University of Wisconsin-Madison Investigators said the double homicide of a Wisconsin doctor and her husband was targeted and not a random act.
Dr. Beth Potter, a respected 52-year-old University of Wisconsin physician and her husband, 57-year-old educational consultant Robin Carre, were found dead in a ditch by a passing jogger on Tuesday morning, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department (UWPD) said in a statement.
A suspect, 18-year-old Khari Sanford, has been arrested and booked into the Dane County Jail on two counts of party to the crime of first-degree intentional homicide, the department said on Friday. Police also said Sanford is known to the victims’ family.
Emergency responders pronounced Carre dead at the scene while Potter was transported to a nearby hospital where she later died, according to police.
The Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office said the couple died from “homicidal related trauma.”
“Through our police investigation, we reached a point where we were confident in that this was not random and this couple was targeted,” UWPD spokesman Marc Lovicott said in an email to The Associated Press.
“Beyond that, I can’t provide any further details as this is a very active police investigation.”
Lovicott told CBS that this is UWPD’s first homicide investigation since 1982. Veteran investigators at the department said they believe it is the only double homicide investigation they have worked on in modern history, Lovicott added.
Highly Respected Medical Educator
Potter worked at a medical center that is run by the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UWM) of Family Medicine and Community Health and Access Community Health Centers, according to a public statement by UWM.
She grew up in Illinois and studied French, Spanish, and literature at Knox College. In 1996, she began her residency training in family medicine at the UWM and joined the faculty in 1999.
UWM said Potter approached her work of family medicine with tremendous compassion and earned the respect of patients and colleagues alike.
“Words cannot express our grief,” said William Schwab, professor and interim chair at the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, in the statement. “In addition to being a wonderful family physician and highly respected teacher, Beth was a dedicated leader at the Wingra clinic and in our health system. She was wise, warm, and always supportive. There are so many in our department whose lives have been touched by Beth; her loss will weigh heavily within us.”
Carre worked as an independent educational consultant, according to information from his website. Carre offered consulting services to students and their families for the college search and application process. He was also a former coaching director at Regent Soccer Club, a youth soccer organization in Madison.
The couple is survived by three children in their teens and twenties, The Associated Press reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
