LeRose murder trial set for October 2011
A trial for a man accused of killing a popular Hartwood thrift shop owner won't start until nearly a year from now.
Julian Lee "Buzz" Burke, 64, of Stafford County is facing the death penalty in connection with the Oct. 15, 2009, slaying of James LeRose.
LeRose, 66, was robbed and shot to death at his store, Second Time Around at 1183 Warrenton Road in Stafford, early that morning.
In addition to two counts of capital murder, Burke is also charged with eight other offenses, including robbery and armed burglary.
Judge Charles Sharp this week set Burke's trial in Stafford Circuit Court for Oct 17 of next year through Nov. 10, though prosecutors don't think it will take that long.
Burke, a longtime acquaintance of LeRose, also faces a first-degree murder charge in Fauquier County.
He is accused there of beating 87-year-old George W. Parks to death with a baseball bat. That slaying occurred about a month after LeRose's death.
The Fauquier trial is set for three days and is scheduled to start April 13.
Burke was arrested a day after the Parks slaying and has been in custody at the Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center in Winchester ever since.
He was indicted in Stafford in August.
Burke is being represented by attorneys Edward Ungvarsky and Daniel Morrissette of the Capital Public Defenders Office along with attorney Joseph Flood.
Stafford prosecutors George Elsasser, Amy Casey and Lori DiGiosia are seeking the death penalty.
The only possible sentences for a capital murder conviction are death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Stafford has had at least four capital murder convictions in recent years, but none have resulted in the death penalty.
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2...0272010/584461
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