UNBIASED - TRUE CRIME: The Story and Execution of Kosoul Chanthakoummane

Episode Date: August 23, 2022

Intro (0:25)The Crime (1:37)The Evidence and the Guilt Phase (11:18)The Sentencing Phase (14:02)Kosoul's Execution (16:18)Texas's Lethal Injection Protocol (19:46)Links to sources can be found on www.jordanismylawyer.com on the episode description page.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Please gamble responsibly. Gambling problem? For free assistance, call the Connex Ontario helpline at 1-866-531-2600. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. You are listening to the Jordan is My Law podcast. This is your host Jordan and I give

you the legal analysis you've been waiting for. Here's the deal. I don't care about your political views, but I do ask that you listen to the facts, have an open mind and think for yourselves. Deal? Oh, and one last thing. I'm not actually a lawyer. Welcome back to the Jordan is my lawyer podcast. It's true crime Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday, depending on when you're listening to this. And today we're talking about Kasul Chantakumar. With a name like that, you better believe I will only be using his first name throughout this episode. Kasul was convicted of murdering Sarah Walker in McKinney, Texas on July 8th, 2006. Despite some people having doubt that Kasul was guilty, Kasul was executed this past Wednesday, August 17th, at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. Throughout this episode, we're going to

discuss the crime, the evidence, the doubt, and the execution. But before we get into it, let me just give you a quick reminder to please leave my podcast a five-star review if you enjoy this episode. As I always say, it helps my show more than you know, especially in these early stages. With that, let's jump right in. On Saturday, July 8th, 2006, Texas real estate agent Sarah Walker started her day as usual. Sarah was a successful, top-producing real estate agent in the area, and like most real estate agents, worked weekends. On this particular Saturday, Sarah's ex-husband, Randy Tate, stopped at Sarah's house that morning to pick up their son so Sarah could head off to work. Later that morning, Sarah went to a nearby Bank of

America in her town of Frisco, Texas, and then set up at the model home that she would be working at that day in the Craig Ranch subdivision in McKinney, Texas. Around 12.30 p.m., Sarah called her cousin Jessica. Jessica said Sarah seemed to be in a really good mood and that they only talked for about 15 minutes before Sarah had to go because someone walked in to see the model home. But Sarah told Jessica she would call her back. So we're at about 12 45 p.m. at this point when Sarah says she has to go. And we quickly need to talk about another storyline that's developing during this same time frame. So that morning, another real estate agent, Mamie Sharpless, received a phone call at around 9 40 a.m. from a man who identified

himself as Chan Lee. The man told Mamie that he found her phone number in a Keller Williams advertisement and that he wanted to look at a townhouse she had listed in the Craig Ranch subdivision. The man said he had just moved from North Carolina to the Dallas area and that he graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and now worked for Texas Instruments. The man said he was calling from a phone booth at a 7-Eleven and that he was staying in room 245 at the in-town suites. When Mammy asked the man for a contact number, he said he didn't have a cell phone, and then the phone cut off. Mammy then calls two different in-town suites to try to reach the man. One of the in-town suites didn't have a room 245,

and the other one did, but it just had a recording on it. Now, it's 2006, so most people had cell phones at this point. So there's your first red flag. Why doesn't this man have a cell phone? So Mammy shows up to the townhouse that she was showing that day between 1130 and noon. And keep in mind, this townhouse is right down the street from the model home where Sarah Walker was working that day. So Mammy shows up, she's planning to show this man the townhouse, and she sat in her car waiting for him to show up. She saw a man drive by in a white Ford Mustang and park across the street from a model home down the street, the one that Sarah was working at. Mammy

approaches the car thinking it might be Chan Lee and asks him if he's Chan Lee. He says at. Mammy approaches the car, thinking it might be Chan Lee, and asks him if he's Chan Lee. He says no. Mammy described the man as a muscular man of Asian descent, about 5'4 or 5'5, with a buzz cut. So, Mammy goes into the townhouse to show it to another potential buyer that she was meeting that day, and she brought her husband along with her. Smart move, considering the weird phone call from the man at the payphone. Mammy's husband testified that while Mammy was showing the other potential buyer around the house, he looked out the window and saw Sarah arrive in the neighborhood and enter the model home. Okay, so keep in mind the last anyone heard

