Kahler declined to comment as sheriff’s deputies escorted him in handcuffs from jail to the courthouse. He had been scheduled to appear in court in Columbia, Mo., last week on a domestic assault charge stemming from an altercation with his wife in March that led to the loss of his job as director of Columbia’s Water & Light Department.
A divorce trial for Kahler and his wife, Karen, was scheduled to start Dec. 21, but a settlement hearing was planned for Friday. Court records showed that Kahler complained of financial pressures and the couple had been sparring over their children.
The Kahlers’ daughters, Emily, 18, and Lauren, 16, were killed Saturday, along with their mother. Karen Kahler’s grandmother, Dorothy Wight, was injured.
The couple’s 10-year-old son, Sean, was at Wight’s house south of Burlingame on Saturday but was uninjured.
Dan Pingelton, a Columbia lawyer representing Karen Kahler in the divorce, described James Kahler as controlling.
He said Kahler refused to see his daughters. Emily attended the St. Louis College of Pharmacy and Lauren was an honors student at a Columbia high school.
Pingelton said Kahler set up a visit with his son over the Thanksgiving holiday. “He never was interested in his daughters - only his son,’’ Pingelton said. “And I think that is the reason that little boy is alive today.’’
