Byron Looper - Murder Conviction and Sentence

Murder Conviction and Sentence

Looper's jury trial for murder finally occurred in 2000 after several delays as Looper changed attorneys and his attorneys filed motions requesting changes in the judge and trial location. The trial was not moved, but jurors were brought in from Sullivan County to reduce the chance that the jury would have been influenced by pre-trial publicity. By the time of the trial, a work crew had found the weapon apparently used in the murder.

Wes Rex and Joe Bond were both prominent witnesses for the prosecution, as were two political consultants who reported having been contacted at various times by Looper, who had told both of them that he wanted to run a political race and felt the surest way to win would be to murder the opponent. The prosecuting attorney told the jury that Looper had intended to "win this election with a Smith & Wesson." For his defense, Looper tried to rely on testimony from his mother and her neighbors, who said he was visiting his mother's home in Flowery Branch, Georgia, on the morning that Burks died, but witnesses he produced to support his alibi were excluded from testifying because they had not been identified to the court before the trial, as required.

In August 2000, Looper was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without chance of parole. The victim's family had requested that prosecutors not seek the death penalty. Following his conviction and sentencing, he was transferred to Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, Tennessee. Brushy Mountain Penitentiary closed; Looper is currently at the Morgan County Correctional Complex.

In 2001 or 2002, Looper sued a TV station and individual station personnel for depicting him unfavorably in a broadcast interview. He also filed a lawsuit against Tennessee Department of Correction personnel and the contractor that provided medical services in Tennessee prisons, charging that the conditions of his confinement were unconstitutional and that he was not receiving adequate medical care. In that suit he asked for $47 million in damages. He has also filed several unsuccessful motions to overturn his conviction.