Posted on 07/08/2009 5:22:43 AM PDT by marktwain
A serial killer who murdered five people over six days was tracked down by police who were notified by an alert citizen, and then killed after wounding one officer when he opened fire. But as usual, there is a story behind what was published by Old Media.
Law enforcement raises warning flag
After examining Burris’s criminal history, South Carolina’s State Law Enforcement Division [SLED] Chief Reggie Lloyd said:
"Look at this," Lloyd said, waiving [sic] a stapled copy of Burris' criminal record. "This is like 25 pages. At some point the criminal justice system is going to need to explain why this suspect was out on the street."
[Emphasis added]
SLED Deputy Director Neil Dolan said: "He was unpredictable. He was scary. He was weird." “We don’t believe he is going to stop on his own,” Lloyd said. “This one is scary.”
Certainly, the citizens of Gaffney, South Carolina appeared to be united in their support of the outcome. Farmer Sam Howell, 61: "My prayers were answered. He got what he deserved."
Sandy Rhinehart, 42, mother of three: “We just want to make sure he’s gone.”
Gene Wyatt, 35, a housing contractor: “[I was] really glad this guy got killed.”
Let’s make a deal!
Sometimes events bring conditions to a point that law enforcement and private citizens–out of self-preservation and in spite of personal costs–are forced to step up when the legal system fails.
Burris’s criminal history began in 1990, when he was convicted of blackmail and given probation.
In early 1991, he had three more charges (speeding, driving with revoked license, and robbery) and the blackmail charge was added in because of violating probation.
The maximum for all charges was 12 years, but because sentences were combined, he served them concurrently (they ran together, instead of being added onto each other). As a result, he was out in May, 1993; about 2 years and 3 months total.
Burris was arrested immediately for driving with a permanently revoked license and given a year sentence, of which he served 1 month.
By November, 1993, Burris was arrested again, and convicted in January, 1994. He got two years, including parole violation time, but served less than 10 months. He was convicted in May, 1996 on two counts of forgery and four counts of “common law uttering,” all felonies, and was given a suspended sentence and probation. In June 2000, Burris was again arrested for driving with a revoked driver’s license and given probation. One month later, he was arrested for larceny. This earned him 3 months, and the probation violations for the previous forgery, uttering, and traffic convictions netted him another 8 months, but Burris served less than 5 months.
By June, 2001, Burris was arrested on multiple counts of larceny and burglary. Along with an added charge of “habitual felon,” he was convicted on October 3, 2001, with all the crimes consolidated into one judgment. The original sentence was 10 years, 1 month. He was supposed to have a minimum sentence of 7 years, 9 months. Since incarceration began October 3, 2001, this means he should have been released around July 3, 2009. Instead, he was released April 29, 2009.
Another interesting citizen response
Gaffney residents, perhaps innately understanding that the criminal justice system failed to protect them, decided to invoke their civil right of self-defense. “Everybody I know — 75 percent of all my friends — we’re all carrying weapons now, everywhere we go,” Cody Sossaman, 57, publisher of the Gaffney Ledger, said early Monday before police announced they had shot and killed the alleged assailant.
Daddy Joe’s bar patrons included women who were packing pistols in their purses for the first time in their lives.
“I’m telling you what — people are just scared to death!” said Kim Blanton, 49, a fourth-grade teacher who had a loaded .32-caliber pistol in her purse. No, she said, she doesn’t have a permit to carry a concealed weapon — and she doesn’t care.
Blanton said she lives alone, but recently she either has been spending the night with friends or having a girlfriend over to her house to sleep. “My friend, she had a gun, too,” Blanton said.
The dread of being the next victim had caused the staff at Daddy Joe’s to change a lot of things they do, said general manager Rea Smiley, 44…
Yes, Smiley said, she keeps a gun close these days. “I haven’t even gone to the bathroom without it.”
Citizens have been accused of paranoia for buying guns and obtaining concealed carry permits. Oxford English Dictionary defines “paranoia” as: “A tendency to suspect and distrust others or to believe oneself unfairly used.” *
Cody Sossaman, publisher of the Gaffney Ledger who decided to carry a defensive firearm, said: “If you didn’t know at least one of them, you know someone who knew them,” he said.
It’s bad enough when someone you know is killed, but it is “very, very bad” when more and more people you know keep getting killed, Sossaman said.
