WICHITA, KS (KFSM) - Three people have been arrested for shooting an elderly couple in Kansas and burying their bodies in a shallow grave in Van Buren, Arkansas. Friends and family are now reacting to the shocking news of their deaths.
Sonny and Pauline Carpenter were vendors who traveled to county fairs and festivals across Kansas. The couple sold kids toys, purses, hats and other trinkets at the events.
Two vendors who worked closely with the couple say the carnival business is a very tight-knit community, and that the fair won't be the same without them.
"You know by the foot traffic and the lines that come past your area... that there's a lot of money at the end of the night.", said the couple's friend Shawn Taylor.
Taylor says Sonny Carpenter would always help others before accepting help himself. He says the Carpenters weren't in it for the money.
"So unfortunately, we were extremely surprised this happened, in the back of our minds we thought this could have been us.", said Taylor.
According to friends the couple were often the last ones to pack up and leave for the night.
A relative of the Carpenters told 5NEWS that Sonny was a jokester and that Pauline was kind.
"I think he really liked to connect with people that way. There was no need for these people to kill them.", James Reid, a relative of the couple said.
Kimberly Younger, Rusty Fraiser and Michael Fowler are behind bars for the double homicide.
An affidavit states Fowler admitted to shooting the couple while inside their camper.
Police believe the three suspects were trying to take something from the couple when Fowler shot them. The three suspects then drove over 300 miles to an apartment complex in Van Buren with the Carpenter's camper, where it sat for days before driving their bodies to be buried in the Ozark National Forest.