FRANKFORT, Ky. (Oct. 21, 2026) – Attorney General Russell Coleman announced today a new effort to stop delays in the execution of Kentucky’s longest-held death row inmate, Karu Gene White. On Wednesday, the Office, alongside Commonwealth’s Attorney Miranda King, argued in Powell County Circuit Court to move White’s latest delay tactic to the active docket.
In 1979, White and two juveniles used a crowbar to beat a blind seventy-five-year-old, and two other seniors in what was described as a “horrific home invasion” in Breathitt County. The elderly Kentuckians, Charlie Gross, 75, his wife Lula Gross, 74, and Lula’s brother, Sam Chaney, 79, were killed inside the small general store they operated. The attack was so violent “the coroner likened the scene to a slaughterhouse.”
In 1980, a Kentucky jury recommended, and a judge ordered, three death sentences to White.
Now 67, he has lost repeated appeals in state and federal courts. Last year, Attorney General Russell Coleman won a case before U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to uphold the capital sentence. The United States Supreme Court then refused to hear White’s appeal. As of this year, White’s state and federal appeals are finally exhausted.
In 2004 – more than 20 years ago -- White asked the circuit court to overturn his death sentences based on his alleged intellectual disability. The question has sat dormant for years, including because White simply refused a psychiatric evaluation for nearly a decade. In 2017, then-Attorney General Andy Beshear joined with White to ask the court to pause the case.
Attorney General Coleman is asking the circuit court to set a schedule for White’s claim so the matter can be resolved, and the surviving families can finally get the justice they were promised decades ago.
“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 Attorney General 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.”
Download White’s photo.
The Attorney General’s Director of Capital Litigation Christopher Henry presented the Commonwealth’s case in circuit court alongside Miranda King, Commonwealth’s Attorney for Breathitt, Powell and Wolfe counties. Kentucky’s Solicitor General Matthew Kuhn filed the motion on behalf of the Commonwealth and was assisted by Principal Deputy Solicitor General Jack Heyburn and Director of Capital Litigation Christopher Henry.
Read the motion here.