Two questions for the anti-self-defense “paranoid” accusers:
Is five dead friends and neighbors sufficient justification for Gaffney residents to be distrustful towards Patrick Burris?
Were the five dead victims unfairly used? If you can’t honestly answer “yes,” then one final question:
Why are you so paranoid about law-abiding citizens owning firearms for self-defense?
* The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Thumb Index Edition, 1993 Edition, Clarendon Press, page 2097. **************************************** For in-depth analysis of the issues discussed here, read Howard’s book Four Hundred Years of Gun Control: Why Isn’t It Working?, which deconstructs the gun control agenda and motivates more people to support our civil right of self-defense. Autographed copies are available from the author.
concur, although I frankly don't know what "uttering" is.
[The system has no obligation to actually protect you]
This is the only reason government exists, that is, to punish the wicked who will not live within the statutes of God. The system has no other obligations and is wrong to run school systems, to fix and install roads and bridges, to make laws contrary to the Constituional rights and liberties God gives mankind and to train children in the way to go. Government today is corrupted because they abridge the rights and liberties that the Christian Constitution gaurantees and has become a refuge for liars and fools that hate and despise American citizens in general and has abandoned their small role in keeping the Constituinal roles given them.They have become totalitarion and huge and are more evil then many who are in jails.
Romans 13 (King James Version)
Romans 13
1Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
3For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
5Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
6For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
7Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
8Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
9For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
10Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
11And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
13Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
14But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Government does not exist to protect me. It exists to tax me.
You should use a smaller font.
I hope they can trace the weapon and demonstrate that it has been in Burris’ possession since before the five murders were committed. A serial killer with a gun used in multiple homicides might find it convenient to clean up and dump the weapon. The ballistics match and hopefully they did get their man, but there’s nothing in the guy’s 25 page rap sheet to indicate he’d be likely to go on a killing spree. I hope I’m just being paranoid, but I’m a little bugged by the police announcing they got the killer on one, albeit profound, piece of evidence within a few hours of his burglary and suicide-by-cop.
To the degree we can anticipate what the criminal mind leads to, I suspect that is correct. But I believe a burglar has to know he could engage a person who is willing to defend their property with lethal force. In which case the burglar needs to be willing to kill the property owner.
In any case, a lot of jurisdiction’s recidivist laws would have put this guy away for life.
True, his record did not indicate him becoming a killer.
They did however, point to a serial felon, who should’ve been given a life sentence for being a Habitual Offender.
Here, in the State of Michigan,three convictions gets you life in prison.
Knowing the shambles of our current state, however, suggests that this is probably not taking place, such as in your state.
When budget cuts are announced around here, the first things that happen is that they want to lay off our State Police Troopers and empty and close the prisons.
A pox on the Democrats and RINO.
The people that defend the right to bear arms must understand one thing.
The leftist aka progressive gun haters need dangerous people like this guy out of prison.
Dangerous people allowed to roam the streets of America gives them the needed ammunition to push their right banning agenda.
Not one gun control law pushed by the leftist aka progressive gun haters deals with keeping dangerous people in prison.
Good thing it was a law enforcement officer that finally killed the guy. If it had been a private citizen acting heroically, but outside the stupid, restrictive gun laws, it would have brought all kinds of hardship.
Remember he was only convicted of what he was arrested and tried for. Also we don’t know anything from that report to indicate his general attitude. What you have is someone with a continual disregard for the law and people’s possessions and safety. No they didn’t indicate a killer but only because we don’t know the whole story. What we do know is this is a guy who consistently was let out long before his sentences were served. Not much point in minimum sentences of 5 or 10 or 12 years if you’re going to let someone out after a couple of years. The nutshell being he should have been still in prison.
I can’t disagree with anything you wrote.
But gun control has done marvelous things for my Detroit and the South Side of Chicago.
Oh, wait....
My thoughts exactly. Until we start shining a light on these roaches, they will continue to inflict injury on the public while remaining safely in the shadows. same goes for those on the parole boards.
You area is extremely safe for the gun toting criminals with the leftist aka progressive gun hater gun control laws.
More law abiding citizens die every day from gun toting criminals then other criminals.
Actually, I don’t live anywhere near the squalor of Detroit
anymore. I’m in the far NW Lower Peninsula, where a car getting broken into will make the front page.