from Sarah was about 1245, when she got off the phone with her cousin because someone walked into the model home. At about 1.10pm, so 25 minutes later, a couple shows up to see the model home, and when they went inside, they said it looked like it had been ransacked. The husband said he saw a large pool of blood in the dining room where the sales desk was located. He followed the trail of blood into the kitchen, where he saw Sarah lying face up on the floor. The couple called 911 and went back outside to flag down a car for help. So we know that this guy arrived in his Ford Mustang sometime between 11 30 and 12. We know that at some point after this, Sarah gets to the model home and we know she's found dead at about 1 10 p.m. When Texas Ranger A.P. Davidson arrived at the model home a short while after the couple had called the police,

he noticed signs of a struggle in the dining room. The desk was crooked, the desk chair was out of place, a plant stand was knocked over, and a potted plant was on the floor. A pair of woman's shoes, a broken hair clip, and a broken earring were also on the floor. Sarah's body appeared to have multiple stab wounds, and the detective said it looked like she had been dragged by her feet from the dining room to the kitchen because the long skirt she was wearing was rolled up to her waist. And I think rolled up is the key word here because if whoever had killed her had moved the skirt himself, it wouldn't necessarily be rolled, I don't think, as much as like scrunched maybe.

But nonetheless, I think it's safe to assume either someone pulled her skirt up or she was dragged. McKinney police officer Pete Coppin discovered blood on the plant stand, on the ceramic tile in the entryway, on the wall next to the edge of the window beside the front door, and on the pull cord for the window blinds. Coppin also spotted a bloody fingerprint on the deadbolt lock on the front door of the model home, but he later testified that this fingerprint wasn't sufficient for a positive identification of a suspect. Earlier that morning, when Sarah's ex-husband picked up their son, Sarah showed him her new Rolex that she had just bought for herself the day before. The surveillance video from Bank of America later

that morning shows Sarah with the Rolex still on. But when Sarah's body was discovered inside the house, the Rolex was gone, along with a ring that she had been wearing that day. Sarah's autopsy revealed that Sarah had sustained several blunt force injuries to her head, and that her injuries were consistent with being struck in the face and head with a plant stand in the model home. Sarah had multiple bruises on her face and her head, she had a broken nose, and fractured teeth. She suffered a total of 33 stab wounds and had a bite mark on the back of her neck, which the medical examiner later testified and said that this bite mark was inflicted at or near her death. Remember that man that pulled up in his white Mustang? Well, that man is Kasul. Kasul's DNA profile was consistent with the DNA obtained from Sarah's fingernails,

the window-blind pull cords, the deadbolt lock and faceplate on the door, and some swabs taken from the living room, kitchen, and entryway. Not only was the blood a match, but at trial, a forensic dentist testified that Casull was the source of the bite mark on Sarah's neck. Bite mark evidence, by the way, I just have to throw this in there, has since been discredited. In 2016, Texas actually became the first state to call for banning bite mark analysis in criminal cases. But nonetheless, after police received these DNA results, Kasul was arrested at his apartment on September 5th, 2006. As it turns out, when he was arrested, they were able to see that Kasul owned a white Ford Mustang, the same one

that had pulled up to the front of the model home. And following his arrest, police spoke to Kasul's sister, who said that Kasul attended school in North Carolina and that he had moved from Charlotte to Dallas in February 2006. And if you remember, the man that referred to himself as Chan Lee that called Mammy from the payphone said he had just moved from North Carolina to Dallas and that he attended school at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. So, bit ironic there. After obtaining Kasul's bank records, it was discovered that Kasul's bank account was overdrawn by $82.27 on the day before the murder, which prosecutors say speaks to his motive. And at the time of Sarah's murder, Kasul was on parole after serving time in

North Carolina for aggravated kidnapping and robbery. Once Kasul was arrested, he was taken to the McKinney Police Department for questioning, and he was interviewed by Officer Randall Norton. Kasul first denied ever being in McKinney in his white Mustang. on the door, but when no one answered, he took three or four steps inside and asked if anyone was home, but no one was there. After that, he says he spoke to a man and a woman as he left. Then, later, his story changes again, and he admitted that he did actually go inside to get a drink of water from the kitchen sink, but that he didn't know how to use the faucet because hot water came out, so he left. He acknowledged that he had old cuts on his hands from work, so it's possible that he could have been bleeding when he was inside of the model home. So now let's look at the evidence and why some people doubt that Kasul is the killer. On one hand, we have blood in various

locations of the house that matches Kasul's DNA profile. We also have the fact that a man matching his description driving a white Ford Mustang was at the model home shortly before Sarah was found dead. We have the bite mark, which has since been discredited. We have Mammy, the other realtor, testify that Kasul is the man she saw in the white Ford Mustang that day. We know that Kasul just moved from North Carolina to Dallas, like the man said on the payphone. We have the fact that Kasul was on parole at the time of Sarah's murder for kidnapping and robbery. We have the fact that Kasul's story changed multiple times over the course of being questioned. And finally, we have the fact that at trial, another real estate agent testified that the day before

