1990 UM fan
12-01-2016, 02:44 PM
Let's recap this still unsolved case:
On December 1st, 1991, Tommy Burkett was visiting home after the Thanksgiving holiday. Tommy was a junior at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia and his parents lived about twenty miles from the campus. His parents, Tom and Beth Burkett, had been out for much of that afternoon, but returned to the house at 6:10 pm. Inside Tommy’s bedroom, they discovered the unimaginable. Tommy was upright on the sofa in his bedroom and had been shot once through the mouth. A revolver rested in his hands. In the emotion of the moment, Tom picked up the revolver. He was surprised to find its cylinder unlatched. The gun could not have been fired in that condition.
Tommy’s mother, Beth, recalled the horrific scene inside Tommy’s bedroom and said she knelt down by him and felt that his hands were stone cold. From the moment police arrived on the scene that night, they have insisted that Tommy Burkett committed suicide. Tommy’s parents believed their son was murdered. Beth’s suspicions began immediately after fire and rescue left. Police arrived to the scene shortly after 6:20 pm. A uniformed officer entered the house and was in a hurry, which struck Beth as odd because Tommy was already dead. The lead detective went up to Tommy’s room and soon emerged with an old bank deposit slip. On one side of the slip there was a note which said, “I want to be cremated.” Beth was convinced the handwriting was not Tommy's.
To the police, the facts spoke for themselves. Tommy’s death was an open and shut case of suicide. Beth and Tom were certain their son had been murdered not just because of the unlatched gun and suspicious note, but because Tommy's glasses, wallet and driver's license were missing. Two days after Tommy’s death, his parents went to his dorm room to collect his belongings. It was there that they found Tommy's driver's license. According to Tom and Beth, school administrators would not provide any information about the student who had turned it in. For Tommy’s parents, it was another unanswered question to add to a growing list.
Tommy’s parents decided to talk to their neighbors to see if they had noticed anything unusual the day Tommy died. Beth was stunned by what people had seen the afternoon of her son’s death and was told that several neighbors reported seeing Tommy’s car being chased by a larger, darker car. One neighbor saw the cars coming and thought that it was a life or death chase. Another neighbor reported that one of the cars involved in the case at one point drove through someone’s lawn. Tommy’s car was apparently run off the road and he was assaulted. He got away from his attackers and made it back to his parent's house.
A few weeks after Tommy’s death, Beth noticed a spray of small reddish marks on the stairway in their home. She and her husband informed authorities, but no official investigation followed. Tom and Beth hired Paul Kish, a bloodstain expert based in New York. He confirmed that the spots were blood and weren't consistent with someone committing suicide inside a room. Kish also said that some other violent altercation had occurred where blood was shed. A spent bullet was found in the wall behind where Tommy was sitting. It had no blood or tissue on it. Tom and Beth decided to have Tommy’s body exhumed for a second autopsy. The new findings added to their growing belief that Tommy had been murdered. The second autopsy revealed that Tommy had unexplained abrasions, bruising on his right ear and a broken jaw.
To Tommy’s parents, a terrifying picture of his last hours had begun to emerge. Beth resolved to find out if her son had telephoned 911 for help on the day he died. She called the local dispatcher and asked if there was any record of her son making a complaint. The dispatcher informed Beth that Tommy had made two complaints, one in August and the other in October. When Beth asked for the nature of the complaints, the dispatcher changed her story. The dispatcher had originally said that Tommy's name showed up on the computer and so where the times he called and that he made 2 calls, but the messages were deleted. The dispatcher went to get her supervisor to inform Beth about the nature of the calls, and came back and said that she didn't know why Tommy's name was in their computer and that he didn't call 911. Beth said she knew Tommy had made the calls because the police department personnel told her and was angry that the police never responded to Tommy's 911 calls. Beth wondered if the messages he left were innocently removed or deliberately purged. Even more concerning, she wondered why Tommy's pleas for help were ignored.
Tommy’s parents began to reexamine a series of events that preceded their son’s death. It began with a phone call from Tommy around November 12th, less than three weeks before he died. Tommy called home and told his mother that someone had broken into his mailbox and stole his paycheck. He sounded frantic on the phone. According to Beth, Tommy was assaulted by a student a few days after the phone call and was later told by a student at the university that the young man who had Tommy’s driver’s license after he was dead was the same student who had beaten up Tommy. His parents gathered more information. They concluded that Tommy was working as a DEA informant, and that a group of students dealing drugs on campus conspired to kill him. Beth and Tom are convinced that their neighbors saw Tommy being chased by the killers and that he got home in time to call 911 before the killers burst in.
An informant later told Beth and Tom that their son was beaten to death with a baseball bat and that phone books were used to minimize bruising and absorb blood spatters. Beth had noticed that their phone books were missing after Tommy's death and that gripping tape on his baseball bat was also gone. The Drug Enforcement Agency has officially denied any connection to Tommy Burkett. Police in Fairfax County, Virginia still consider his death a suicide. Tom and Beth founded Parents Against Corruption and Cover-Up (PACC) after Tommy's death. Beth died in 2003 and Thomas in 2006, and Tommy's death remains unsolved a quarter of a century later.