You can leave your car running in the winter, while you do your shopping. Rarely are there murders, and if it there is, it’s usually two druggies going at it.
Also, many CCW’s around here. They are much easier to get.
There are not too many places in the world that is this safe imo.
[The system has no obligation to actually protect you] This is the only reason government exists, that is, to punish the wicked who will not live within the statutes of God. The system has no other obligations and is wrong to run school systems, to fix and install roads and bridges, to make laws contrary to the Constituional rights and liberties God gives mankind and to train children in the way to go. Government today is corrupted because they abridge the rights and liberties that the Christian Constitution gaurantees and has become a refuge for liars and fools that hate and despise American citizens in general. HomePassage LookupKeyword SearchTopical IndexAvailable VersionsAdditional ResourcesReading PlansUse On Your WebsiteAbout BibleGateway.comPreferencesBlogHelpPassage results Amuzgo de Guerrero (amu) Amuzgo de Guerrero العربية (ar) Arabic Life Application Bible Български (bg) Bulgarian Bible 1940 Bulgarian Bible Chinanteco de Comaltepec (cco) Chinanteco de Comaltepec Cakchiquel Occidental (ckw) Cakchiquel Occidental Kreyol (cpf) Haitian Creole Version Čeština (cs) Slovo na cestu Dansk (da) Dette er Biblen pÃ¥ dansk Deutsch (de) Hoffnung für Alle Luther Bibel 1545 English (en) New International Version New American Standard Bible The Message Amplified Bible New Living Translation King James Version English Standard Version Contemporary English Version New King James Version New Century Version 21st Century King James Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Holman Christian Standard Bible New International Reader's Version Wycliffe New Testament Worldwide English (New Testament) New International Version - UK Today's New International Version Español (es) Reina-Valera 1960 Nueva Versión Internacional Reina-Valera 1995 Castilian Reina-Valera Antigua Biblia en Lenguaje Sencillo La Biblia de las Américas Français (fr) Louis Segond La Bible du Semeur Κοινη (grc) 1881 Westcott-Hort New Testament 1550 Stephanus New Testament 1894 Scrivener New Testament תירביע (he) The Westminster Leningrad Codex Ilonggo (hil) Hiligaynon Bible Hrvatski (hr) Croatian Bible Magyar (hu) Hungarian Károli Íslenska (is) Icelandic Bible Italiano (it) La Nuova Diodati La Parola è Vita Jacalteco, Oriental (jac) Jacalteco, Oriental Kekchi (kek) Kekchi 한국어 (ko) Korean Bible Māori (mi) Maori Bible Macedonian (mk) Macedonian New Testament Mam, Central (mvc) Mam, Central Mam, Todos Santos (mvj) Mam de Todos Santos Chuchumatán Plautdietsch (nds) Reimer 2001 Náhuatl de Guerrero (ngu) Náhuatl de Guerrero Nederlands (nl) Het Boek Norsk (no) Det Norsk Bibelselskap 1930 Levande Bibeln Português (pt) O Livro João Ferreira de Almeida Atualizada Quiché, Centro Occidenta (qut) Quiché, Centro Occidental Română (ro) Romanian Romanian Русский (ru) Russian Synodal Version Slovo Zhizny Slovenčina (sk) Nádej pre kazdého Shqip (sq) Albanian Bible Svenska (sv) Levande Bibeln Svenska 1917 Kiswahili (sw) Swahili New Testament Tagalog (tl) Ang Salita ng Diyos Українська (uk) Ukrainian Bible Uspanteco (usp) Uspanteco Tiêng Viêt (vi) 1934 Vietnamese Bible 汉语 (zh) Chinese Union Version (Simplified) Chinese Union Version (Traditional) Previous Book:Go to ActsPrevious Chapter : Go to Romans 12Show ChapterNext Chapter : Go to Romans 14Next Book:Go to 1 CorinthiansListen to this passage : Romans 13View commentary related to this passage : Romans 13 King James Version (KJV) Public Domain Romans 13 (King James Version) Romans 13 1Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 2Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. 3For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: 4For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. 5Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. 6For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. 7Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. 8Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 11And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
How's this?
That’s GREAT! Thanks for your sense of humor, matches mine.
Happens with 'civil servants' more often than you might expect - please see my 'tag line'...
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