Tulsa World: Police arrest Tulsa man charged with first-degree murder

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Police arrest Tulsa man charged with first-degree murder

John Kastner, left, is taken into police custody Friday morning after being arrested on a first-degree murder charge. KELLY HINES/TULSA WORLD

By NICOLE MARSHALL, World Staff Writer
Published: 6/27/2008 9:37 AM
Last Modified: 6/27/2008 8:10 PM

Slide Show: Watch a slide show and listen to audio from the police press conference after the arrest.

Document: Read the police affidavit against John Kastner. Editor's note: Graphic material is included.

Police arrested a Tulsa high school teacher Friday morning in the fatal shooting of his wife with a gun that he purchased one week earlier, according to a police affidavit.

John Kastner, 50, was charged Friday with the first-degree murder of Lori Kastner, 44, early Wednesday at their home

in the 3800 block of South Union Avenue. Police arrested him about 9:15 a.m. at the home of a friend who lives in east Tulsa, Sgt. Mike Huff said.

Homicide detectives said evidence will show that Kastner, a Webster High School teacher and former co-athletic director, recently came under intense pressure as a result of financial promises he made to family members, friends and co-workers, according to the affidavit.

During a search warrant, police found a journal of Kastner’s that contained an entry dated June 22, three days before the homicide.

It stated: “Wow. Intense pressure. She was right. I do put some things off hoping that problems will cure themselves. Unfortunately, time has not slowed, stopped or gone backward. There is no next week.”

Tulsa Public Schools officials said John Kastner had pledged large sums of money to Webster High School.

His pledges included $80,000-$90,000 for the purchase of new athletic equipment, up to $100,000 for drivers education, and $2 million over the course of three years for academics.

TPS Spokeswoman Tami Marler said school officials had approved the donation of $80,000 to $90,000 for athletic equipment, but no equipment had been purchased yet.

Marlar said the last contact Kastner had with TPS employees was Friday.

He spoke that day to a secretary in the district treasurer's office about setting up a gifts and endowments account to donate $75,000 to $100,000 to pay for drivers education at Webster in 2008-09.

It was also the last day he spoke to Webster Principal Phil Garland, Marler said.

John Kastner told police an intruder fatally shot his wife, Lori Kastner, inside the couple’s home and that he was shot in the hand during a struggle.

“We were able to prove that this was most definitely not a home invasion situation,” Huff said.

Detectives determined that John Kastner was in significant credit card debt, but was telling his family and school district officials that he had access to millions of dollars, according to the affidavit.

Police say Kastner told his family that he was a member of the Israeli Special Forces and that he had access to millions of dollars due to a charitable corporation named ``713 corporation’’ associated with the Israeli military. Kastner also led his family to believe that they were leaving Wednesday for a trip to Israel by private plane chartered by the corporation. Police determined that there was no such flight scheduled for that date and time.

Police say that Kastner made promises to the school administration to donate in excess of $200,000 and that he was going to inherit millions of dollars from an invention his father had created for printing presses. He also promised financial backing to athletic officials to hire additional coaches and buy new football equipment and told officials the money would be available after July 1, 2008, the records states.

Kastner had scheduled a meeting on June 24, the day before the murder, to finalize contracts involving the money he was going to provide for additional coaches. He cancelled the meeting, saying he was sick, but said he would met with them the following morning to finalize the contracts.

Due to his wife’s homicide, the meeting never took place.

Police said that when they responded to the homicide scene Wednesday morning, they found Kastner, with a wound to his left hand and his wife dead in her bed. She had suffered multiple gunshots to the head.

Kastner told police that the alleged intruder took a clear bag containing $5,000 from the dining room table as well as the family’s passports, a gold ring and a watch that was inside the bag. But they also said that he gave conflicting statements as to the alleged intruder’s description and what transpired during the confrontation.

The gun believed to have been used in the killing, a .22 caliber miniature revolver, was found in the living room.

