BARTON COUNTY – A Texas woman has been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole on capital murder charges stemming from the deaths of Alfred “Sonny” Carpenter and Pauline Carpenter, both of Wichita who were working as vendors at the Barton County fair in July July 2018, according to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
Kimberley Stacey Younger, 55, of Aransas Pass, Texas, was sentenced on one count of capital murder in Barton County District Court. Senior Judge James Fleetwood sentenced Younger an additional 245 months for one count of conspiracy to commit murder, one count of solicitation to commit murder and one count of theft. The sentences are to be served consecutively in a Kansas Department of Corrections facility. Because the State did not seek the death penalty in this case, the only authorized sentence was life without parole.
Younger’s sentence is for her role in connection with the July 2018 deaths of Alfred “Sonny” Carpenter and Pauline Carpenter, both of Wichita. Four other individuals have been convicted for their connection to the crimes.
Police in Arkansas alleged that a Kansas carnival worker posed as a member of a mafia group and ordered fellow workers to kill the couple as part of an initiation. Investigators have said a “carnival mafia” does not exist.
The case was investigated by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Great Bend Police Department in Kansas, as well as the Van Buren Police Department, Crawford County (Arkansas) Sheriff’s Office, and the Arkansas State Police. Deputy Attorney General Vic Braden and Assistant Attorney General Jessica Domme of Schmidt’s office prosecuted the case
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