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Politics : Clinton's Scandals: Is this corruption the worst ever? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jbe who wrote (8680)	10/25/1998 1:45:00 AM
From: Borzou Daragahi	Respond to of 13994

Political opponent Byron Looper is charged with the murder of Sen. Tommy Burks {Or, Tennessee Republican perfects cutting-edge campaign strategy :-)] By Duncan Mansfield The Associated Press C R O S S V I L L E, Tenn., Oct. 24 — A political gadfly who faces charges of theft and misuse of office has been arrested and charged with murdering his opponent, a state senator who dedicated his career to crime victims' rights. Byron (Low Tax) Looper was charged Friday with first-degree murder in the death of Sen. Tommy Burks. He was arrested without incident about 1:15 a.m. as he approached his home in Cookeville, in neighboring Putnam County, Cumberland County Sheriff Butch Burgess said. “We feel real comfortable that we've got the right person,” Burgess said. Authorities wouldn't say whether they found a murder weapon, discuss evidence against Looper or say whether anyone else was involved. “The momentum of the investigation is running quite high,” District Attorney General Bill Gibson said. “That is going to limit very much the depth that we can go into as to specifics about suspects, about other matters under investigation.” Victim Found Shot in Pickup Truck Burks, 58, a respected legislator with 28 years of service, was shot in his pickup truck at his hog farm in nearby Monterey on Monday as he was preparing for a school group to visit a pumpkin patch and go on a hayride. Looper, the Putnam County property assessor, had been missing since then. Burks, a Democrat, was a heavy favorite against Republican Looper, who was indicted last March on charges of theft and misuse of office. Looper also is being sued for $1.2 million by a former girlfriend who claims he forced her to have sex and illegally transferred ownership of her home to his name. On Thursday, authorities asked the public for help in finding Looper, 34, who legally changed his middle name to (Low Tax). But Gibson did not label Looper a suspect at that time. Also Thursday, Looper's attorney, Lionel Barrett, confirmed he had spoken to his client and said Looper might be willing to discuss the case with police. Barrett refused to say whether Looper had any knowledge about the murder. Barrett said Looper is “very intelligent” and recognizes his disappearance “certainly has raised some legitimate questions.” GOP Distances Itself Looper was born in Tennessee and attended West Point from 1983-85, then spent most of his 20s in Georgia, where his mother lived. He ran for the Georgia House at 23 and lost, then worked three years as a legislative aide. After working various other jobs, he came back to Tennessee and lost a race for the state House in 1994. He won the Putnam County assessor's seat in 1996 after running a highly negative campaign against the incumbent. Since then, he has fired employees, filed lawsuits against other public officials, been sued by former workers and been involved in a fist fight between his employee and a taxpayer. His trial on charges of theft and misuse of office was set for December. Among the accusations: that he asked a developer for a donation, saying he could reduce property taxes, and then—after the developer turned him down—increased the tax assessment on property owned by the developer's parents. He got the GOP nomination for the state Senate because no one else ran for it. The state Republican Party, which could gain a Senate majority by winning Burks' seat and one other Democratic seat, had issued a statement Wednesday distancing itself from Looper. Widow Becomes Write-In Candidate Burks' widow, Charlotte, announced she would be a write-in candidate to replace her husband. Under state law, the Democrats cannot replace Burks on the ballot because he died less than 30 days before the election. That left a write-in campaign as their only option. Burks served four terms in the state House before being elected to the Senate in 1978. He never missed a day of work during his 28-year legislative career. A strong advocate of victims' rights, Burks was the Senate sponsor of two constitutional questions that will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot. One would add a crime victims' bill of rights to the constitution. The other would strike the word “comfortable” from the section of the constitution that lists requirements for state prisons. He said the old requirement was written by former Civil War soldiers who were subjected to horrifying conditions in prison camps. They weren't talking about weight rooms, televisions and libraries, he said. Copyright 1998 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.