A witness told police that Kastner test fired his newly purchased gun about 24 hours before his wife’s murder, leading police to believe that he was not only firing the weapon for function but also trying to determine whether other people could hear the weapon, according to the affidavit.

Two children, ages 9 and 15, were in the home when the shootings occurred but were not injured.

Detectives believe that Kastner staged the murder scene to make it appear that his wife was shot by an intruder by shooting himself in the hand and placing the passports on the sidewalk leading up the front door, the affidavit states.

Kastner was treated for a wound to his hand and released from the hospital Wednesday. He was still wearing bandages on his hand when police arrested him and brought him to the Detective Division on Friday morning.

Lori Kastner, a former Oklahoma Supreme Court attorney, left her job in May to take a job with the ``713 Corporation,’’ the affidavit states.

Kastner recently voluntarily resigned as the school’s co-athletic director, a district spokeswoman said Wednesday, but other coaches would not comment about why he resigned.

World staff writers Kelly Hines and Andrea Eger contributed to this story. By NICOLE MARSHALL, World Staff Writer

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	Report Comment pgcfriend, (6/27/2008 10:03:29 AM) Sad to say Mom and I guessed right. We were convinced that he would be charged with first degree murder.
	Report Comment emotional_sting, (6/27/2008 10:04:48 AM) Move him into the same cellblock as Marquis Bullock and they can discuss all the different ways to commit murder.
	Report Comment ibelieve, (6/27/2008 10:06:16 AM) Who's suprised? This lady gets shot in the head several times and the coach that looks like a pro wrestler gets a wound to his hand.
	Report Comment Ignatz, Broken Bow (6/27/2008 10:06:52 AM) Sorry to say it too, but the made-up invasion story was just ridiculous. Hard to believe there were so many people commenting yesterday who were dead certain this character was pure at heart. Hey people, if you murder a sleeping woman who happens to be the mother of your children a lie about how it happened is not much of a stretch.
	Report Comment Crock, (6/27/2008 10:15:32 AM) Silver Shows you how smart some teachers are.Home school your kids.Look at all the teachers that commit crimes. All the teachers committing crimes work for public schools not private schools.
	Report Comment vj, (6/27/2008 10:17:59 AM) I was just about to comment yesterday that it was odd that the woman got shot "several" times in the head, but the man only sustained a hand wound. I refrained because I could hear all the friends of the family commenting about how insensitive I was to the family at this time of loss.
	Report Comment LoveMyTTown, Tulsa (6/27/2008 10:24:37 AM) My prayers go out to the children whose lives are completely turned up side down and will never be the same again.
	Report Comment Mar, (6/27/2008 10:25:01 AM) I am so surprised! Though I did think the invasion story seemed a bit odd and that his wife would get killed and he only got a hand wound. But I had thought the invader and Kastner were struggling for the gun and perhaps his wife was trying to help her husband and got in the line of fire. I bet the people that all showed up at Webster High School for a vigil feel kind of like suckers now. You just never know. I'm curious why Mrs. Kastner quit her job in May and then he quit as the school's co-athletic director recently. My heart goes out to the children of Mr. & Mrs. Kastner.
	Report Comment RockBoston, (6/27/2008 10:32:48 AM) I wished this wasn't the case yesterday. I wanted to respect the family, but this just didn't make sense....I really hope they post his reasoning soon, I really want to know what would make a guy that was loved by the cmmunity to do such a thing.
	Report Comment tbgalileo, (6/27/2008 10:32:57 AM) Crock, a little off-topic, but aren't you forgeting the sexual abuse cases that have come from private schools?
