Wisconsin Doctor Murder Case Update: Burglary Attempt Escalated Into 'Brutal Execution', Police Say

A possible burglary attempt led to the murder of a Wisconsin doctor and her husband, police said Tuesday.

Dane County's assistant district attorney William Brown said the incident was initially a burglary attempt which escalated into kidnapping and in the end resulted in what he referred to as “brutal execution.”

The bodies of 52-year-old Dr. Beth Potter and her husband, 57-year-old Robin Carre, were found in a ditch near the entrance of the University of Wisconsin Arboretum, Madison in March. A jogger found the bodies and immediately reported it to the police.

Carre was pronounced dead at the scene and Potter later died at the hospital.

The UW Police Departement arrested 18-year-old Khari Sanford and charged him with homicide. A few days later, police arrested 18-year-old Ali’jah Larrue, a friend of Sanford, as he was an accomplice to the crime.

UW Police Chief Kristen Roman had confirmed in a statement earlier that “We believe that this was not a random act. It was calculated, cold-blooded, and senseless.”

The couple's daughter Miriam Potter Carre and Sanford went to the same school and were in a relationship.

According to the criminal complaint, the couple was shot to the back of the head in an execution-style.

Miriam and Sanford were staying with the couple. But days before their death, the parents asked the young couple to move out of the house and also rented out an Airbnb apartment for their stay.

The parents did so out of concern because of Miriam’s medical condition that put her on a high risk of contracting the coronavirus and also because the young couple did not bother adhering to the social distancing guidelines.

According to a statement received by the police from one of Potter’s friends, the day before the young couple moved out, Potter had received a call from her daughter saying “You don’t talk to me” and “You don’t care about me.”

A classmate of the young couple at Madison West High School spoke to the investigating officers saying that he overheard a conversation between Miriam and Sanford where the former told her boyfriend that her parents had “bands” of cash and that they are going to be rich. “Band” is a term used to represent thousands of dollars, the boy told investigators.

No criminal charges were slapped against the daughter as of now. Both Sanford and Larrue were charged with two counts of party to the crime of first-degree intentional homicide. Their bail was set at $1 million each.