FILE 9 / 15 March 2017 / 64 MIN / full

Jealously Turns Into Multiple Murders

Burlingame, KansasListen

The town

N ↑Public placePublic placePublic placePublic placeTown centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

It's in Osage County... about 25 minutes outside of Topeka. about 0:04:50

History, in brief

1854

The town came about in the 1850s, right after the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.

about 0:05:43

1868

The railroad came through Topeka in 1868 and connected it to Burlingame, which made it a town.

about 0:06:03

1856

A huge malaria outbreak in 1856 led about half the people to leave.

about 0:06:31

Town note

The town motto is 'where rail crosses trail'.

about 0:19:13
All 4 history facts

1854

The town came about in the 1850s, right after the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.

about 0:05:43

1868

The railroad came through Topeka in 1868 and connected it to Burlingame, which made it a town.

about 0:06:03

1856

A huge malaria outbreak in 1856 led about half the people to leave.

about 0:06:31

Town note

The town motto is 'where rail crosses trail'.

about 0:19:13

The figures, as told

Religious

41%

Biggest faith: Jewish residents, 0.0%

about 0:10:52

Who lives here

White 95.94% · Black 0.0% · Asian 0.0% · Hispanic 2.90%

Ethnicity can overlap race.

Crime / national average

Property crime
▲ about 10% higher

about 0:19:13

Violent crime
▲ 21% higher

about 0:19:51

Money

Median home value$72,000
Two-bedroom rentabout $727 a month
Cost of living77
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2017

Property crime (burglary, larceny, theft)

"about 10% higher"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2017 about 0:19:13

Violent crime (murder, rape, robbery, assault)

"21% higher"

Comparison: "usual average". Direction: above.

As told in 2017 about 0:19:51

Area

"0.89 square miles"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:07:24

Population change since 2000

"down almost 13%"

Direction: below.

As told in 2017 about 0:07:30

Median age

"42"

Comparison: "about 37 normally". No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:08:07

People aged 85 and over

"a little more than twice the average"

Comparison: "average". Direction: above.

As told in 2017 about 0:08:37

White residents

"95.94%"

Comparison: "62% is the average". No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:08:54

Black residents

"0.0%"

Comparison: "12.24% is the average". No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:09:00

Asian residents

"0.0%"

Comparison: "5% is the average". No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:09:08

Native American residents

"1.16%"

Comparison: "more than the average". Direction: above.

As told in 2017 about 0:09:08

Hispanic residents

"2.90%"

Comparison: "about 14% below average". Direction: below.

As told in 2017 about 0:09:16

Non-Hispanic residents

"97.10%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:09:25

Never married

"21%"

Comparison: "average is about 33%". No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:11:31

Widowed population

"twice the average"

Comparison: "average". Direction: above.

As told in 2017 about 0:11:52

Democrat voters

"about 33%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:11:56

Republican voters

"65%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:11:56

Unemployment

"4.5%"

Comparison: "lower than national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2017 about 0:12:06

Average household income

"about $32,000"

Comparison: "$20,000 less than the national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2017 about 0:12:13

Households earning over $150,000

"0.74%"

Comparison: "average is about 10%". No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:12:35

Construction jobs

"twice the amount as normal"

Comparison: "normal". Direction: above.

As told in 2017 about 0:12:47

Healthcare support jobs

"four times the amount as normal"

Comparison: "normal". Direction: above.

As told in 2017 about 0:12:59

Jobs in engineering, computers and science

"0.0%"

Comparison: "about 5.5% is the average". No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:14:17

Police and fire jobs

"0.81%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:14:28

Students per teacher

"nine"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:17:15

Four-year college graduates

"about a third of the average"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2017 about 0:18:22

Master's degree holders

"one third of the average"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2017 about 0:18:22

Doctorate holders

"0.0%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:18:22

High-school football record

"11 and 1"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:18:34

High-school football national ranking

"29th"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:18:44

Religious residents

"41%"

Comparison: "49.6% is the average". No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:10:52

Jewish residents

"0.0%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:11:12

Muslim residents

"0.0%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:11:16

Cost of living

"77"

Comparison: "100 is the average". Direction: below.

As told in 2017 about 0:14:46

Housing cost index

"39 of 100"

Comparison: "100 is the average". Direction: below.

As told in 2017 about 0:14:51

Median home cost

"$72,000"

Comparison: "about $185,000 is the norm average". No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:14:57

Home prices over the last 10 years

"down about seven percent"

Direction: below.

As told in 2017 about 0:15:04

Homes worth between $40,000 and $100,000

"75%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:15:11

Homes over $200,000

"0.80%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:15:21

Homes built in 1939 or earlier

"40%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2017 about 0:15:38

Two-bedroom apartment rent

"about $727 a month"

Comparison: "$300 less than the national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2017 about 0:15:55

The reviews

No rated reviews

No reviews recorded.

