Sons had tried to disinhert murderer’s girlfriend,
their adoptive sister.
The adopted daughter of Dr. Beth Potter and Robin Carre has settled out of court with her two siblings over the slain couple’s contested will. Miriam’s boyfriend, Khari Sanford, was convicted of their murder in 2022 and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Sanford and a young accomplice abducted the two from their beds on the near West side of Madison on March 30, 2020. Sanford held a handgun on them as he directed the driver to the north entrance to the UW Arboretum. That is where Sanford shot each in the head, execution style, trial evidence showed.
Joggers found the two the next morning, still in their night clothes on that frigid morning, Dr. Potter was alive but barely. She died in a hospital emergency room hours later.
Trial testimony indicated that Sanford feared losing his girl friend because of her parent’s disapproval. The slain couple had taken the young black man into their home on Rowley Avenue. However, the young couple, still seniors at Madison West high school, refused to observe distancing protocols during the Covid 19 pandemic then just underway. The adults set up Miriam and Sanford in a rented AirBnB apartment and loaned one of the vehicles, which Sanford used to abduct the couple.
Sanford and Miriam had been “car shopping,” stealing from unlocked vehicles, which is how he obtained the Glock .357 that he used to kill them. The couple’s obituary noted that they were “killed by someone they tried to help.”
Seeking to disinherit Miriam, brothers Ezra C. and Jonah J. Carre brought suit in probate court on 04-06-20 — a week after their parents were murdered. (We wrote about it here.) At one point, the case seemed headed for a jury trial “because a jury could believe that Miriam conspired in the killing of Robin and Beth,” Judge Diane Schlipper wrote at one point. The dispute had accumulated an extensive evidentiary record but mediation began late last year and the case closed in March 2025 with no other information on file.
Blaska’s Bottom Line: Miriam was never charged in criminal court and testified against her lover at trial.
8 responses to “Contested will of couple murdered in Arboretum resolved”
David, thanks for the update. How is your book coming? Mine should be coming out in a couple of months.
Steve
I’m tinkering with it.
Use an AI.
Title: Shadows in the Arboretum
In the quiet college town of Madison, Wisconsin, the brutal murders of Dr. Beth Potter, a beloved physician, and her husband, Robin Carre, an esteemed educator, shocked the community. Shadows in the Arboretum unravels the chilling true crime saga of their 2020 execution-style killings in the University of Wisconsin Arboretum.
The book delves into the tangled web of motives, centering on Khari Sanford, the boyfriend of the couple’s adopted daughter, Miriam. Tensions over COVID-19 restrictions and financial greed fueled Sanford’s cold-blooded plan, executed with accomplice Ali’jah Larrue.
Through meticulous research, court testimonies, and interviews, the narrative exposes the betrayal within a family that had shown Sanford kindness. Potter and Carre, found shot in a ditch, were targeted in a calculated act prosecutors called “senseless.” Sanford’s life sentence without parole and Larrue’s guilty plea to felony murder underscore the tragedy’s weight. The book also explores Miriam’s contested inheritance battle, raising questions of complicity and justice.
Shadows in the Arboretum is a gripping exploration of love, resentment, and betrayal, set against the backdrop of a pandemic-stricken world. It captures the heartbreak of a community mourning two generous souls while grappling with the darkness that tore them apart.
There’s a glaring factual error contained in the first few words. Madison hasn’t been a “quiet college town” for decades. Try this instead: “In Madison, Wisconsin, a leading enclave of self-regarding progressive elites , who believe that crime is a social construct and that ‘marginalized groups’ should be held to a different standard than anyone else ….”
I recommend a book titled Mad City: The True Story of the Campus Murders That America Forgot, by Michael Andrew Arntfield, published 2017. A skillful, compelling read.
“Bands of money”
Also curious about the book.
Movie recommendation: “The Order” starring Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult. The Squire will enjoy the epilogue most of all.
Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane, Squire. This sordid episode in Madison’s history brings to mind mayor Satya’s attempt to virtue signal to the electorate by hiring Sanford as an intern the summer before the murders happened. How did that work out? Hindsight being 20/20 of course, I am dumbfounded by the incompetence and arrogance of city government in so many ways. RIP to Dr. Potter and Robin Carre, who deserved much better from their adopted daughter.
The key to this whole sad story can be found in the phrase “The slain couple had taken the young black man into their home….” Progressives’ naive faith that every homicidal thug has a heart of gold bore predictable fruit. I’m surprised the killers weren’t sentenced to a ‘restorative justice’ program.