Sarah's murder, Kasul came to her house that she was showing, asked to use the phone saying his car broke down, and refused to leave when she asked him to, so she called the cops. Suspicious. On the other hand though, during trial, two witnesses are presented that said they saw Kasul near the murder scene, but were only able to testify to that after being hypnotized by officers. We also have the fact that, according to timestamps, Mammy saw the man pull up in a white Ford Mustang and walk towards the house around 1130.12, but Sarah was on the phone with her cousin until about 1245. So the timing doesn't really add up there. Now it's possible he went into the house, left like he said he did, and then came back

later, but that we don't really know. Really, the main source of doubt for people that do doubt his guilt is unreliable evidence. They're not convinced that the evidence found that matches Kasul's DNA is completely accurate. According to Kasul's sister, she thinks the McKinney police were just under pressure to pin someone down for this crime, so they pinned Kasul without actually looking into the evidence. But despite all of that doubt, a jury convicted Cusul of intentionally killing Sarah with a deadly weapon while in the course of committing a robbery. During trials, there are two phases. You have the guilt phase and then the sentencing phase, or the punishment phase. Obviously, you only make it to the sentencing phase if you're found guilty, which Kasul was. This is basically a whole other trial. And if the state is seeking the death

penalty, which they were in Kasul's case, the state has to convince the jury that the death penalty is warranted, rather than a life in prison without the possibility of parole sentence. So, during Casull's sentencing trial, the jury learned all about Casull's early life, including a conviction for attacking a friend, which caused six fractured ribs and a concussion. Shortly after that, Kasul attacked another person, leaving the victim with a fractured arm. The jury also learned that Kasul was a member of a gang associated with the Crips, and that while on furlough from a juvenile detention facility, Kasul and his two friends broke into a home, robbed the owners at gunpoint, restrained them using an electrical cord, and then stole their

car. Following his arrest for this robbery, he pled guilty and was sentenced to 51 to 71 months in prison. And that is when he got out, he was on parole, and he moved to Texas. So the prosecutors are showing this pattern of behavior to illustrate that, you know, this man doesn't belong as a member in society because he'll do it again and again and again. And each time the crime gets worse. The defense, though, presented testimony from various corrections officers from North Carolina. They also presented testimony from a case manager and a clinical psychologist that Kasul never caused any problems while he was incarcerated. He was humble, quiet, and polite. He never had any disciplinary issues, and none of these individuals ever considered Kasul to be dangerous during the time that they knew him.

But nonetheless, despite this testimony from the defense's witnesses, the jury sentenced him to death. And despite many appeals, Kasul's conviction and sentence were affirmed. Kasul was originally scheduled for execution on November 10, 2021. But that execution was delayed. Delays are pretty normal these days, and they can actually happen for a variety of reasons, but in this case, Kasul had claimed that Texas was violating his religious freedoms by not allowing his spiritual advisor to pray aloud and place a hand on his body at the time of his death. But in March of this year,

the Supreme Court settled the debate. In an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court said that a death row prisoner has the right to have his spiritual advisor touch and audibly pray over him or her as he or she is put to death. This decision was actually the first time the Supreme Court issued a full opinion on the role clergy can play in executions. In writing for the majority, Chief Justice Roberts wrote, quote, there is a rich history of clerical prayer at the time of the prisoner's execution, dating back well before the founding of our nation. We do not see how letting the spiritual advisor stand slightly closer, reach out his arm, and touch a part of the prisoner's body well away from the site of any IV line would meaningfully increase risk. Now obviously this logic applies to lethal

injection executions. The situation becomes a bit different if the inmate is strapped to an electric chair or sitting in a gas chamber, then obviously the spiritual advisor cannot be placing his hands on the inmate for the safety and well-being of the advisor. So with this decision being made, Kasul's execution could now go forward. It was on hold until the Supreme Court rendered a decision, but once this decision was rendered, Kasul's execution was rescheduled for August 17, 2022. The execution took place at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. Kasul received a lethal injection and was pronounced dead at 6.33 p.m. Kasul made a brief statement while strapped to the gurney. He thanked Jesus Christ, ministers with the Texas prison system, and all of the people in his life that aided him in his journey.

