Attorney General Russell Coleman fights to end delays for Kentucky inmate’s execution

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Attorney General Russell Coleman is announcing an effort to stop delays in the execution of Kentucky’s longest-held death row inmate.

On Wednesday, Coleman’s office says it argued alongside Commonwealth’s Attorney Miranda King to move 67-year-old Karu Gene White’s “latest delay tactic to the active docket.”

The case stems back to 1979, officials say, when White and two juveniles reportedly used a crowbar to beat a blind 75-year-old and two other older adult victims in what was described as a “horrific home invasion” in Breathitt County.

The older victims, 75-year-old Charlie Gross, his wife, 74-year-old Lula Gross, and Lula’s brother, 79-year-old Sam Chaney, were killed inside of a small general store they operated, officials say.

The attack was reportedly so violent “the coroner likened the scene to a slaughterhouse,” Coleman’s office states.

In 1980, officials say a Kentucky jury recommended and a judge ordered three death sentences for White.

Officials say White has lost repeated appeals in state and federal courts. Last year, Coleman’s office says the attorney general won a case to uphold the capitol sentence. The United States Supreme Court then refused to hear White’s appeal, officials say.

As of this year, official say White’s state and federal appeals are exhausted.

In 2004, officials say White asked a circuit court to overturn his death sentences based on his alleged intellectual disability.

According to Coleman’s office, White refused a psychiatric evaluation for nearly a decade, and in 2017, then Attorney General Andy Beshear asked the court to pause the case.

Coleman states he is asking the circuit court to set a schedule for White’s claim.

“Almost 50 years later, the facts of this horrific murder remain as gut-wrenching as ever. This criminal has spent most of his life dodging justice and his lawful sentence. On behalf of the surviving families and all Kentuckians, I say: No more,” said Coleman.

“I was pregnant when this happened. My son is now 47. My mother, who had to bury her parents and uncle, died years ago still waiting for justice. We went to court today to continue her fight for my Granny, Grandpa, and Uncle Sam,” said Mary Lou Herald, the Grosses’ granddaughter. “I’m grateful for the continued efforts of our Attorney General to deliver the justice a judge and jury decided on so long ago.”

The motion is available to read here.