Drifter Joseph Henry Burgess, 62, eyed in unsolved beach slayings-30 yrs apart

[MuffyBee]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BEACH_SLAYINGS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
Jul 24, 4:44 PM EDT

Drifter eyed in unsolved beach slayings

By SUDHIN THANAWALA
Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Two couples fatally shot more than 30 years apart while camping in different countries may have been victims of the same man: a drifter who authorities say was a religious zealot and disapproved of relationships between unmarried couples.

AP Photo
Joseph Henry Burgess, 62, who died in a July 16 shootout with New Mexico sheriff's deputies, had been wanted in Canada as a suspect in the 1972 murders of two university students on a Vancouver Island beach, and may be linked to more killings.

Investigators in Sonoma County, Calif., wanted to talk to him. The fatal shootings of two camp counselors whose bodies were found on a Jenner beach in 2004 bore a striking resemblance to the crime up north.

But Burgess' nomadic lifestyle had kept his whereabouts a mystery.

He is believed to have spent the past decade burglarizing cabins in New Mexico's Jemez Mountains, where he was nicknamed the "Cookie Bandit" for allegedly stealing food, boots and other goods. Deputies conducting a stakeout in hopes of catching the Cookie Bandit were confronted by Burgess, leading to a gun battle that left him and Sgt. Joe Harris dead.

Much remains unknown about Burgess, including how he got to New Mexico from Canada and where exactly he stopped along the way.

Investigators in Canada and California now are looking to New Mexico for information, such as a diary or people with whom Burgess had contact, that could tie him to their cold cases - and possibly others.

"It would appear from the end result of the incident down in New Mexico, he carried on with the same sort of lifestyle," said Dan Creally, a retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer who helped investigate the 1972 slayings on Vancouver Island. "There is good reason to suspect that there could have very well have been other (killings) between '72 and 2009 that he became involved in."

Police Lt. Ramon Casaus says investigators also have received calls from law enforcement agencies as far away as Wisconsin and Seattle to see whether Burgess may have been connected to crimes there.

New Mexico state police say they're trying to determine how Burgess got the weapon he used during the shootout - a .357 revolver registered to David Eley, a New Mexico resident who was reported missing in 2007 from the same area where Burgess was suspected of breaking into cabins.

On June 21, 1972, Ann Durrant, 20, and Lief Karlsson, 21, were shot multiple times in the head at point-blank range as they lay in their sleeping bag on Vancouver Island.

Burgess was among hundreds of hippies on the island that summer, setting up their tents on the beach, Creally said.

Authorities say the New Jersey native moved to Canada in the 1960s to avoid the draft. He first arrived in the Toronto area, where he bought a .22 caliber rifle, the type of weapon used in the Vancouver Island slayings.

Burgess eventually made it out to the west coast of Canada, where he lived in a religious commune run by the Children of God and called himself Job, in reference to the biblical figure, Creally said. He reportedly was kicked out of the commune's boarding house after his rifle made other residents uncomfortable.

Creally said a woman on the beach told authorities that she had seen Burgess cleaning a .22 caliber rifle and said Burgess had told her he disapproved of Durrant and Karlsson's relationship because they were unmarried. It was not clear what kind of contact, if any, Burgess had with the couple before the killings.

He was gone by the time investigators arrived at the murder scene, but a police dog discovered his belongings, including an identification card and passages from the Bible he had written out, ripped up and discarded nearby, Creally said. His fingerprint was also at the scene.

A bulletin for Burgess was put out in the United States and Canada, but turned up nothing.

Similarities between the Vancouver Island case and the killings of Jason Allen, 26, and his fiancee Lindsay Cutshall, 22, on a Sonoma County beach more than three decades later led authorities there to consider Burgess a person of interest, said Capt. Matt McCaffrey of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department.

Allen, of Zeeland, Mich., and Cutshall, of Fresno, Ohio, were working at a Christian camp in El Dorado County when their bodies were found in Jenner on Aug. 18, 2004.

Both couples were shot in the head.

