Son can testify against sgt. in murder trial - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Son can testify against sgt. in murder trial

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. — A judge’s ruling in Elizabethtown will allow a young boy to testify against his father, who is charged with killing the boy’s mother and grandmother in 2007.

Army Sgt. Brent Burke is charged with killing his estranged wife, Tracy Burke, 31, and her former mother-in-law, Karen D. Comer, 53, in Hardin County.

Two boys and a younger sister were found hiding in a closet of the Rineyville home after the slayings.

Senior Judge Janet Coleman ruled Monday that one of the boys, who is now 7, is competent to take the witness stand, The News-Enterprise of Elizabethtown reported. Coleman reversed her own ruling from last year when she said the boy was too immature to testify.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Shaw requested Monday’s re-assessment of the boy’s competency.

Police have said the boy is the only person claiming to have seen Burke shoot his mother.

During the Monday hearing, the boy was questioned by attorneys about the shooting.

The little boy, his infant sister and their half brother had moved into Karen Comer’s home in summer 2007 after Tracy Burke filed for divorce from Brent Burke, who was stationed at Fort Campbell.

According to the boy’s story, he crawled into bed with his mother after waking up in another room at Comer’s home sometime late Sept. 10, 2007.

When he woke up, he saw Brent Burke come in, and he heard one gunshot and then his mother “pushed me down,” he said. The women were each shot twice, according to Hardin County Deputy Coroner John Clemens.

Two attempts to try Burke for murder have ended in mistrials. He faces a third trial in August.

Burke faces life in prison if found guilty as charged with two counts of murder, burglary and animal cruelty.

He maintains his innocence. No murder weapon has been recovered.