Federal court upholds sentence for longest-serving death row inmate in Kentucky

Taylor Six, Lexington Herald-Leader on Mar 17, 2025

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky’s longest-held death row inmate will remain there after a court upheld his sentence of capital punishment from more than 40 years ago.

Karu Gene White’s most recent appeal to overturn his sentence was rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit on Friday, according to Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman.

White has been on death row since 1980 for a triple homicide and has subsequently lost repeated appeals in both state and federal courts.

His most recent application for relief centered around claims he had inadequate trial counsel who “failed to investigate and present mitigating evidence” on his behalf.

“This violent criminal committed these horrific murders more than 40 years ago, and he’s spent the decades since attempting to dodge the justice lawfully delivered by a jury,” Coleman said in a Monday press release. “This ruling upholds the jury’s verdict, gives relief to the victims’ families and clears the way for long-overdue justice.”

In 1979, White, then 20, and two juvenile accomplices used a crow bar to beat a blind 75-year-old and two other seniors while robbing them in Breathitt County.

Charlie Gross, 75, his wife, Lula Gross, 74, and Lula’s brother, Sam Chaney, 79, were killed inside the small general store they operated.

Mary Lou Herald, the Grosses’ granddaughter said she was grateful to those who upheld the decision to keep White on death row.

“This brutal killer stole my grandparents. Then he took 40 years of my life as he tried to escape justice,” Herald said in a press release.“After all this time, we are hopeful the sentence will be carried out and justice will finally be done”

In the 86-page opinion from the court of appeals, the court affirmed the death sentence two-to-one.

“After a horrific life that culminated in his committing horrific murder, Karu Gene White had his day in court decades ago,” the opinion reads. “A jury of his peers found him guilty of murder. He was sentenced to death. Despite years of delay, the truth persists: neither the law nor justice stand in the way of his sentence.”

In the 2010, Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd halted the death penalty when he issued an injunction over a range of concerns about executions, including the execution of intellectually disabled people.

Kentucky has not executed anyone since that ruling. There are currently 25 people on death row in the commonwealth.

In March 2024, Coleman filed a motion with the Franklin Circuit Court to end a nearly 15-year ban on the imposition of the death penalty in Kentucky. His filing followed the publication of amended regulations from Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration bringing the state into full compliance with a 2010 court ruling, according to Coleman.

In October, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously that it was not in a position at that time to interfere in the legal back-and-forth between Coleman and Shepherd’s court.

Coleman asked the Franklin Circuit Court in December to rule on his motion to lift the death penalty ban.

In 2008, Marco Allen Chapman was the last person to be executed in Kentucky.

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