Charlotte Observer----
Patrick Tracy Burris, an N.C. felon with a lengthy arrest record, was the serial killer who slew five people in Cherokee County, S.C., last week, police said Monday night.
Burris, 41, was shot and killed Monday morning by Gaston County Police, who were responding to a predawn burglary call near Dallas, N.C. – about 40 miles northeast of Gaffney.
Ballistics tests showed his gun killed the five people near Gaffney, S.C., and investigators said he had items in his Ford Explorer that were taken from the home of his first victim.
“We have him. He's our serial killer,” said S.C. State Law Enforcement Division Deputy Director Neil Dolan. “He was unpredictable. He was scary. He was weird.”Police said his motive remained unknown.
In April, Burris was paroled from a medium security prison , after serving less than 8 years of a 10-year sentence for charges including felony breaking and entering, according to records from the N.C. Department of Corrections.
Less than two months later, on June 27, he killed peach farmer Kline Cash, then four others in the next 10 days, police said.
Burris has been charged at least 60 times, according to court records obtained by The Observer. Police said he has been arrested in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Florida.
“At some point the criminal justice system will have to explain why this man is on the streets,” said SLED Director Reggie Lloyd, as he waved a paper copy of Burris' arrest record for cameras at a Monday night press conference.
Police said they don't know why Burris was in Cherokee County, and whether he had any connection to his victims. Before going to prison in 2001, Burris lived in Eden and Reidsville in Rockingham County, north of Greensboro. Police found Burris because of an ordinary burglary call.
Michael Valentine was asleep in his home on Dallas-Spencer Mountain Road near Dallas when his dog woke him. He walked into his living room and saw headlights in the driveway of an abandoned house across the street. Valentine said he noticed the vehicle was a Ford Explorer – the same type investigators believed the killer was driving. It was about 2:40 a.m.
He watched as several people in the SUV sat in the car. He couldn't tell who it was, so he phoned police because he knew the house didn't have electricity and he was concerned about burglars.
A police officer arrived and two others followed several minutes later, he said. Valentine told The Observer that two of the people were Mark Stamey, 35, and his sister Sharon Stamey, 31.
Because of the stillness of the night and the closeness of the homes, Valentine could hear voices and the crackle of police radios, he said.
The Stameys told the officers that they had lived in the house and were there to collect some items. Valentine, who had gone outside to see what has happening, said the Stameys got out of the car, along with a third man.
“His head was down, and it was dark, and he was stumbling around drunk,” he said of the Burris. “He said something like, ‘You got booby traps around here.' ”
The Stameys and the man went into the house, Valentine said, and the police followed.
Police say they asked the three people in the Ford Explorer for identification, and that Burris gave false identification. Gaston County police say they eventually got Burris' correct name and discovered he was wanted by Lincoln County authorities for a parole violation.
Valentine heard someone say, “Put it down.”
“Shortly after that I heard a pop and then I heard four more, and then I heard them say, ‘officer has been shot,' ” Valentine said.
Police later said that as they tried to take Burris into custody, the man fired and hit Gaston County officer J.K. Shaw in the leg. Police say they fired back, killing the man. The officer was treated and released from Gaston Memorial Hospital on Monday.
Police declined to say why the Stameys were with Burris. They only said they believe Burris killed alone.
After a day of forensic work, SLED towed the Ford Explorer from the home about 6:30 p.m. Police said that in addition to being the same color as the suspect's SUV, the Explorer had distinctive markings that a witness from the Gaffney area had described. Police hadn't previously disclosed the distinctive markings.
Sharon Stamey was released from Swannanoa Correctional Center for Women in April, where she had served a six-month sentence for trespassing and possession of drugs such as valium and Xanax. She had also been convicted of larceny of a motor vehicle in 2008 and in 2007 was convicted of drug possession.
She is scheduled to be in N.C. District Court in Gastonia today on a felony charge of conspiracy to sell cocaine.
Sharon and Mark Stamey told WCNC, The Observer's news partner, that they met Burris about 2 1/2 weeks ago. The Stameys said they had been “partying” with Burris, and they came to the house to sleep.
The killings began June 27 about 10 miles from Gaffney, a town known to travelers for the Peachoid, a water tower shaped like a giant peach near Interstate 85.
Cash, 63, was found shot in his home on Battleground Road in northwest Cherokee County. Police said he appeared to have been robbed.
On Wednesday, Hazel Linder, 83, and her daughter Gena Linder Parker, 50, were found bound and shot in their home on Buck Shoals Road. They also lived in northwest Cherokee County, about 4 miles from the first victim. The sheriff's office hadn't said whether anything was stolen.
Stephen Tyler, 48, was shot and killed in his furniture and appliance store Thursday, near downtown Gaffney. One of his daughters, 15-year-old Abby, was also shot. She died two days later.
The killings terrorized the area, and residents stockpiled guns and ammunition. A task force of more than 200 investigators worked around the clock chasing down leads.
Residents of the small county – population 54,000 – were puzzled because they assumed someone would recognize him from the police sketch.
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Sources: Charlotte Observer, Google Maps
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