Florida man sentenced in murders of Wichita couple who attended Great Bend fair

A 56-year-old Florida man won’t be eligible for parole for 100 years after being sentenced in the killing of a Wichita couple.

Michael Fowler Jr., who pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, was sentenced in Barton County District Court. The sentencing is in connection to the July 2018 killings of Alfred “Sonny” Carpenter and Pauline Carpenter.

Fowler was sentenced to 50 years without the possibility of parole on each murder count as well as 21 months for theft, the Kansas Attorney General’s Office said in a news release. Barton County District Judge Mike Keeley ordered Fowler to serve the sentences for murder consecutively and the sentence for theft concurrently.

“Two additional defendants have been convicted on related charges and are awaiting sentencing,” the AG’s office said. “Related charges against one other defendant remain pending.”

The Carpenters had gone to Great Bend to sell handmade crafts at the Barton County Fair, The Eagle previously reported. They were killed and then taken in their camper to the Ozark National Forest in Arkansas, where they were buried in a shallow grave. Arkansas police initially said the murders were ordered by a carnival worker posing as a member of a fake carnival mafia.

Contributing: Jason Tidd of The Eagle

This story was originally published July 7, 2020 at 12:15 PM.