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Sentencing Thursday for St. Charles man found guilty of quadruple murder

Richard Emery was found guilty of murdering his girlfriend, Kate Kasten, as well as her two children and mother in 2018.

ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — A judge will decide on Thursday whether a St. Charles man will be sentenced to death for murdering four people in 2018.

Last month, Emery was found guilty of first-degree murder and 11 other charges in the deaths of his girlfriend, Kate Kasten; her two children; and her mother.

Kasten and her family were found shot inside their St. Charles home in December 2018. The two children and their grandmother were dead when police arrived, and Kasten later died at a hospital.

Following the shootings, Emery stabbed a woman during a carjacking and exchanged gunfire with St. Charles police. Officers found Emery wounded at a gas station.

During a trial that began on Sept. 20, Emery and his defense team argued he didn't know why he shot the family but was sorry for doing it. Prosecutors contended he was aware.

St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar said Emery was living at the home with the Kasten family at the time of the incident and called it the "worst example of a domestic violence case."

A jury found Emery guilty of first-degree murder less than two hours after beginning deliberation whether he was guilty of first- or second-degree murder. That same jury recommended the death penalty for Emery.

Emery is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

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