Trisha Stemple Justice Served as the State of Oklahoma Executes Her Killer

 

In the early morning hours of October 24, 1996, Trisha Stemple, was brutally murdered. Her body was left on the side of U.S. Highway 75 in Tulsa County, Oklahoma.

Her husband  Timothy Shaun Stemple was charged and convicted of the killing of his wife.

At trial the prosecutor's case was strong proving to a jury Timothy Stemple concocted a plan to terminate the life of his wife, Trisha Stemple, and to collect her life insurance proceeds. Stemple was having an extra-marital affair with Dani Wood. Dani Wood had a sixteen year old cousin, Terry Hunt. According to Hunt, Stemple offered him $25,000 to $50,000 to help kill Trisha (if they collected the insurance money).  Hunt recruited another person, to assist in the plan. Nat Helm and Hunt went to Wal-Mart where they purchased a baseball bat and plastic wrap. The
plastic wrap was wrapped around the bat to keep the bat from getting bloody.
On October 10, 1996, Hunt and Helm went to the designated location on highway
75 and waited for Stemple and his wife to arrive. A while later Stemple drove up and
told Helm and Hunt that Trisha was ill and he could not get her to accompany him.

Two weeks later, Stemple arranged for Hunt to drive Stemple’s pickup to a particular
location on highway 75 and leave the hood up. Stemple and Trisha arrived in their
black Nissan Maxima. Stemple began working on the truck and Trisha stood next to
the truck. Hunt came up behind Trisha and hit her in the head with the bat. The blow
did not render Trisha unconscious, so Stemple took the bat and hit her several more
times.

Stemple and Hunt then placed Trisha’s head in front of the front tire of the pickup
and attempted to run over her head, however, the tire would not roll over Trisha’s
head so her head was pushed along the pavement. After this, Trisha tried to get up.
Stemple grabbed the bat and hit her several more times. The pair then placed Trisha’s
body under the truck and drove over her chest. Trisha rose up on her
elbows, so Stemple hit her again several times with the bat.

Stemple then went back to the black Nissan and drilled a hole in the front tire to
make it look as if Trisha’s car had a flat. One expert testified that the hole in the tire
had spiral striations consistent with drilling. Stemple and Hunt left in the pickup, but
decided to turn around to make sure Trisha was dead. When they got back to the spot
where they left Trisha, they noticed that she had crawled into the grass beside the
road. Stemple then sped up and ran over Trisha as she lay in the grass.

Trisha’s body was found later that morning, after Stemple called reporting that she
was missing. The autopsy evaluation revealed that Trisha had fractures to her arm,
ribs, pelvis, vertebrae and skull. The medical examiner concluded that Trisha died
from blunt force trauma to the head.

After years of unsuccessful appeals, today, at 6:00 PM Central time Timothy Shaun Stemple will be executed by lethal injection for the murder of Trisha Stemple.

On a Website called FreeShaun.com a letter written by Stemple on March 5, 2012, claiming his innocence  posted for the world to read.  A jury sent a message when Trisha Stemple, mother of two was brutally murdered.  Trisha's voice silenced, as so many victims of intimate partner violence leading to homicide are, across the county by those who profess to love them.  The Governor of Oklahoma as of yesterday, does not intend on issuing a stay of execution for Stemple.

Today, Trisha Stemple has the last word as the angels sound their horns for justice!

Susan Murphy Milano is a staff member of the Institute for Relational Harm Reduction and Public Pathology Education as a educator and specialist with intimate partner violence prevention strategies directing prevention for high risk situations and cases.

 A national trainer to law enforcement, training officers, prosecutors, judges, legislators, social service providers, healthcare professionals, victim advocates and the faith based community and author.. In partnership with Management Resources Ltd. of New York addressing prevention and solutions within the community to the workplace. Host of The Susan Murphy Milano Show,"Time'sUp!" . She is a regular contributor to the nationally syndicated "The Roth Show" with Dr Laurie Roth and a co-host onCrime Wire. Online contributions: Forbes : Crime, She Writes providing commentary about the hottest topics on crime, justice, and law from a woman’s perspective, as well as Time's Up! a blog which searches for solutions (SOS) for victims of crime. 

D-Day

The control over where she went, what she did to how long she stayed out to run a quick errand was manageable for Karen Kahler no different from others whom love their husbands and work hard to make the marriage work. After the birth of their daughters Lauren and Emily the violence increased and her husband Kraig Kahler’s jealously over his wife’s daily routine was a nightly interrogation. And if he did not believe Karen, she paid the ultimate price and was beaten. A third child was born, Sean, a boy and Karen prayed her abusive husband would shift the good part of him, the man she fell in love with and be involved with her son.