Both couples were camping on isolated beaches.

Both couples were unwed, which apparently offended Burgess' beliefs.

However, evidence linking Burgess to the Jenner slayings is considerably thinner.

The weapon used in the killings - a .45 caliber rifle - was never recovered. In fact, investigators were never even able to place Burgess in Northern California, McCaffrey said.

"We don't have a suspect to interview, and this guy kind of kept off the grid," McCaffrey said. "We might just end up with, 'We just don't know for sure.'"

There also were cabin break-ins in New Mexico that fit Burgess' alleged pattern around the time of the Jenner slayings, reducing the chances Burgess was in northern California, Casaus said.

Sonoma County sheriff's investigators were in New Mexico to discuss the case Thursday, he said.

Canadian authorities also are continuing their investigation into Burgess before closing the case on Durrant and Karlsson's deaths, said Darren Lagan, a spokesman for the Vancouver Island Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Like many others, Cutshall's father, Chris Cutshall, thought Burgess had died. "And then for him to show up alive and then be killed was just pretty amazing and shocking news to me," he said.

Cutshall, a pastor, said his family continues to grieve although they've found a way to bring closure to their daughter and her fiance's deaths through their faith.

"If (Burgess) died guilty of the crimes of murdering our kids, then he has to answer to God for that," he said.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects that Ann Durrant and Lief were killed on June 21, 1972, not found on that date; Burgess lived on religious commune on west coast of Canada, not U.S. West Coast.)

[Nut44x4]

DNA test planned in investigation of 2004 California beach slayings of Jason Allen, Lindsay Cutshall
[Posted by Nate Reens | The Grand Rapids Press July 28, 2009, 06:47AM]


Lindsay Cutshall, 23, left, and her fiance, Jason Allen, 26, of Ottawa County, were killed in 2004 in Jenner, Calif.
California investigators plan to test DNA from a potential suspect in the 2004 slayings of Ottawa County native Jason Allen and his fiancee, Lindsay Cutshall, to see if it matches evidence found at the Fishhead Beach crime scene.


Sonoma County sheriff's detectives traveled to New Mexico last weekend to try and determine whether 62-year-old Joseph Henry Burgess was behind the mysterious Jenner, Calif., homicides of Allen, 26, and Cutshall, 23.

Capt. Matt McCaffrey said Monday detectives met with New Mexico authorities and seized DNA from Burgess and other evidence they plan to analyze for connections to Allen and Cutshall.

Police did not disclose what evidence was collected and would not comment further.

A Sonoma County Sheriff's helicopter drops off personnel and materials at Fishhead Beach, north of Jenner, Calif., on Aug. 19, 2004, at the site where two dead bodies in sleeping bags were discovered. The bodies of Lindsay Cutshall, 23, of Ohio, and Jason Allen, 26, of Ottawa County, were discovered about three miles north of Jenner a day earlier, when sheriff's deputies were rescuing a stranded hiker, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department.
Burgess, who was killed in a July 20 shootout that also left a Sandoval County, N.M., sheriff's deputy dead, has been on a list of persons of interest in the deaths since the Christian camp counselors were found dead Aug. 18, 2004.

They were camping on a remote beach outside Jenner while taking a weekend trip from their work.

Burgess' name arose during the investigation after Canadian authorities read about the close-range, unprovoked shootings of Allen and Cutshall with a rare .45-caliber Marlin rifle and contacted Sonoma County authorities.

Burgess, in 1972, allegedly shot and killed a Christian couple camping on a Vancouver Island beach in Canada. Those slayings, committed with a .22-caliber rifle, occurred as the couple slept, and the gunshots were fired in a close proximity, police said.

McCaffrey earlier said it would be tough to definitively tie Burgess to the Aug. 18, 2004 slayings.

Police hoped to locate the Marlin rifle or a journal that could place Burgess in northern California around the time the couple was killed.

McCaffrey said if Burgess was responsible for the deaths, it was possible he kept documentation or artifacts as some serial murderers do in order to relive their crimes.