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The story

They had three children: Emily, born in 1991, Lauren in 1993 and Sean about 1999. In 2006 Karen, a fitness instructor, met another instructor, Sunny Reese.

The marriage deteriorated. On New Year's Day she told him she was leaving him for Reese, and in January 2009 she filed for divorce.

In September 2009 the department asked him to resign, giving him two months' salary and a month's severance. On 9 October he filed for relief from child support. Late that month he moved back to Meridian to live with his parents and on 25 November notified the Missouri court.

He arranged to see Sean over Thanksgiving. Sean spent 26 and 27 November with him in Meridian and on Saturday 28 November returned to his mother at the Burlingame house of Karen's grandmother, 89-year-old Dorothy White. Emily, 18, and Lauren, 16, were also there. That evening a neighbour, Trevor Gibson, noticed an unfamiliar red Ford Explorer with Missouri plates and called the Burlingame police. Gibson and his girlfriend Michelle Davidson then heard gunshots. Later they saw a man return to the Explorer with something in his hands; Gibson shouted and the man drove off.

Deputy Nathan Perling was sent to check the vehicle and was also told of a shooting and a Life Alert alarm at Dorothy White's home. He saw Dorothy in a recliner bleeding from a stomach wound and forced entry. Once another deputy arrived he searched the house and found Karen on the kitchen floor, still alive. Upstairs he found Lauren, who said her father had shot her and begged him not to let her die; she died with him. Downstairs he found Emily dead on the living room floor.

The Explorer was found abandoned and impounded, and a two-mile perimeter was searched for seven and a half hours. Around 7 a.m. on 29 November a driver flagged down a Shawnee County deputy about a man walking in a ditch. In the Explorer officers found a box for .223 ammunition, the calibre used in the shootings, and shell casings; a magazine lay near him, but the gun was never found.

Dorothy White died on 1 December 2009. A Life Alert recording of Lauren screaming that somebody was going to kill them was played.

The case

Murders of the Kahler family and Dorothy White

Victims

Karen Kahler. estranged wife, a fitness instructor, who had filed for divorce
Emily Kahler (18). their daughter, a student at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy
Lauren Kahler (16). their daughter, an honour student at Columbia High School
Dorothy White (89). Karen's grandmother and Sean's great-grandmother; died of her injuries on December 1, 2009

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 15 March 2017.

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Sunny Reese. Karen's girlfriend and a fellow fitness instructor
Dan Pinkleton. Karen's divorce lawyer
Tom Haney. defence attorney
Trevor Gibson. neighbour who saw the Explorer and heard the shots
Michelle Davidson. Trevor Gibson's girlfriend
Nathan Perling. Osage County sheriff's deputy who found the victims
Lynn Denton. Karen's sister, who gave a victim statement

The timeline

  1. 1986 Kahler and Karen marry; he is 23 and she is 21.about 0:20:19
  2. 1991 Daughter Emily is born.about 0:20:50
  3. 1993 Daughter Lauren is born.about 0:20:50
  4. about 1999 Son Sean is born.about 0:20:54
  5. 2006 Karen meets Sunny Reese at a gym in Weatherford, Texas. (Weatherford gym)about 0:21:45
  6. 2008 gives Karen permission to pursue a relationship with Sunny Reese.about 0:22:15
  7. July 2008 The family moves from Weatherford, Texas, to Columbia, Missouri, for job as director of water and light. (Columbia Water and Light Department)about 0:24:30
  8. December 31, 2008 Drunk at a party, and Karen fight about Reese; he pushes her and she hits her head on the street.about 0:26:37
  9. January 1, 2009 Karen tells she is leaving him for Reese.about 0:27:27
  10. January 2009 Karen files for divorce.about 0:29:02
  11. October 9, 2009 files in court for relief from child support payments.about 0:32:08
  12. late October 2009 moves back to Meridian, Kansas, to live with his parents. ( Kahler's parents' home)about 0:34:05
  13. November 25, 2009 notifies the Missouri court that he has moved to Kansas.about 0:34:39
  14. Thanksgiving weekend, 2009 Sean spends Thanksgiving Thursday and Friday with at his parents' home in Meridian. ( Kahler's parents' home)about 0:37:30
  15. November 28, 2009 Sean returns to Karen at Dorothy White's house in Burlingame; neighbour Trevor Gibson sees an unfamiliar red Ford Explorer with Missouri plates. (Dorothy White house)about 0:38:02
  16. November 28, 2009 Gibson cannot reach the Burlingame police, tries the utility department and 911, and is told no one is available; shortly afterwards he hears gunshots. (Dorothy White house)about 0:39:50
  17. November 28, 2009 Gibson sees a man return to the Explorer with an object, shouts at him, and the man drives away. (Dorothy White house)about 0:41:01
  18. November 28, 2009 Deputy Nathan Perling is sent to check the Explorer and the Life Alert alarm and finds Dorothy White shot in her recliner. (Dorothy White house)about 0:43:04

Places and phrases

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Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode