TOPEKA— The Kansas Supreme Court Friday upheld two hard-50 life sentences and a felony theft sentence for a Florida man, 56-year-old Michael Fowler, who was convicted in the murder of a Kansas couple who were vendors at the Barton County Fair.
The matter of Appeal No. 123,820: State of Kansas v. Michael A. Fowler affirmed his sentence for two counts of first-degree murder and theft.
Following Fowler’s convictions for both counts of premeditated first-degree murder and one count of felony theft, Court records indicate the Barton Co. District Court denied Fowler’s motion for his sentence to be reduced.
In July of 2020, Fowler, who is from Sarasota, Fla., had originally received a sentence of two consecutive hard-50 life terms by District Court Judge Mike Keeley for the murders and one concurrent 21-month term for the theft.
On direct appeal, the Court said it affirmed Fowler’s sentence.
Fowler pleaded guilty to the charges in March 2019. Fowler was charged with the crimes in connection with the July 2018 deaths of Alfred “Sonny” Carpenter and Pauline Carpenter.
Their bodies were discovered in July in shallow graves near Van Buren, Arkansas. Prosecutors say the Carpenters were killed at the Barton County Fair, where they were vendors. Fowler and other suspects worked for the carnival company at the fair.