F.W. "Skip" Burkart, LIAR!

Former Commonwealth Attorney of Roanoke County

Now "Judge" of General District Court Roanoke, Virginia

"I knew something happened to Teresa," he said, because a relative told him gasoline had been sprinkled around her body." Bramblett
Commonwealth's Attorney Skip Burkart says HE didn't know that. He says it took the state crime lab to determine that there was gasoline on and around Teresa Hodges' body and ONLY hers.    (from WDBJ newscast internet archive)

This is a LIE by Burkart even before the trial. There was NO GASOLINE involved. He knew that! He is a LIAR! It was kerosene and benzene.

Burkart may be incapable of telling the truth. Read more of his lies on this page.

Burkart started out, at least on the Bramblett case, to want some solid evidence of guilt. Early on Keesee's notes suggest Burkart wanted more evidence but said he would consider grand jury indictment of something other than the homicide. That something has been blanked out in the FOIA report. I imagine that is the missing girls investigation which Bramblett had nothing to do with. Bramblett was investigated thoroughly and almost twenty years had passed without further evidence and they still believe Bramblett did something to the teenagers. It shows Bramblett's paranoia was just like the psychiatrist told the court, it may have a basis of fact.

Had Burkart stuck to the facts and evidence he had at his disposal he would not be in on the plot to frame Bramblett, but, he went far beyond the evidence and made a complete lie of what he had and what he was going to "prove" to the jury. Burkart knew the gun evidence was bogus. He had all the exhibits the police had, or should have, but he questioned nothing. He actually phrased the questions so the firearms expert lied. Continuing to place lie upon lie until the gun was the murder weapon.

The buckets at the crime scene were matched to buckets Bramblett brought home from a company he had worked for in Lynchburg, VA. Hours and hours of comparison. Bramblett didn't deny he brought the buckets to the Hodges, Bramblett was using them to paint the Hodges house. He was priming the dry wood with kerosene before applying the paint. He was not only painting the Hodges house for free, Bramblett was also furnishing all the materials, paint, brushes, buckets and ladders to do the job.

Burkart also knew the video tape that the police made about a truck leaving the crime scene was nothing like the conditions when, and where, the old lady said she saw the truck. Vinton was upgrading the lighting system on Virginia Avenue, the street where the Hodges house was located, and they had installed new high pressure sodium lamps and lamp posts to the end of the block of the crime scene. The old lady saw the truck she described about a quarter to a half mile beyond these lights. When the video tape was made, the lights had been installed all the way to the Roanoke City line, which included where the truck was said to have been seen. Burkart knew this. In fact, in his closing he first says the truck passed the woman where it was the darkest and then, two minutes later, he says "that's why I stopped the tape, so you could see the truck under those orange colored lights." Bramblett's truck happened to be a newly painted WHITE truck and the old lady said she saw a "pinkish red" truck. It was a red truck to begin with but the police, or someone, got her to amend the color to pinkish red. She also said it was beat-up and dirty. Bramblett's truck was a 1972 Ford 150 and it was not beat-up and never allowed to get dirty.

An interesting thing about this is Burkart always referred the truck coming from the Hodges driveway, the crime scene or where the Hodges were murdered. This was another LIE that he was aware of. The truck came from a driveway TWO doors West from the Hodges, that was a painting contracting storage building at the time of the crime. This was NEVER mentioned by anyone. I found out about it when I got the FOIA-FBI information. Burkart had to know this. He deliberately concealed it.

In Burkart's hour and a half closing he dwelled on the gun, which he knew was a lie, he dwelled on the truck, which he knew was a lie, and he lied about Bramblett saying Teresa had been doused with gasoline, which he knew was a lie. The entire case Burkart presented were lies and he knew it.

Burkart also made much ado about a pubic hair on the children's bed that they determined was Bramblett's. Bramblett was in the house a lot so there is no doubt there were many pubic hairs hairs there. A fireman actually stood on the bed, another put their hands on the bed after crawling on the floor from where Blaine Hodges was found and someone threw a tarpolian over the bed. Any of these things could have transferred the hair from any place in the house to the bed.

Burkart is now a General District Court Judge and his lies in this case got him there. How can he sit and judge people when his career has been advanced by being a crooked, lying, prosecutor that is supposed to serve justice, not frame defendants by lies and deceit? Burkart murdered Earl Bramblett with lies as surely as if he had taken a gun and shot him.

Mike Stovall, a Vinton cop, had testified the lights weren't installed but to Pollard Street
About five hundred feet to the end of the block at the Hodges murder scene. Mrs McGee
saw the truck about a half mile further down the street where the lights had NOT been installed.

This shows why Burkart had to tell two lies.

But the tape was made AFTER the new high pressure sodium lights had been installed to the Roanoke/Vinton city line.

The even misidentified the new lights as Halogen when they were High Pressure Sodium lights.

Facts were never a part of this investigation or trial.

Burkart continues with his closing and says this:

Burkart is now a man that judges people in General District Court. If he lies to condemn a man
to death what other lies passes his lips that could be considered worse than that? None!

 
Here is an actual map of the street. The UP arrow on the left is where
the lights ended. The DOWN arrow on the left is where the truck passed.

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Another lie by Burkart

it didn't leave the Hodges driveway. Here is what the FOIA had in it.

A gravel driveway two doors west of the crime scene.

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There was also a deaf mute that saw the truck. His name is Mark Stevens and
he also works for the post office as a maintainence man. He was not called to
testify and he will say nothing (actually, sign nothing) to anyone for fear for his, and his family's life.

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