On December 1st, 1991, Tommy Burkett was visiting home after the Thanksgiving holiday. Tommy was a junior at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia and his parents lived about twenty miles from the campus. His parents, Tom and Beth Burkett, had been out for much of that afternoon, but returned to the house at 6:10 pm. Inside Tommy’s bedroom, they discovered the unimaginable. Tommy was upright on the sofa in his bedroom and had been shot once through the mouth. A revolver rested in his hands. In the emotion of the moment, Tom picked up the revolver. He was surprised to find its cylinder unlatched. The gun could not have been fired in that condition.
Tommy’s mother, Beth, recalled the horrific scene inside Tommy’s bedroom and said she knelt down by him and felt that his hands were stone cold. From the moment police arrived on the scene that night, they have insisted that Tommy Burkett committed suicide. Tommy’s parents believed their son was murdered. Beth’s suspicions began immediately after fire and rescue left. Police arrived to the scene shortly after 6:20 pm. A uniformed officer entered the house and was in a hurry, which struck Beth as odd because Tommy was already dead. The lead detective went up to Tommy’s room and soon emerged with an old bank deposit slip. On one side of the slip there was a note which said, “I want to be cremated.” Beth was convinced the handwriting was not Tommy's.
To the police, the facts spoke for themselves. Tommy’s death was an open and shut case of suicide. Beth and Tom were certain their son had been murdered not just because of the unlatched gun and suspicious note, but because Tommy's glasses, wallet and driver's license were missing. Two days after Tommy’s death, his parents went to his dorm room to collect his belongings. It was there that they found Tommy's driver's license. According to Tom and Beth, school administrators would not provide any information about the student who had turned it in. For Tommy’s parents, it was another unanswered question to add to a growing list.
Tommy’s parents decided to talk to their neighbors to see if they had noticed anything unusual the day Tommy died. Beth was stunned by what people had seen the afternoon of her son’s death and was told that several neighbors reported seeing Tommy’s car being chased by a larger, darker car. One neighbor saw the cars coming and thought that it was a life or death chase. Another neighbor reported that one of the cars involved in the case at one point drove through someone’s lawn. Tommy’s car was apparently run off the road and he was assaulted. He got away from his attackers and made it back to his parent's house.
A few weeks after Tommy’s death, Beth noticed a spray of small reddish marks on the stairway in their home. She and her husband informed authorities, but no official investigation followed. Tom and Beth hired Paul Kish, a bloodstain expert based in New York. He confirmed that the spots were blood and weren't consistent with someone committing suicide inside a room. Kish also said that some other violent altercation had occurred where blood was shed. A spent bullet was found in the wall behind where Tommy was sitting. It had no blood or tissue on it. Tom and Beth decided to have Tommy’s body exhumed for a second autopsy. The new findings added to their growing belief that Tommy had been murdered. The second autopsy revealed that Tommy had unexplained abrasions, bruising on his right ear and a broken jaw.
To Tommy’s parents, a terrifying picture of his last hours had begun to emerge. Beth resolved to find out if her son had telephoned 911 for help on the day he died. She called the local dispatcher and asked if there was any record of her son making a complaint. The dispatcher informed Beth that Tommy had made two complaints, one in August and the other in October. When Beth asked for the nature of the complaints, the dispatcher changed her story. The dispatcher had originally said that Tommy's name showed up on the computer and so where the times he called and that he made 2 calls, but the messages were deleted. The dispatcher went to get her supervisor to inform Beth about the nature of the calls, and came back and said that she didn't know why Tommy's name was in their computer and that he didn't call 911. Beth said she knew Tommy had made the calls because the police department personnel told her and was angry that the police never responded to Tommy's 911 calls. Beth wondered if the messages he left were innocently removed or deliberately purged. Even more concerning, she wondered why Tommy's pleas for help were ignored.
Tommy’s parents began to reexamine a series of events that preceded their son’s death. It began with a phone call from Tommy around November 12th, less than three weeks before he died. Tommy called home and told his mother that someone had broken into his mailbox and stole his paycheck. He sounded frantic on the phone. According to Beth, Tommy was assaulted by a student a few days after the phone call and was later told by a student at the university that the young man who had Tommy’s driver’s license after he was dead was the same student who had beaten up Tommy. His parents gathered more information. They concluded that Tommy was working as a DEA informant, and that a group of students dealing drugs on campus conspired to kill him. Beth and Tom are convinced that their neighbors saw Tommy being chased by the killers and that he got home in time to call 911 before the killers burst in.
An informant later told Beth and Tom that their son was beaten to death with a baseball bat and that phone books were used to minimize bruising and absorb blood spatters. Beth had noticed that their phone books were missing after Tommy's death and that gripping tape on his baseball bat was also gone. The Drug Enforcement Agency has officially denied any connection to Tommy Burkett. Police in Fairfax County, Virginia still consider his death a suicide. Tom and Beth founded Parents Against Corruption and Cover-Up (PACC) after Tommy's death. Beth died in 2003 and Thomas in 2006, and Tommy's death remains unsolved a quarter of a century later.