Suspected serial killer had ties to Rockingham County

REIDSVILLE, N.C. — Patrick Tracy Burris’ parole officer, Angela Merrill, told him on the phone he needed to turn himself in after an arrest warrant was issued June 12 for parole violations.

Law enforcement officials did not know where Burris was until Monday.

“He did know that we wanted him,” said George Dudley, a spokesman for the N.C. Department of Correction.

Burris is suspected of shooting and killing five people in and around the town of Gaffney, S.C., during six days last week. Officers responding to a burglary complaint shot and killed him Monday at a home in Gastonia, N.C.

Gastonia is about 30 miles from Gaffney. Investigators matched the gun that Burris had on him with the one that killed residents in the Gaffney area.

Burris was released from prison on April 29 and began parole immediately. He met with Merrill, an officer with the N.C. Department of Correction, who explained the rules of his supervision. But Burris was not cooperative, she said.

Merrill made 10 house visits to check on him, but Burris was home for only two of them. He was cited for driving while his license was revoked, and he violated his 8 p.m. curfew five times.

“For the most part, he was not in the place he should have been,” Dudley said.

Merrill began the process in early June to get an arrest warrant for Burris. Officials put in a statewide alert when the warrant came through but didn’t find him.

Dudley said the department and Merrill acted within department policy and that it was normal for a parole officer to tell a parolee that he needed to turn himself in.

Burris served time from October 2001 to April for a habitual felon charge. He pleaded guilty to five counts of felony breaking and entering and five counts of larceny after breaking and entering Oct. 5, 2001. Those guilty pleas along with his criminal history led to the habitual felon charge.

He had prior convictions for blackmail, breaking and entering in Henry County, Va., and common law robbery in Alamance County, among others.

The major crimes Burris committed were property crimes. He did not have a violent history, said Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page.

“But maybe somewhere in prison he elevated up to another level of violence,” he said. “When we heard the news break the other day, we all said, ‘Uh oh, we know him.’”

Page investigated Burris in 1996, when he was a detective in Eden. He said a suspect threatened an elderly man and told him to cash a check at a local bank and give the suspect the money. Page said Burris was their prime suspect, but the prosecution dropped the charges when the elderly man refused to testify.

He said Burris was an intimidating person. He was a “big boy” at about 6 feet 7 inches and about 300 pounds, he said.

“He’s a bully,” Page said. “Anybody has the potential to harm someone.”

A neighbor who lives behind Burris’ last known address in Eden said it’s been years since she’s seen him, but he was always nice to her.

Mildred Macy, 68, said Burris fixed her plumbing and never stole her things. She said he was polite, saying “yes ma’am” to her. Macy has lived in Eden since 1971.

Despite his friendly relationship with Macy, Page said Burris was a career criminal that may have gone away from rehabilitation during his time in prison.

“He just grew into being a very violent person,” he said. “You never know who lives in your community.”