Police speculate a motive for killing Allen and Cutshall may have been their religious beliefs.

That would align with Burgess' alleged shooting of Leis Carlsson and Ann Durrant in 1972.

Burgess had strongly held beliefs about premarital involvement that Cutshall and Allen, and the Canadian victims, may have violated by sleeping side-by-side, authorities said.

All four victims were shot to death in their sleep, although each was in their own sleeping bag.

McCaffrey said last week his department and Canadian investigators believed Burgess was dead since he was an "off-the-grid" loner who had not been heard from in years.

The New Jersey native had been living off the land and, apparently, breaking into seasonal cabins near his mountainside camp site in New Mexico.

Burgess earned the name the "Cookie Bandit" for his alleged break-ins, stealing food and supplies, authorities said.

Police were staking out an area of cabins in Sandoval County when Burgess entered the residence the cops were in. A shootout ensued and Sgt. Joe Harris was killed, the New Mexico State Department of Public Safety said.

http://www.mlive.com/mobile/news/grandrapids/

[Nut44x4]

Posted at: 08/01/2009 5:48 PM
Discovered remains may be those of missing man

Searchers in the Jemez Mountains found what they believe to be another of 'Cookie Bandit' Joseph Burgess' victims Saturday.

A search team recovered a skeleton they think is that of David Eley, a man whose gun Burgess used in a deadly shootout last month with Sandoval County sheriff's deputies.

Late Friday, searchers found a handful of human bones, but ran out of daylight before they could find any more.

Saturday, they returned with a bigger crew and were able to recover the entire skeleton.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation says along with the skeleton, they found other clews about who the victim was.

"We cant get into specifics as far as items that were found at the scene, other than to say there were artifacts found at the scene that led us to believe this may be the remains of David Eley," FBI Special Agent Darrin Jones said.

The Office of the Medical Investigator will not be able to formally identify the remains until an autopsy is performed.

Eley moved to the Jemez in 2006 to live off the land, but within months, he disappeared and friends who regularly visited him could not find him.

A search at the time turned up nothing, and his whereabouts were a mystery until this discovery.

Jones said Saturday, "They were skeletonized human remains consistent with what we expected to find."

Eley's family in Ohio have been notified about the discovery.
Investigators are being tight-lipped about details, including where the bones were found. They will say that after Friday's discovery of a few bones, they returned Saturday and did a formal grid search.

They also say the bones were not buried.

"They were spread out a little bit not at all inconsistent with what we would generally find in a case like this," Special Agent Jones said.

The last landlord Eley had in Albuquerque before moving to the Jemez says Eley went up there with a lot of food, water and other survival gear-- which may have been attractive to Burgess.

Burgess was known as the 'Cookie Bandit' after breaking into cabins in the Jemez and stealing food, alcohol and supplies.

The landlord also says Eley was a nice guy who may have befriended Burgess before his death.

The Eley family released a statement late Saturday night. It reads:

This is a very personal matter for us, and we have no further comment about the case as we grieve David's loss. We are grateful for the ongoing efforts of law enforcement to bring David's case to resolution.

  More on Eley's disappearance
http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S1046682.shtml?cat=517

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S1062210.shtml?cat=519

[Nut44x4]

Remains in Jemez identified as missing man
Updated at: 08/03/2009 7:44 AM

The Office of the Medical Investigator has positively identified the human remains found Friday and Saturday in the Jemez Mountains as those of David Eley.
The office was able to confirm the identity using dental records.

OMI will continue to examine the remains to try to determine a cause of death.

Investigators made the discovery while in the Jemez looking for possible campsites belonging to Joseph Burgess, who they say killed Sandoval County Sergeant Joe Harris in a shootout last month.

New Mexico State Police Spokesman Lt. Eric Garcia said, "With those remains there were located a brown pair of shorts, a t-shirt and some hiking shoes."

Eley's gun was the weapon that was used by Burgess to kill Harris.

Eley had moved from Albuquerque to the Jemez to live off the land in 2006, but went missing a short time later.
Officials say Eley was likely another of Burgess' victims.