He prayed that his death would bring peace to the family of Sarah Walker. And as the IV lines started to push the five grams of pentobarbital through Kasul's veins, he mouthed to his mom through the window, Mom, I love you. He took four breaths, gasped slightly, and was pronounced dead 15 minutes later. And yes, his spiritual advisor was present. Just before the execution took place, a Buddhist monk placed his right hand on Kasul's chest and read him a passage. Sarah Walker's family did not attend the execution. Sarah's dad passed away last year, but actually told the Times Union in 2013 during an interview that he was opposed to Kasul's execution and had forgiven him for killing his

daughter. And as I mentioned in my first true crime episode, which I covered a separate execution, I mentioned that this is not abnormal for victims' families to not necessarily be in support of the execution because they know that the execution isn't going to bring their family member back. So this isn't bizarre and his feelings are actually pretty normal so let's talk a little bit about texas's lethal injection because it varies by state um so texas's lethal injection is one single drug pentobarbital if you remember in the last execution episode i covered an execution in alabama the one i was just talking about, and I mentioned that Alabama uses three drugs in its lethal injection, but that the drugs vary from state to state. Some states

use one drug, some states use two, three, the most is four. There's one state that uses four. So prior to 2012, Texas also used a three-drug cocktail, which is the nickname for lethal injection protocol that consists of three drugs. But they changed their protocol in 2012, and now it's just one lethal dose of pentobarbital. It's a 100 milliliter solution containing five grams of pentobarbital. So the exact procedure in Texas is as follows. First, the IV line gets inserted into a vein by a medically trained individual. Then, the medically trained individual starts a normal saline solution flow at a slow rate through one of the lines. A second line is then started as a precaution and is only used if a potential problem is identified with the

primary line. The lines are observed by the CID director or designee, the Huntsville unit warden or designee, and the medically trained individual to ensure the rate of flow is uninterrupted. After the normal salient solution IV has been started and is running properly. That is when the inmate's approved spiritual advisor is escorted into the execution chamber by an agency representative to observe the inmate's execution. Then witnesses to the execution are escorted into the witness rooms. Last execution episode, I discussed how witnesses are typically the family of the inmate, family of the victim, and the press. The CID director or designee gives the order to start the execution, and then the warden allows the inmate to make a last statement. After the statement, the warden then instructs the drug team

to administer the drug. At this point, the saline solution is discontinued and the lethal dose of pentobarbital is started. Once the entire syringe of the pentobarbital solution has been injected, the line is flushed with the normal saline solution. If the inmate appears to still be alive, the CID director instructs the drug team to administer an additional 5 grams of pentobarbitrol, followed by a normal saline flush. Once the inmate appears to be dead, or after the second dose of pentobarbitrol, the warden will send the physician into the execution chamber to examine the inmate. That is when the physician will pronounce the inmate dead and designate an official time of death. Once the inmate is pronounced dead,

the spiritual advisor is escorted from the execution chamber and the witnesses are escorted from the witness rooms. So here, if after that first administration of the five grams of pentobarbitrol, the inmate appears to be lifeless, then the physician will be sent in. But if after that five grams, that initial five grams of pentobarbital, there appears to be signs of life, then they'll administer another five grams and then the physician will go in. Once the spiritual advisor is gone and the witnesses are gone, the inmate's body is immediately removed from the chamber and transported to a funeral home. And the arrangements for the inmate's body is immediately removed from the chamber and transported to a funeral home. And the arrangements for the inmate's body are determined prior to the execution. So the parties

already know what will happen to the body and that whole process will already be set in stone prior to execution day. So there's a little added lesson about Texas's lethal injection protocol. I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please remember to leave me a five-star review on whichever platform you listen. It would mean the world to me and it really helps support my show. As always, I have the supporting documents for you guys for this episode linked on my website, jordanismylawyer.com.

You can find them on the episode description page for this particular episode. And don't forget to listen to yesterday's episode if you haven't already, which is an unbiased, impartial recap of the current affairs in the law for the week of August 15th. I focus a lot on the law in that episode, so it's a really, really good one. And with that, I will talk to you soon.