The Forever Storm, and a Thanksgiving Prayer

by Susan Murphy Milano

Last year at this time, Karen Kahler of Columbia, Kansas, was finishing her workday and making plans to head out the next day with her daughter, Emily 18, Lauren, 16, and son, Sean, 10, for Thanksgiving. Their plan was to visit Dorothy Wright, 89, Karen's grandmother, in Burlingame, Kansas, for the holiday weekend. Karen had filed for divorce earlier in the year from her violent and abusive husband, and this was to be the first holiday away from Kraig Kahler since their marriage.

Thanksgiving day was without incident for Karen, 47 (pictured above with her daughters), and it was first real taste of freedom, away from the constant monitoring, via texting, phone calls and following she had endured. Karen and her family planned activities and enjoyed their time together with a great sense of peace. When Saturday rolled around, they spent the day in town and then headed back to Grandma’s to have dinner.

On November 28, 2009, while placing a roast in the oven, the front door swung open and the sound of bullets and screams filled the home. Hours earlier, according to authorities, Kraig Kahler had been outside, waiting for the perfect moment to kill his family. Investigators say Karen was shot first, then Lauren, Grandma Wright and, finally, Emily. In the chaos, Sean managed to escape, unharmed, running to a nearby neighbor for help.

At approximately 6:15 pm, officers were summoned to the home in Burlingame, where Karen was dead and three others were wounded. They were transported to a Topeka hospital, where Lauren and Emily died soon after arriving, and Grandma died a few days later.

For Sean Kahler, this is not only his first Thanksgiving without his mom, sisters and grandmother, it is a holiday he would rather forget. For as long as this young man lives, Thanksgiving and, frankly, his life, will be extremely difficult.

As hard as he tries to simply go on and live his life, something will undoubtedly always remind Sean of the tragedy. It could be something as innocent as the way a door is left open or hearing a mom call out to her son in a park. Perhaps a special song favored by his sisters will come on the radio. It takes so little for a victim of a violent crime to be reminded; the pain is like a permanent tattoo that can't be removed.

Some days will be better than others for Sean. At times, the pain will undoubtedly stalk him like his worst enemy. Only this isn't a presence Sean can simply order to go away. He'll never be able to run from it, in particular, on every Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately, his pain will be further magnified by the pending murder trial of his father. Sean Kahler, the lone survivor, is expected to be a key witness for the prosecution. After a handful of hearings, a court date is scheduled in December to determine if Sean can testify outside the courtroom by video camera. In my opinion, there should be no debate; Sean should not be forced to face the person who murdered his entire world.

Today, as you gather with family, my wish is for you to stop for a moment and say a prayer for Sean Kahler. Take a moment to leave words of hope and strength for Sean on this post. This young man has so little left to be thankful for. Pray that he can find peace one day and be thankful that his life was spared.

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The Journey to Justice: Garvin County, Oklahoma

By Susan Murphy-Milano

On October 14, I arrived in Garvin County, Oklahoma. I was brought in by family members to review and bring attention to their cases involving possible murder, cover up and corruption. I went to Oklahoma, knowing there were threats to harm me, but I felt this trip was important to secure information about each of these cases in front of new eyes.

What I found was beyond what I expected. There is a difference when meeting these families face to face and going to the actual areas where the crimes took place at "ground zero" instead of looking at photos or talking on the phone. It was immediately apparent to me that something, many things, were wrong with the initial "howdy doody" so-called investigations. This included staging the original crime scenes from bogus shell casings to cleaning up a bloody witness, and removing blood-soaked sheets, blankets or rugs, to actually dragging a body from the inside of a home out to the backyard. And at least one additional murder, possibly two, also directly relate to the cases

Meeting with each individual family was an eye-opener. Seeing, for myself, the landscape in which these crimes were committed would now give these cases a chance at justice. After reviewing never-before-seen crime scene photos, documentation and, in my opinion, new evidence added by the sheer determination of these families, I put the cases of Chanda Turner, Sheila Deviney and Tom Horton, now identified as “The Garvin County Three,” into a national spotlight. I had a lot of help, including a former prosecutor with whom I would report my findings. We would strategize my daily methods of gathering solid information and shipping it out by carrier the next day. You need to establish what is known as "a pattern of conduct." If you build the framework around this, you definitely have a case. And indeed, I did.

It was interesting to go into restaurants and businesses and see firsthand the treatment these families received--some good, some not so good. Like being shunned, or having a contagious disease, people were obviously in fear of being seen talking to them. It was gut-wrenching as I witnessed this happening before my eyes. It reminded me of a time when my own hero of a father murdered my mother before taking his own life. Those in my Chicago community, many of whom I had known my entire life, would publicly turn their backs or threaten my life if I continued “disgracing the Chicago Police Department and maligning my father’s good name."

By day three of my investigation at “ground zero,” the hostile climate turned and the curtain of fear in the surrounding towns of Paul’s Valley, Lindsey, Norman and Maysville began to rise. People were talking about the truth, the facts I was releasing nightly on the nationally syndicated program The Roth Show. People were coming forward providing crucial evidence and supplying statements. One by one, townsfolk expressed their embarrassment for how their community has been portrayed in the national spotlight. You saw them taking a stand with the truth, knowing that if things continued as they always had in Garvin County that justice would never be served and that others might be harmed in the process, possibly one of their own children or loved one.

