Man who killed wife, daughters gets death

LYNDON, Kan., Oct. 12 (UPI) -- A former city official in Columbia, Mo., has been sentenced to death in Kansas for killing his wife, daughters and his wife's grandmother.

James Kraig Kahler became the ninth person under a death sentence in the state on Tuesday, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported. After his conviction in August, a jury decided on the death during the penalty phase of the trial.

Under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, a judge may not impose the death penalty unless a jury votes for it.

Kahler, 48, the former head of the Columbia municipal utility company, shot his estranged wife, Karen, their daughters, Lauren, 16, and Emily, 18, and Dorothy Wight, 89, during Thanksgiving weekend in 2009. He allowed his son, Sean, 12, to escape.

Karen Kahler and her children were visiting her grandmother in Burlingame, Kan., for the holiday. Karen Kahler was involved with another man, and prosecutors said her husband had become resentful and jealous.

As he was led out of the courtroom, Kahler made a nasty remark about his in-laws, who are currently caring for Sean.

"Take care of Sean so he's not raised by a bunch of freaks," he told his parents.

Kansas has not held an execution in decades, although the state reinstated the death penalty in 1994.