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Cherokee Co. Serial Killer Had Lengthy Criminal Past

Burris Wanted On Habitual Offender Warrant When Killed

POSTED: 10:08 am EDT July 7, 2009
UPDATED: 2:44 pm EDT July 7, 2009

Authorities said Monday night that the man now identified as the Cherokee County serial killer had a lengthy criminal history that spanned several states.

Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton said that 41-year-old Patrick Tracy Burris was the man who was shot and killed by North Carolina police on Monday morning.

According to Gaston County police, officers responded to a burglary-in-progress call early Monday morning. They said when officers arrived, they found three people at the home.

Police said that one of the people provided false information about his identity. They said that after checking the man’s background they found he was wanted on outstanding warrants in Lincoln County, N.C. They said that as officers began to arrest the man, he pulled out a gun and fired at officers, wounding one officer in the leg. They said officers returned fire, killing the man.

The officer who was shot is expected to recover.

Blanton said that the weapon Burris used to shoot the officer on Monday morning is the same weapon used to kill all five victims in Cherokee County. He said the vehicle found near the scene of the North Carolina shooting also matches the vehicle believed to be seen at all three of the shooting scenes in South Carolina.

State Law Enforcement Division Chief Reggie Lloyd held up a stack of papers at Monday night’s news conference and said that it was Burris’ 25-page-long criminal history.

According to authorities, Burris' criminal past spans across North Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland, Florida and Virginia. It includes charges of breaking and entering, uttering a forged document and other misdemeanors.

Blanton said that Burris’ spree began on June 27 with the death of 63-year-old peach farmer Kline Cash, who was found by his wife shot to death in their home. Then last Wednesday, relatives discovered the bodies of 50-year-old Gena Parker and her mother, 83-year-old Hazel Linder. On Thursday, 48-year-old Stephen Tyler and his 15-year-old daughter, Abby, were shot to death as they were closing the Tyler Home Center near downtown Gaffney.

Both Parker and Linder were laid to rest on Sunday at the First Baptist Church in Gaffney.

Blanton thanked the media for their assistance in providing information to the public during the killing spree.

"Our goal was to keep him for killing for one day and that gave us one day to catch him," said Blanton. "That day was today."

Blanton said that investigators are still trying to piece together the motive behind the killing spree.


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