Couple found shot 'execution-style' on golf course tract

Oatka

New member
From Rhode Island. Must be a new type revolver - "The police believe they were killed with a .40-caliber revolver. "We found one spent shell casing, and one live round," Russo said."

Another case for CCW, or at least making a run for it.
http://www.projo.com/cgi-bin/story.pl/news/03808161.htm

Couple found shot 'execution-style' on golf course tract

The Johnston police take into custody a suspect in the slaying of the couple, who may have been at nightclubs in Providence before they were killed.

Journal Staff Writer

JOHNSTON -- The bodies of two young people -- both shot in the head -- were found near the bank of the Woonasquatucket River on the Button Hole Golf Course at about 1 p.m. yesterday afternoon.

Detective Capt. David aRusso identified them as Amy Shute, 21, of 184 Black Rock Rd., Coventry, and Jason Burgeson, 20, of 8 Southworth St., Lakeville, Mass. He said the two were a couple.

The police think they may have gone out clubbing in Providence on Thursday night, aRusso said. Burgeson was shot once in the top of the head, and Shute was shot in the side of the head.

"This was execution-style," Police Chief Richard S. Tamburini said yesterday.

Late last night, aRusso said the police had a suspect in custody, and that the investigation was continuing.

Burgeson was blindfolded with a sweatband, but Shute was not, aRusso said. Burgeson was sitting on the ground with his legs folded and Shute was sitting behind him, with her arms around him, when they were shot. aRusso said there was no sign of a struggle. Neither victim had been tied up.

The couple's car was not found at scene, but the police said late last night that it was found Westminster Street, in Providence, and was being taken to the Johnston police station.

"There was just one set of tire tracks in and out of there," aRusso said.

The police believe they were killed with a .40-caliber revolver. "We found one spent shell casing, and one live round," aRusso said.

Early yesterday afternoon, Tamburini said the police were awaiting autopsy results to determine whether the victims were stabbed. "There was a lot of blood there," he said.

Last night, however, aRusso said that based on a closer examination of the bodies, the police do not believe they were stabbed. But he said that would be confirmed through an autopsy.

aRusso said the police do not have a motive for the killings, and they do not think drugs were involved. He said the police are trying to trace the couple's last movements, and are following several leads.

The bodies were found lying under the branches of trees, on a portion of the golf course that is bordered by the river. The victims, both fully clothed, were only a few feet from black plastic that had been put up to keep silt from running into the river.

The bodies apparently were first spotted by a worker at the course, which is still under construction, shortly before 7 a.m. The worker thought he had spotted trash, which Tamburini said is commonly dumped there.

Later, at about 1 p.m., three workers returned to the spot, made a closer inspection, and called 911, aRusso said.

Tamburini said that the police believe the victims were killed at the golf course, which straddles the Providence-Johnston border.

Providence Police Maj. Martin F. Hames declined to comment.

"Anything you get will have to come from Johnston," he said when he was called yesterday afternoon. "It's their investigation." Tamburini said the Providence police are assisting in the investigation.

The bodies were found on a plot of green grass, near piles of dirt that have been scraped up so the ground can be leveled for fairways. The clubhouse, which is several hundred yards from the river, is also still under construction.

One of the construction workers, Glenn Crafts, a worker for the Maron Construction Co., of Providence, which is building the clubhouse, said a groundskeeper had found the bodies.

"I looked around and there were a thousand cops here," he said. Work on the clubhouse continued until late in the afternoon.

Although the golf course is in a densely populated section along the Providence-Johnston border, the spot where the bodies were found is relatively isolated.

The nearest houses are about a quarter mile away, on Hedley Avenue.

Yesterday, some residents said they may have heard gunshots. One teenager said he was falling asleep watching television around 2 a.m. when he heard two loud bangs.

"I thought at the time they could be shots," he said. But he also considered the possibility they could be fireworks.

He forgot about the matter until yesterday afternoon, when he returned home and found police in the neighborhood. He was taken to police headquarters to give a statement.

The crime scene attracted a crowd throughout the afternoon, including Mayor William R. Macera.

"It's sad," Macera said after driving along a temporary construction road that led from the end of Hedley Avenue to near where the bodies were found. "I can't imagine someone picking up the telephone" to find that relatives have been shot.

Macera said it is ironic that the violence apparently occurred at the site of the course, which is intended to be a unique social experiment.

The 25-acre, nine-hole course is being built with private donations, to provide golf and social opportunities for children from inner-city neighborhoods. Besides inner-city children, the course, with holes ranging between 100 and 200 yards, is designed for seniors and beginners.

Backers of the nonprofit course hope to have it opened later this summer. It is being built on state-owned land that was once used as a gravel pit.

Copyright © 2000 The Providence Journal Company

UPDATE:

"People are sick of the violence." You just know what is going to be blamed. Why aren't they sick of the criminals? Bet they all have records as long as your arm.
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGIJIN4KB9C.html

Police Charge Five in Carjacking, Double Murder
The Associated Press

JOHNSTON, R.I. (AP) - Five men were arrested following a carjacking that ended in a double murder at a golf course, police said today.

Amy Shute, 21, of Coventry and Jason Burgeson, 20, of Lakeville, Mass., were carjacked early Friday in downtown Providence. The carjackers then took the victims to a Johnston golf course under construction and shot them both in the head, authorities said.

"This was a carjacking that got out of control," Johnston Police Chief Richard Tamburini said. "These were innocent victims in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Police arrested one suspect Friday and four others today for investigation of murder, kidnapping and carjacking.

The victims were friends who did not know their assailants, police said.

Mayor William Macera said he hopes the arrests calm neighborhood fears.

"People are very upset that this happened in our community," he said. "It was really a brutal murder. People are sick of the violence.

© Copyright 2000 Associated Press.




[This message has been edited by Oatka (edited June 10, 2000).]
 
May they rest in peace. I hope they find the killer(s) soon.

BTW Slick&Willie makes a revolver chambered for 40SW.

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So many pistols, so little money.
 
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