	Report Comment cdette, (6/27/2008 10:34:54 AM) I too was chided by my posted with suspicions about the whole story on the first day. I was then amazed how naive people are, with their comments, how about how they knew him , he was a great coach, etc, etc. How many coaches and teachers have we seen in the news lately for committing crimes, not that is any reflection on that profession by any means. But see, it can happen to that "nice" neighbor next door. I know, innocent until proven guilty, but my how fast TPD worked to get him arrested and even before the funeral.
	Report Comment sexysenior2009, tulsa (6/27/2008 10:42:32 AM) FIRST OF ALL I AM NOT NAIVE COACHES ARE JUST THE SAME THERE IS NO WAY IT WAS HIM HE WAS MY COACH AND MY TEACHER HE IS A HUMAN BEING
	Report Comment sexysenior2009, tulsa (6/27/2008 10:43:54 AM) ITS NOT JUST TEACHERS AND COACHES
	Report Comment Ariana, Tulsa (6/27/2008 10:45:45 AM) I am really surprised. I am interested to see how this all turns out. He really seemed like a smart guy, I can't imagine how he could have rationalized something like this. I know that he was a really good teacher, and I am sad to see something like this happen. I can't imagine what life is going to be like for their kids. That is horrible, and then to try to blame the "intruder" on the older daughters friend... that is horrible. I hope these kids make it out ok, this is a horrible, traumatic event that should have never happened. What has made divorce such a horrible thing, that murder seems like a good option?
	Report Comment tbgalileo, (6/27/2008 10:51:46 AM) sexysenior, even a good teacher and coach can be a killer.. and every murderer ever convicted was also a human being. There is no way that the police would have arrested him this fast unless they have serious evidence against him... I smell a quick conviction on this one.
	Report Comment LoveTulsa, (6/27/2008 10:53:57 AM) Yeah, gotta say I saw that one coming.
	Report Comment spasticnapjerk, Tulsa (6/27/2008 10:54:47 AM) My apologies to the family. What happened to all of yesterday's gun rights arguments about this? As a gun rights advocate sees it: See, this just proves that if you take away our right to bear arms then this guy won't be able to protect his family from intruders. What? Oh...wait...there was no home invasion? Now you're trying to tell me that if there was no gun in the house then this lady wouldn't have been shot? OK, forget I made that particular argument. What I meant to say was this guy's wife should have also kept a revolver in her nightstand so that she could defend herself from her husband, who did a revolver in his nightstand. In fact, everyone should be armed so that we may protect ourselves from everyone else, who are, of course, armed for the very same reason.
	Report Comment RockBoston, (6/27/2008 10:55:20 AM) sexysenior Where you his student?
	Report Comment sexysenior2009, tulsa (6/27/2008 10:57:25 AM) YES
	Report Comment Ms. R, Tulsa (6/27/2008 10:58:22 AM) HE DID NOT DO IT! THE TULSA WORLD JUST STATED EARLIER THIS MORNING THAT COACH K HAD BEEN FINGER PRINTED AND WAS NO LONGER A SUSPECT. NOW THEY ARREST HIM?!?! I KNOW COACH K, AND LOVE HIM DEARLY. HE IS NOT THE PERSON YOU PEOPLE SAY HE IS.... BY THE WAY WHAT HAPPENED TOO THE ADOPTED DAUGHTER, DID THEY QUESTION HER OR ANY OF HER FRIENDS?
	Report Comment redcat, (6/27/2008 11:00:41 AM) My guess is that his wife found something out and was going to divorce him. He could not stand that the information would become public knowledge and he thought he could solve his problem this way.
	Report Comment RockBoston, (6/27/2008 11:01:12 AM) sexysenior I hope that he isn't the man they want in this case for your sake as well as his childrens sake. Police don't make an arrest this quick unless they have something to go on. It dosen't look good for him. When this is over you will probally be going back to school without this teacher. Even if he gets off, his reputation will be harmed forever.
	Report Comment RockBoston, (6/27/2008 11:07:16 AM) BTW sexysenior protect yourself from predators with a screen name that dosen't say sexy senior...Do your parnets know thats your screen name?
	Report Comment sexysenior2009, tulsa (6/27/2008 11:08:57 AM) I hope they go back and look at things his children need him and we need him his life is messed up everyone just needs to pray for him and his family and friends
	Report Comment sexysenior2009, tulsa (6/27/2008 11:09:27 AM) yes they do

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