The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear appeals from two brothers who were convicted in the murders of five people during a crime spree in Wichita in late 2000.

Jonathan and Reginald Carr were convicted of capital murder in the killings of four people at an east Wichita home, and the shooting death of a woman in another east side neighborhood.   The Carrs have been sentenced to death for the killings.

The Kansas Attorney General’s office said the decision from the Supreme Court means that the Carr brothers have exhausted their direct appeals and their convictions and death sentences are considered final.   They still have the ability to file additional lawsuits in state or federal court to prevent their executions, and it’s expected they will do so.

This is the second time that the U.S. Supreme Court has considered an appeal in the case of the Carr brothers.  In 2016, the Court reversed a Kansas Supreme Court ruling that had overturned the death sentences for the Carrs.   In 2022, the state supreme court rejected additional challenges to the convictions and death sentences.