A Maryland man was angry with his pharmacist brother for administering coronavirus vaccines before he killed his brother, sister-in-law and a family friend in a triple homicide that led to a police manhunt, investigators allege in court documents.
Support our journalism. Subscribe today ArrowRight
Jeffrey Burnham, 46, of Cumberland had previously told his mother that he wanted to confront his older brother, Brian Robinette, about what he claimed was the government poisoning people with the shots, according to court documents filed in Howard County District Court.
“Brian knows something!” he repeatedly said to her, according to the documents first reported by Baltimore-area news outlets.
Burnham is accused of fatally shooting his 58-year-old brother in the front foyer of his Ellicott City home on Sept. 30 and killing his brother’s wife, Kelly Robinette, 57, in an upstairs bedroom, police said.
Advertisement
Story continues below advertisement
Burnham was charged with two counts of first- and second-degree murder in those killings.
He was also charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of a family friend, 83-year-old Rebecca Reynolds, inside her Cumberland home a day earlier. Police said he stole Reynolds’s car and drove to the home of Brian and Kelly Robinette.
Burnham is being held without bond in Allegany County. An attorney for him was not listed in court records, and his family could not be immediately reached.
Your questions about coronavirus vaccines, answered
Burnham’s mother had earlier raised concerns to authorities about her son’s mental health, the court documents in Howard County state. On Sept. 29, Evelyn Burnham told Cumberland police that her son had made comments about the FBI coming after the two of them that made her question his stability, according to the court documents.
Advertisement
Story continues below advertisement
Evelyn Burnham again called police when they were investigating the killing of the Robinettes to report a phone call from her son stating that he “needed to return Becky’s car.”
Evelyn Burnham told police that Reynolds was her classmate and that she called her “Becky.” She also told police about her son’s feelings toward the coronavirus vaccine and his brother for administering it.
Hours after the Robinettes were killed, law enforcement authorities said, an unnamed tipster contacted Maryland State Police reporting that Jeffrey Burnham had asked them for gas and said his brother was “killing people with the covid shot.” The tipster, according to court records, also said Burnham told them that they would see him on television. Burnham was driving his deceased brother’s red Corvette, police said.
Burnham was arrested Oct. 1. The West Virginia State Police responded to a call about a “suspicious male subject,” the department said, and found Burnham in the town of Davis. Police said they found him with a stolen vehicle and a firearm. He was extradited to Maryland.