Working within a system with a scandalous medical examiner’s office, a questionable sheriff, and a small town where families with money help keep things in control, the families of “the Garvin County Three”would not give up. My greatest pleasure, and the best part of my trip, was getting to know them better. These are real people who have been handed one of life’s biggest disservices, injustice.

As my time in Garvin County continued, I was surprised to see that other families were contacting either myself or attorney Jaye Mendros of Justice for the Dead site. This included people who had a lot of information surrounding these cases. It almost seemed as if there was a new consciousness, and some were finding that maybe their own consciences were finally getting the best of them after so many years of holding the secrets. Those secrets are now documented.

In the midst of a controversial upcoming election for a new sheriff in Garvin County, I found the tensions mounting all around me. Many people in the county were trying to keep the old guard in office to keep things as they have been for the last 11 years. Also, maybe some were trying to keep their own loved ones from facing the music they were hiding from behind the very ones who were present on each of the crime scenes of Sheila Deviney, Chanda Turner and Tom Horton, The Garvin County Three.

On November 2, the people of Garvin County spoke up loudly and clearly that it was finally time for a change. They elected to give the old sheriff the boot and bring in someone who has promised to do what is necessary to get their cases re-opened and re-examined. The task facing new Sheriff Larry Rhoades is daunting, and we have to believe that he will see this through.

There is still a lot of work to do in Oklahoma, but the process has begun to get the ball rolling in the right direction. Justice will be served for The Garvin County Three.

There are so many people I would like to thank, and you all know who you are, especially my colleagues here at Women In Crime Ink. Without your support and prayers, this journey would have been much more difficult. Also, a special thanks to Dr. Laurie Roth and Doug Hagmann; I always knew you had my back every step of the way. And to those now at the beginning stages of the preliminary investigation as it relates to the long-awaited truth for Chanda Turner, Sheila Deviney, Tom Horton and each of their families who know justice is now a step closer.

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A Texas Town Honors a Killer

by Susan Murphy Milano

On July 15, 2010, the town of Coppell, Texas, flew the flags at half-staff in honor of their beloved, late Mayor Jayne Peters.

But how the hell can you honor anyone who shoots down their own child in cold blood and then commits suicide? The disturbing response of the mayor pro tem summed it up, saying the tony Dallas suburb needed to separate what Peters did in her personal life from how she performed as mayor.

So I ask: Why honor anyone who, in great detail, plans and carries out murder? As an elected official, Jayne Peters was a hard-core politician. Some people refer to politicians as empty suits. What lurked inside Jayne Peters's suit was rage, a rage most violent offenders hide from the outside world. Peters masked her controlling and manipulative ways behind a pretty smile, makeup, heels and stockings. She made sure she had all the answers when it came to city government.

But what no one has dared to say aloud since the murder-suicide is they are willing to forgive her crime because she was a woman and, at one time, a respected member of the community.

The side of an abuser that outsiders never see is saved for immediate family, behind closed doors. In news coverage, the murder-suicide was the tragic story of a recently widowed wife whose husband died of cancer in 2008, leaving her to raise a teenager on her own while struggling with personal finances. Peters, who'd hidden the family money problems from her daughter, faced an investigation into $4,000 of unexplained personal charges on her city credit card.

Police went to Peters's house when she failed to show up at the monthly city council meeting. Taped to the door was an envelope containing a key to the upscale house and a note that said: "God, please forgive me."

They found Corinne Peters, 19, in a laundry room, dead from a single gunshot wound to the back of her head, which her mother apparently had wrapped in towels. Upstairs, taped to a closed bathroom door, was a note that said: "Please do not resuscitate.” They found Jayne Peters's body on the tile floor with a single gunshot wound to her forehead.

According to Fox News, police found four notesin all. In one, Peters wrote: "We were lost,” which likely translates into an excuse: 'I could no longer control my environment at work or in my home.' The note also said Peters and her daughter remained inconsolable over the death of Donald Peters.

The last note? Peters left detailed instructions for the care of the family's dogs.

The relationship between mother and daughter was always filled with turmoil. They argued about everything from boys to after-school activities to Corrine being a daddy’s girl. Some of Corrine's friends remember her describing the abuse, anger and jealousy that blew out of control after the death of her father. Donald Peters had always shielded his baby girl from her mother’s temper. 

Corinne was a bright, vibrant young woman who, according to friends, always greeted people with a bright smile.

Corinne graduated high school on June 4 and planned to attend the University of Texas in the fall. This teenager, by all accounts, was happy and looking forward to her future. But the abuser -- her mother -- was not going to allow her daughter to live her life. Jayne Peters never intended for her daughter to enroll in college. Instead, she carefully planned to take her life.

Corinne Peters was murdered. As an abuser and a murderer, Jayne Peters likely decided that killing her daughter and making excuses for her own financial disaster was the best way to solve her problems. What abusers do best, male or female, is make life-altering decisions for other members of their immediate family.

And in the wake of this tragedy, what the town of Coppell, Texas, did was show the world that family-member homicide is acceptable. They looked the other way, hid in their homes and acted as if they'd lost a beloved member of their community. It makes me wonder how many women and children in that town are living in fear for their lives.

This woman should not be remembered as anything other than the "mayor who murdered her daughter in cold blood." And that is why you will only see photos of Corinne Peters in this story. I refuse to honor a murderer.

Corinne Peters must be remembered as a shining bright light who, while on earth, stood up to a darkness few have ever survived.

Rest in peace, young warrior! You earned it!

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