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Thread: Julian Lee Burke Gets LWOP For 2009 VA Murder of James LeRose

  1. #1
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Julian Lee Burke Gets LWOP For 2009 VA Murder of James LeRose

    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

  2. #2
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Killer gets life sentence

    Lerose killer to spend rest of his life in prison.

    By KEITH EPPS
    The Free Lance-Star

    Date published: 2/28/2011

    A man who shot a Stafford County businessman in the back and then robbed him while he died will spend the rest of his life in prison.

    Julian Lee “Buzz” Burke, 64, pleaded guilty to capital murder today in Stafford Circuit Court for killing 66-year-old Jimmy Lerose on Oct. 15, 2009.

    A 19-day jury trial had been scheduled to start on Oct. 17. Burke instead agreed to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole instead of risking the death penalty.

    Lerose’s family and friends watched the guilty plea while wearing light blue ribbons with “Jimmy” on them.

    His wife, Sue Lerose, made an emotional statement in which she described the devastating toll the slaying has had on her family.

    “You are by far the most evil man that I have ever known in my life,” Lerose told Burke. “We will never forgive you...I hope you burn in hell for the rest of eternity.”

    Burke, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder Friday in Fauquier County, said he hopes that one day the Lerose family will change their minds and forgive him.

    “I’m responsible for Jimmy’s death. I’m sorry I put the family through so much sadness,” Burke said in a statement just before Judge Charles Sharp pronounced the sentence.

    Lerose was killed at Second Time Around, a thrift store he owned in the Hartwood area. He previously ran the M&P Market the same area.

    He has been described as a kind and generous man who helped out a lot of people. Among them was Burke, who Lerose had given money to in the past.

    According to the evidence summarized by prosecutor George Elsasser, Burke shot Lerose early that morning with a Remington rifle that he sold to Lerose’s business a few days earlier.

    He had tried to get more money for the gun and other items when he sold them, but was told that he’d have to speak with Lerose.

    Police recovered the gun in the Rappahannock River near the City Dock on Oct. 21, 2009, Elsasser said.

    It was determined that the gun had been stolen during a burglary in southern Stafford shortly before Burke sold it.

    Other property that Burke had brought to the business was found to have been stolen as well, Elsasser said.

    After shooting Lerose in the back, Burke took money from the cash register and from Lerose’s wallet.

    Lerose had arrived at the business at 5:44 a.m. and Burke showed up about nine minutes later.

    Surveillance cameras showed no other vehicles at the business until Lerose’s wife got there shortly after 8 a.m.

    Sue Lerose went to the store after out-of-town relatives informed her that Jimmy Lerose was not answering the phone at the store.

    She found him lying face up on the floor, and his wallet had been thrown on the counter.

    “The sight I saw was something that will be with me for the rest of my life,” Sue Lerose said today.

    “I thank God every day that none of my daughters or grandchildren had to witness it.”

    In a separate case in Fauquier, Burke was convicted of beating 87-year-old George Parks to death with a baseball bat on Nov. 13, 2009, outside a flea market off U.S. 17.

    He had written bad checks to Parks earlier that day, and was seen with the bat minutes before the murder.

    Burke will be sentenced in Fauquier on May 31.

    http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2...ex_html?page=2

  3. #3
    Administrator Michael's Avatar
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    Julian Lee Burke gets life for George Parks murder

    It didn’t even take half-an-hour. During an early morning hearing in Circuit Court Tuesday, Judge Jeffrey W. Parker sentenced Julian Lee Burke to life in prison.

    “We were satisfied with the sentence, given the horrific nature of the crime and the fact that [Burke] was not only known to the victim, but helped him out from time to time,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Jonathan Lynn.

    The Fredericksburg man stood accused of first-degree murder in connection with the death of George Parks outside a Bealeton area flea market on Nov. 13, 2009.

    An apparent disagreement over money that day prompted Burke to lure Parks outside the flea market and attack Parks with an aluminum baseball bat Parks sold to him hours earlier.

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