A jury found a Wichita man guilty of burglarizing homes and financial crimes.

For Immediate Release, August 21, 2024

WICHITA, KAN. – A man accused of using online obituary postings to plan residential burglaries was convicted of all counts by a Sedgwick County jury on Monday. 

Gary Garrett, 50 of Wichita, was charged in three separate cases totaling 27 counts, including three residential burglaries, one attempted residential burglary, one business burglary and multiple counts of theft, forgery and identity theft. Victims reported losing financial documents, guns and electronics in the residential burglaries, some of which occurred while the families were at the funeral services for their deceased family members.

The jury trial for Garrett started on August 12 and concluded with the guilty verdict on August 19. Sentencing is set for 9 a.m. on October 24, 2024, before Judge Bruce Brown.

Investigators from the Wichita Police Department and Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office worked together on the case, and more than 40 witnesses testified during the trial. At the time of Garrett’s arrest in November of last year in the parking lot of an East Wichita Walmart store, Garrett was found to be in possession of a driver’s license belonging to one of the deceased victims. A Wichita Police burglary detective testified at trial that a download of Garrett’s phone showed online searches of obituaries that corresponded to the burglary locations across the city from July to November of 2023. 

Garrett also was convicted of using fake IDs to rent and purchase several vehicles during the same timeframe. One of the vehicles rented by Garrett had a GPS location device that placed the vehicle at the scene of several of the burglaries, according to
testimony in the trial.

District Attorney Marc Bennett
18th Judicial District of Kansas
CONTACT: DAN DILLON, MEDIA COORDINATOR 316-660-3707