Replies

Just want to add a few things here. I'm in Augusta and an acquaintence of the families. The truck that was mentioned, was described as a teal truck with no tailgate (but with a piece of wood in place of it). There aren't many like that in town. Burke's girlfriend actually owns the truck and she turned him in Friday night/Sat morning as soon as she learned of the vehicle description. After he disposed of the body, he and family went out to dinner! He dated Meredith (Tamara's sister) several years ago and knew the family and home well. He entered the home thru a floor as to not set off the alarm in the home and was there to steal artwork, etc as a gift for his girlfriend. She walked in on him robbing the home. Instead of facing the music and getting possible probation for attempted robbery, he's facing the death penalty (which he truly deserves). This kid was only 6 months away from graduating college and got in with the "wrong" crowd from what the news is saying. According to the autopsy results, she was strangled (and killed) by human hands. There was a struggle at the home (possibly where she was actually killed), but he disposed of her body on Federal land in SC. SC will not (as of now) be pressing charges since the robbery, kidnapping and double murder charges will be in GA (where it all took place). All of the artwork AND her wedding rings were found in a field of a local school earlier this week. Her funeral was today, so I'm praying that the family can begin to move forward hour by hour and day by day. All of the stories can be found at www.augustachronicle.com You have to register for an online account, but there is no fee to do so.

Thanks so very much, kelpier! I can't imagine going out with his or his girlfriend's family after disposing of her body! Surreal! How could anyone hold a knife or fork, much less eat!

Since news of this case in my area has been nil for several days, I did go to the augustachronicle.com website and read several articles. One article said that he had confessed to strangling her in the home.

Yes, I had seen or read where he was only 6 months away from graduating college. Also had seen that he was drinking heavily the night before until 2 a.m.

This is such a tragedy! It's only fitting that he's facing the death penalty.

I'll be interested to learn if GA will try the case or if it will be tried in federal court. I didn't know it was federal land that he used to dispose of her body. If you learn anything new, please share! Thank you!

Sandylapper

I didn't find any new articles in today's augustachronicle, but did read her obit as of April 21 (yesterday). Things must be at a standstill.

The obit, of course, gave info about Tamara's background. Here are some of the things I learned. Her parents were divorced and both remarried. She had one sister and one brother. Her husband had only one sister. She graduated from Furman University and got MBA from Clemson University cum laude. She was angel-like, loved children, and people loved her.

Kelpier, here's a question for you. What does Tamara's stepfather do? I saw a picture of the home on TV, and it was said that it was an 8 bedroom house. Who, in the past, needed 8 bedrooms? The obit didn't mention any stepbrothers or stepsisters. I know this isn't relative to Tamara's murder, but enquiring minds want to know. (Money, you know).