The Kansas Supreme Court upholds a woman’s conviction for 2018 County Fair murders. Kansas Reflector

The Kansas Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a woman who orchestrated the murder of a couple working at a traveling carnival during a stop in Barton County.

Kimberly Younger had alleged that her constitutional rights were violated during the original trial when a witness was allowed to testify remotely via video conference. Both the U.S. and Kansas Constitutions guarantee the right of defendants to confront witnesses in criminal cases.

In oral arguments before the Kansas Supreme CourtYounger’s attorney, Clayton Jay Perkins, said Younger “was convicted of capital murder without killing anyone.”

“Her conviction rests on the troubling foundation of the credibility of co-defendants,” Perkins said, “including the actual murderers who received reduced or lesser sentences and had incentives to pin the blame on Miss Younger — and whose testimony was supported by numerous constitutional rulings . and legal errors.”

Attorneys for Younger declined to comment, saying Younger had not signed a release allowing them to speak to the media.

Younger was sentenced in 2021 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for her role in the murders of Alfred and Pauline Carpenter, an elderly Wichita couple who sold merchandise from an RV at county fairs.

Younger — who also used the names Myrna Khan, Jenna Roberts and Tiffany Jones — is in his 50s and worked as a truck driver and ticket taker at the carnival, which stopped at the Barton County Fair in the summer of 2018.

During the carnival, Younger shared a unit in the dorm with her significant other – and possible husband – Michael Fowler. Younger was known to Fowler as Jenna.

The court ruling outlines an elaborate story she told to police about how a rival carnival owner with ties to the Mafia ordered her and others to kill the Carpenters and dump their bodies in Arkansas.

Colleagues Rusty Frasier and Christine Tenney were instructed by Younger to help Fowler with the murder.

According to the Kansas Supreme Court rulingIn July 2018, Younger asked Alfred Carpenter out of the RV to talk about purchasing his as he and Pauline Carpenter prepared for retirement. The plan was for Fowler and then slit his throat. Carpenter fought back and Frasier rushed in and stabbed him. Fowler then shot Alfred Carpenter, entered the trailer and shot Pauline.

The group then drove the trailer containing the bodies more than six hours to Van Buren, Arkansas, and stayed with Fowler’s daughter and son-in-law. They then drove to Ozark National Forest, where Fowler’s son-in-law and his other daughter’s friend helped them place the bodies in a ravine and cover them with a mattress, rocks and dirt.

During the Van Buren Police investigation, Younger initially identified herself as Tiffany Jones. When she became ‘belligerent’, she was arrested and put in the police car, where she was recorded without her knowledge and made incriminating statements.

At the police station, the gun used to kill the Carpenters was found in her backpack. While she was being interviewed, “the others almost immediately began cooperating with law enforcement,” the Supreme Court ruling said.

First, Younger denied the murders, but “eventually told an elaborate version of what happened, blaming it on a crime syndicate.” She was charged in December 2018.

Fowler, Frasier and Tenney all pleaded guilty to various charges and testified against her at her trial.

At trial in September 2021, Younger alleged that another traveling carnival owner, Frank Zaitshik, “ran a criminal enterprise, paid her to transport drugs and weapons across the country, and hired bodyguards to shadow Fowler and protect him from an alleged assassin.” She said Zaitshik had held the group responsible for the killings.

Zaitshik was called as a witness and – despite Younger’s objections – was allowed to testify remotely via video conference due to his concerns about COVID-19. He said that “he had no ties to criminal enterprises, he had no idea who Fowler or Younger… were, he had never ordered anyone to commit murders, and he had no Italian ancestry.

Younger’s counsel argued that the judge’s decision to allow Zaitshik to testify remotely violated her right to confront witnesses guaranteed by the constitutions of both the U.S. and Kansas.

But the justices cited case law stating that “the right to a face-to-face confrontation with a hostile witness is not absolute and is subject to limited exceptions when necessary to advance important public policy.”

The witness’s underlying health conditions and concerns about contracting COVID-19, the judges said, are “sufficient to allow an at-risk witness to testify remotely.”

Younger’s attorneys also sought to overturn her conviction on the grounds that she made incriminating statements before being informed of her right to remain silent and to request counsel.

But the court found that Younger had voluntarily made incriminating statements while sitting in the back of the police car. They discovered that despite asking for counsel at the police station, she voluntarily initiated another interrogation with the police, who stopped questioning her while they waited for a lawyer.

“She repeatedly said she wanted to talk,” the ruling said. “She even showed impatience at interview delays when she asked point-blank if they even wanted to hear what she had to say. There are few indications of coercive behavior by the police.”

Younger’s attorneys also tried, without success, to suppress evidence found in Younger’s backpack, which she had given written consent for police to search.

Although the Kansas Supreme Court upheld Younger’s convictions, it overturned portions of the restitution she was ordered to pay, ruling that the court did not have sufficient evidence to justify the claim. It referred the restitution issue back to the court for correction.