Remembering Dr. Beth Potter and her husband, Robin Carre

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Summary: University of Wisconsin physician Beth Potter and her husband, Robin Carre, were murdered in Madison in 2020. Khari Sanford was later convicted and imprisoned.

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MADISON, Wis. — University of Wisconsin physician Dr. Beth Potter and her husband, Robin Carre, were killed on March 30, 2020 in one of Madison's most closely followed homicide cases.

The bodies of Potter, 52, and Carre, 57, were discovered the following morning in the University of Wisconsin Arboretum by a jogger. Carre was pronounced dead at the scene. Potter was taken to a hospital but later died from her injuries.

The investigation quickly shifted toward someone the couple knew. Khari Sanford, 18 at the time, was the boyfriend of Potter and Carre's adopted daughter. Police arrested him in early April and accused him of two counts of party to the crime of first-degree intentional homicide. Another 18-year-old, Ali'jah Larrue, was also arrested and accused of participating in the killings.

Ali'jah Larrue and Khari Sanford

According to court documents, tensions inside the household had increased shortly before the killings. Potter and Carre had moved their daughter and Sanford into a rental property ostensibly because of disagreements over COVID-19 precautions. Investigators later developed evidence linking Sanford and Larrue to the events surrounding the couple’s deaths.

Miriam Carre was never criminally charged or prosecuted for the murder of her parents.

During the 2022 trial of her then-boyfriend, Khari Sanford, she invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. To compel her testimony, prosecutors granted her immunity. She testified that she had no prior knowledge of the murder plot, and prosecutors stated during the trial that she “had no idea” what Sanford was planning.

Although she avoided criminal charges, she faced significant civil and legal challenges in probate court regarding her parents’ estate. Attorneys representing the estate of Dr. Beth Potter and Robin Carre petitioned to completely disinherit her. They alleged that she was civilly complicit, claiming she actively participated in a scheme to rob her parents of “bands” of cash, which ultimately led to the kidnapping and execution-style killings. Once the legal block was lifted, the estate was officially divided, and all three of the couple's children—Jonah, Ezra, and Miriam—received their designated assets from their parents' wills.

When the case eventually went to trial, prosecutors argued that Sanford had abducted the couple from their Madison home before taking them to the arboretum. Jurors heard testimony about the relationship between Sanford and the victims, as well as evidence concerning the events leading up to the killings.

In May 2022, a Dane County jury convicted Sanford of two counts of first-degree intentional homicide. He was later sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Larrue, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to felony murder charges and received concurrent prison terms of eight years for each victim, followed by extended supervision. He also became a key witness in the case against Sanford.

The central facts are clear: two respected white professionals were killed after extending kindness to their black murderer and to the non-white daughter they had adopted, who brought the killer into their lives. It’s a phenomenon some refer to as suicidal empathy.

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Suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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Sources/related links:

UW–Madison Police Department: Homicide Investigation
UW–Madison Police Department: Second Arrest in Arboretum Double Homicide
Wisconsin Court of Appeals: State v. Khari O. Sanford
WMTV: Khari Sanford convicted in UW Arboretum killings

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