Eley's former landlord said he moved to the wilderness with plenty of food and supplies, which may have been of interest to Burgess.

Investigators say they will continue to search for Burgess' campsites.

"If we come across a Joseph Henry Burgess campsite, that's even better, if we come across a David Eley campsite that's going to be better for the investigation bureau," Lt. Garcia said.

The Eley family released a statement late Saturday night. It reads:
This is a very personal matter for us, and we have no further comment about the case as we grieve David's loss. We are grateful for the ongoing efforts of law enforcement to bring David's case to resolution.
http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s1062939.shtml?cat=504

[IBE]

Keep up the good work!

Been having computer challenges so haven't been here much.

Do you think this guy is related to John Steven Burgess in the Donna Jou missing person case?

[Nut44x4]

Probably not...but let's see them side by side
First photo is a young Joe Henry Burgess (He was 62 when he died) and second photo is John Steven waste of oxygen Burgess

[IBE]

No argument from me on that one!

Seems I have seen a picture of him with short hair and no beard somewhere before the DJ case. Any ideas??

[Nut44x4]

Nope.....I used google image search to find the above. I do not recall seeing earlier photos of him.

[Nut44x4]

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/9699848-181/suspect-in-jenner-beach-murders

Suspect in Jenner beach murders pleads no contest
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT June 13, 2019

Shaun Michael Gallon, a Forestville man and ex-felon jailed nearly two years ago in the slaying of his brother, admitted in a Sonoma County courtroom Thursday to the 2004 murders of a young Midwestern couple camped on a Jenner beach, along with other violent crimes, bringing an abrupt end to the county’s most unsettling cold case in a generation.

Lindsay Cutshall, 22, and her fiancé, Jason Allen, 26, were found shot at close range on the stretch of the Sonoma Coast where they had camped on a break from their summer jobs as Christian camp counselors. They were strangers to Gallon, who grew up along the Russian River.

Nearly 13 years would pass before detectives received a jailhouse note from Gallon that would prove to be the ultimate breakthrough in the cold-blooded and baffling crime.

On Thursday, Gallon gave his first public admission to the killings in an agreement with prosecutors in which he also confessed to killing his younger brother, Shamus Gallon, 36, in 2017 at the family’s Forestville home.

Gallon, 40, will never be released from prison.

The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office agreed to not seek the death penalty, and Gallon agreed to punishment totaling seven consecutive life terms plus an additional 18 years and eight months for using firearms and a prior felony conviction for a bow-and-arrow attack.

Sonoma County Judge Robert LaForge approved the no-contest deal Thursday, one day before prosecutors were to begin presenting evidence against Gallon in a preliminary hearing. Victims and family of victims spread across the country had been prepared to get onto airplanes to be present. Now, there will be no trial.

“This is exactly what we wanted,” said Cutshall’s father Chris Cutshall, pastor of Fresno Bible Church in Ohio. “I personally believe in the death penalty so I would have been OK with that. But we are not out for revenge — we are out for justice. We are happy he will be in prison for the rest of his life.”

Gallon also admitted to trying to kill former Monte Rio resident John Robles in 2004 by placing a package bomb on the man’s parked car outside his home — about two months before Cutshall and Allen were found dead on the Jenner beach. It was Robles’ wife Parvoneh Leval who went out to the car that morning. She began to grab the mysterious package on her husband’s car roof. Robles was inside their home with their daughters, ages 2 and 6, when he heard the explosion. He ran outside, and saw his wife collapse, covered in blood.

She has mostly recovered from her injuries but they moved out of California and remained fearful with no suspect in custody.

Robles said he broke down in sobs after learning he would not face Gallon in the courtroom Friday.

“I wasn’t expecting to feel that way,” said Robles, 45, of Vancouver, Washington. “A lot of it is reflecting on the past 15 years and reliving some of the moments of that day, thinking about all the ‘what ifs.’”

They will have the chance to face Gallon July 15 when he is sentenced by LaForge.