Wisconsin doctor, husband shot in heads in ‘brutal execution,’ prosecutors say; 2 charged
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A Wisconsin doctor had an underlying health condition and was worried about coronavirus, so she and her husband moved their daughter and her boyfriend to a separate residence for which the parents paid, prosecutors said Tuesday in court documents.
Then in late March the boyfriend allegedly shot both parents in the head in an apparent robbery and left them for dead in a ditch, according to the filing.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bail for the boyfriend and a suspected accomplice was set at $1 million Tuesday at an initial hearing related to the killings, according to a report. The hearing was conducted via video because of coronavirus concerns, reports said.
WISCONSIN DOCTOR, HUSBAND SLAIN; COUPLE KNEW SUSPECT, 18, POLICE SAY
“This was a brutal execution,” Dane County assistant district attorney William Brown said, according to the Wisconsin State Journal of Madison.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The boyfriend, identified as Khari Sanford, 18, was charged with two counts of party to the crime of first-degree intentional homicide, use of a dangerous weapon. The second suspect, Ali’jah Larrue, 18, was charged as an accomplice, facing two counts of party to the crime of first-degree intentional homicide.
The victims, Dr. Beth Potter, 52, and husband Robin Carre, 57, were found the morning of March 31 at the University of Wisconsin Arboretum, near the school’s Madison campus. Authorities believe they were killed the night before, each taking gunshots to the back of their heads.
Potter was wearing pajamas and socks, while Carre was wearing only underwear, authorities said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Investigators believe Sanford and Larrue planned to rob the parents after learning from the daughter that the couple was wealthy, The Associated Press reported.
Khari Sanford, left, and Ali'jah Larrue face charges in connection with the shooting deaths of a Wisconsin doctor and her husband, authorities say. (Dane County Sheriff's Office)
After the killings, a high school classmate reportedly told investigators that Sanford stopped by his house and frantically called Larrue, saying he learned via social media that one of the parents may have survived the shootings and could possibly implicate them.
Carre was dead when the couple were found by a passing jogger, but Potter died after being transported to a hospital, investigators said.
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The daughter told police Sanford was with her the night Sanford allegedly took the couple to the arboretum but investigators say text messages retrieved from her phone contradicted her story, the State Journal reported.
It was unclear whether the daughter was facing charges in connection with the case.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Authorities arrested Sanford and Larrue after piecing together surveillance video from numerous sources and examining GPS data from Larrue’s phone, the newspaper reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.