Kraig Kahler's yearly salary was $150,000 as the former director of the Water & Light Department in Columbia, Mo., where he faced other charges. But, when city officials learned he was also terrorizing his wife and family it lead to his dismissal. Online court records show Kahler was scheduled for trial in Columbia this past Wednesday on a domestic assault charge that stemmed from an altercation with Karen in March of 2009.

Karen like so many women who are abused filed for divorce rented a house and she and her 3 children began their journey of freedom. Karen wanted her children to maintain a healthy relationship with their father, but, as many violent abusers do, they dismiss the female children and shower all their attention on the male child as in this case.

(Lauren, Emily and Karen)

After the family moved Kraig Kahler became more obsessed. Although he was never “caught in the act” he stalked her, slashed her tires, became obsessed with her on-line computer activities, but was never arrested. Even though she obtained a restraining order it would be no match against the rapid fire power of a weapon.

Karen Kahler and her daughters Emily and Lauren were shot to death by Karen's estranged husband while they were visiting her grandmother, Dorothy, for the Thanksgiving holiday. Dorothy was also shot and and died a few days later. Sean, Karen's 10 year old son, escaped from the house, called for help and was not harmed.

That evening 3 generations were erased within moments by a man that with his entire being believed he owned the ultimate power of when Karen, Emily, Lauren and Dorothy would take their last breath.

Twelve hours later Kraig Kahler was arrested and is being held on $10 million dollars bond. In the months to follow people will point blame or perhaps say he was severely depressed or he was not in his right mind at the time of the execution of his family. The fact is he was in his correct frame of mind all along. He is not insane and his motive was clear. The years of agony and expense this will cost the State of Kansas with motions, hearings, continuances trials, appeals, is not worth the life of this serial killer.

I say throw him on an island in some remote area of the world without access to another human sole. Afterall, he thought nothing of their lives!

Part 2 tomorrow

Court Ordered Execution

When a woman or man is a victim of violence in their home and they break the cycle by gaining the courage to leave the very legal system in place to protect seemingly does the most damage. Communication and training appears non-existant in courtrooms leaving tragedies of epidemic proportions as family members are left to discover gruesome crimes scenes followed by making funeral arrangements for innocent loved ones.

Who are the judges presiding in large and small court houses across the county? Are these men and women drapped in their black robes passing time until they retire and can collect a pension? Is any presiding judge on a bench in family or domestic relations court qualified to really make sound legal decsions? In my opinion the answer is no!

Amy Lichtenberg did everything in her power to keep she and her children safe. But the judge presiding over her case turned a deaf ear. Her dangerous and violent husband manipulated the legal system to gain access by wearing down the courthouse with the filing of one motion after another until a judge granted unsupervised visitation. Three weeks after the judge's decision Amy's children Jack and Duncan would be murdered by their father.

Annette Suzan Sowders-Fuller also continued within the legal system after she filed for divorce and obtain orders of protection in an attempt to keep her violent husband away from she and her two small children. Each time she entered a courtroom or called the police for help Annette's husbands violence escalated. It ended in August when he stormed into her home killing Annette and her mother Cheryl in front of her children.

Dawn Axsom and her attorney pleaded with a judge to allow her to leave Arizona with her two-year-old son.The judge denied the request. According to court testimony, Axsom’s estranged boyfriend, who had been arrested twice for DUI, was unemployed, and had made two failed suicide attempts was awarded by the judge who allowed visitation and requirined a drug, alcohol and a mental health evaluation to be completed within 60-days. Just 2 short weeks after that court ordered visiation the boyfriend murdered Dawn, her mother Linda and then committed suicide.

To say the courts do not take domestic violence seriously is an under statement. Without any consideration for prior arrests or current orders of protection judges are awarding individuals whom are a danger to their children visitation and custody. The abusers sole intent is to gain unlimited access to his victim. The abuser could care less about the children. Often an abuser is so enraged over the ending of the relationship the only interest they have is seeking revenge on their victim. Either by killing the person who ended the relationship or murdering the children keeping the victim alive and unharmed as a sick and twisted punishment for breaking up the family.

I have great respect for judges. What I do not respect is ignorance in a courtroom. These judges elected or appointed require more than a two week crash course in a classroom setting on "how to be a judge." Otherwise those court orders that they sign without consideration to human life will amount to nothing more than an a court ordered execution!