Parolee gets 19 years for fatally stabbing Wichita man at Delano neighborhood home
A parolee who pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing a 67-year-old acquaintance more than two years ago will serve 19 years in prison, a judge ruled Friday.
James Lewis Shaw, 62, was sentenced on one count of voluntary manslaughter in the Sept. 21, 2021, death of Kurt V. Petersen of Wichita, who was found dead by a caretaker on the kitchen floor of his home, in the 100 block of North Glenn. The sentence, imposed by District Judge Tyler Roush, also includes three years of post-release supervision, said Dan Dillon, a spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.
“The Judge followed the plea agreement and the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines,” Dillon said by email.
Shaw, who was originally charged with murder, pleaded guilty on Aug. 14 ahead of his jury trial. When he initially spoke with police, Shaw denied killing Petersen but later admitted to picking up a knife and stabbing Petersen multiple times in the chest because he didn’t like something Petersen said, an affidavit previously released by the court says.
Petersen’s caregiver discovered his body and called 911 around 10 p.m. when he started his shift. The home is near Douglas, between Seneca and Meridian in the city’s Delano neighborhood.
