Bio 

David Gregory Ludwig was born on April 28, 1987. He grew up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in a family connected to a conservative Christian homeschooling community. He met Kara Beth Borden through homeschool-related circles. Kara was 14 years old, while Ludwig was 18.

By 2005, Ludwig and Kara were in a relationship that her parents did not approve of because of their age difference and the secrecy surrounding it. Prosecutors later said the Bordens confronted Ludwig after learning that he and Kara had been out all night together.

Ludwig was familiar with firearms. After the murders, investigators searched the Ludwig family home and recovered numerous firearms and ammunition. Police later identified a .40-caliber Glock pistol recovered in Indiana as the murder weapon.

Murder Story

The murders happened on November 13, 2005, at the Borden family home near Lititz, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Michael and Cathryn Borden confronted David Ludwig after discovering that he and their 14-year-old daughter, Kara Beth Borden, had been out all night.

During or after the confrontation, Ludwig used his father’s .40-caliber pistol to shoot Michael Borden in the back of the head as Michael was going down the hallway. Ludwig then shot Cathryn Borden in the head from several feet away as she was getting out of a chair. Kara’s younger sister witnessed at least part of the violence.

After the shootings, Ludwig left the home with Kara. Authorities first treated her as a possible kidnapping victim and issued an Amber Alert. Investigators later concluded that Kara left with him voluntarily after the shootings, and the kidnapping charge was dropped. Prosecutors also stated that Kara did not plan or take part in the murders.

Ludwig and Kara fled west in his parents’ Volkswagen Jetta. On November 14, 2005, police spotted them in Indiana. Ludwig led officers on a high-speed chase before crashing the car into a tree in Belleville, Indiana. Both were taken into custody, and Kara was unharmed.

Ludwig later waived extradition and was returned to Pennsylvania. Prosecutors initially planned to seek the death penalty. On June 14, 2006, Ludwig accepted a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, statutory sexual assault, reckless endangerment, and a firearms offense. The plea spared him a possible death sentence.

Judge David L. Ashworth sentenced Ludwig to two consecutive life sentences without parole, plus an additional 9½ to 19 years for the other offenses. The plea agreement also barred Ludwig from speaking publicly about the case or profiting from it.

In 2017, Ludwig tried to obtain sentencing relief by arguing that he deserved consideration similar to juvenile offenders, but the court rejected the request because he was 18½ years old at the time of the murders and had filed too late. As of the latest verified public information, he remains imprisoned under two consecutive life-without-parole sentences.