his mother’s house, also in Wilkes Barre. His mother is quoted as saying he was crying and smelled like liquor. It is stated that Banks told his mother that she had to take him where he wanted to go or there would be a shootout. When she asked what happened he said “It’s all over. I did it. I killed everyone.” She asked who he killed. He replied “I killed them all, Mom. I killed all the kids and girls. Regina, Sharon, them all.” Banks' mother called his home hoping that Banks was just drunk and rambling. When the police answered the phone Banks grabbed the phone and asked how the children were. The police, hoping to keep Banks on the phone, replied that they were alive. Banks screamed that they were lying and said “I know I killed them!” He hung up the phone, placed three 30-round clips and numerous other rounds of ammunition into a bag and went to a vacated rental house.
A standoff between Banks and police began. The police brought his mother and tried multiple tactics to get Banks to surrender including having a false news report played over WILK radio that the children were alive and needed blood to survive. The police tried to use this to draw Banks out of the standoff. Finally a former co-worker, Robert Brunson, of Banks was able to talk him out. It took 4 hours for the standoff to end. As of September 30, 1982 Banks stood accused of 8 counts of murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, stealing a car, robbery and theft.[7]
On June 6, 1983 the trial for Banks began at the Luzerne County Courthouse in Wilkes Barre Pennsylvania. Banks insisted on testifying stating that he is not insane. The case consisted of multiple scene witnesses, Banks family members as well as Mr. Olsen identifying Banks as he person who shot him and left him for dead. Closing arguments took place on June 21, 1983. The jury found Banks guilty of 12 counts of first-degree murder, 1 count of third-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault, and one 1 count each of robbery, theft, and endangering the life of another person. On June 22, 1983, Banks 41st Birthday, the jury recommended the death penalty for George Banks. George Banks went to the maximum-security unit at Huntington until November 1985. He was then sent to the Correctional Institute at Graterford after the US Supreme Court refused to overturn his verdict.
From 1987 to 2000 Banks continued to appeal his case. The US Supreme Court refused to hear the argument regarding mental competency.[8] Then Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge twice signed the death warrant for Banks; however, both times appellate courts have stayed his execution. In 2001, 2006 and 2008 there were hearings about the psychological state of Banks questioning if he could be executed. In 2011 he is still on death row in Pennsylvania although it is said he is now dying of cancer.[9]
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