Two men have pleaded guilty to charges related to the murders of a Wichita couple following the Barton County Fair.
36-year-old Rusty Lee Frasier of Aransas Pass, Texas pleaded guilty to two counts of first degree premeditated murder in Barton County district court.
32-year-old Thomas Donald Drake of Van Buren, Arkansas pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing apprehension.
Sentencing has not been scheduled for Frasier or Drake. They were charged in connection with the deaths of Alfred “Sonny” Carpenter and his wife Pauline, who disappeared after working as vendors at the Barton County Fair in Great Bend. Their bodies were later found in northwest Arkansas.
In May, 39-year-old Christine Tenney of La Marque, Texas pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated robbery and one count of obstructing apprehension. In March, 54-year-old Michael Fowler of Sarasota, Florida pleaded guilty to two counts of first degree murder and one count of theft in the case. Tenney and Fowler are awaiting sentencing.
Related charges against a fifth person are pending.
