Homicide of Madison Doctor Due to Social Distancing: Complaint

Bail has been set at $1 million for Khari Sanford at his initial court hearing for two alleged counts of homicide of a doctor and her husband, which may have been born out of an unwillingness to social distance.

“There’s no other way to put it,” said Dane County Assistant District Attorney William Brown.

At the initial hearing, which was held via zoom due to Covid-19 restrictions and precautions, the defense tried to paint a picture of Sanford as a respectful and active individual. They mentioned that he had been a football captain at his high school for four years and was an active member of the community.

Sanford and his girlfriend, Miriam Potter Carre, had been living at Potter Carre’s parents house at the start of the pandemic, according to the criminal complaint. The two high school seniors were not eager to live in the new normal and repeatedly went out with friends and didn’t socially distance, according to the criminal complaint. Dr. Beth Potter, Potter Carre’s adopted mother, had asked both of them to social distance and stay home because she was immunocompromised and feared what getting Covid-19 would do to her. According to the criminal complaint, because Sanford and Potter Carre refused to take precautions, Dr. Potter paid for them to live in an Airbnb until they could find permanent housing.

Potter Carre and Sanford had been overheard by friends at school discussing what they could do for money and that they planned on stealing from Potter Carre’s parents because they kept “bands” or rolls of bills worth thousands of dollars around the house, according to the criminal complaint. After two-and-a-half weeks of living at the Airbnb and looking at apartments, Sanford, and his friend Alijah Larrue, took Potter Carre’s Volkswagen minivan and went to the residence of Dr. Potter and her husband Robin Carre, according to the criminal complaint. Then they allegedly kidnapped Dr. Potter and Carre around 11 p.m. on March 30^th before taking them to the UW Arboretum, according to the criminal complaint. Once at the UW Arboretum, the two victims were shot in the back of the head and a couple more times, allegedly by the defendant, according to the criminal complaint. According to UWPD, Sanford was arrested on April 3 after their investigation led to him as their primary suspect.

“Khari has a number of leaders who have reached out and pledged their support to [him],” said Assistant Public Defender Diana Van Rybroek, Sanford’s attorney.

Despite Attorney Rybroek’s efforts the court commissioner, Jason Hansen, agreed with the state to set bail at $1 million in the double homicide. Hansen talked about how we are all complicated as people and that there may very well be a lot of good in Sanford, but the atrocity of the crimes had to be taken into account.

“This case is one where [Sanford] is alleged to be a high school senior and very involved in a lot of pro social activities,” said Hansen. “He’s also alleged to have kidnapped and murdered two people by shooting them in the head.”

If Sanford and Larrue are found guilty of the charges brought against them by the state, they will have to serve two life sentences, with potentially 10 years added onto that under state statutes, according to the criminal complaint. It remains to be seen if Potter Carre will be charged in the case. According to the criminal complaint, she is on the record lying to try and help the defendants in her interview with police officers and had been heard mentioning the “bands of money” to Sanford at school.

Dr. Potter and Carre, simply wanted to keep themselves and their family safe at the start of this pandemic and for that have paid the ultimate price. Dr. Potter was described as wise, warm and always supportive by her colleague Dr. William Schwab.

“Our sadness is immense,” said Dr. Schwab in a statement. “We will keep Beth’s legacy in our hearts as we step forward.”

The UW Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, which Dr. Schwab currently chairs, has set up the Beth Potter and Robin Carre memorial fund to help take care of the Arboretum and provide scholarship money to students in the program.

As this case moves forward, there is still some investigative work to be done by the Madison and UW police departments according to the defense team who is eager that no one rush to judgement so that her client can have a fair trial.

“There’s a lot we don’t know about this case,” said Rybroek.