DALTON, Ga. - Thirty-three years after police say he murdered a man, shot his own wife and disappeared, Jay Thomas Burlison sat hunched over in Whitfield County Superior Court on Friday morning. His white hair stuck up in the back, and scruff covered his face. His eyes were half open.
His attorney, public defender Micah Gates, asked a judge during a bond hearing to let Burlison, 75, out of jail without paying any money. He may have been a fugitive for more than three decades, but Gates reasoned his client is a threat no longer.
"He is in a wheelchair," Gates said. "He's got an oxygen tank with him and tubes connecting directly into his nose. He's also got a hernia. He's got diabetes. He's got vision issues; the doctors disagree whether it's just cataracts or whether it's also optic nerve damage. He's got hearing loss issues, a little ringing in his ears. He has COPD, emphysema, bladder issues which require a catheter. He's had one in for about the last eight months. He's got surgery that he needs to have on that. He's got dementia. Um, now, I'm sure."
Burlison wheezed. Gates looked at him. Everybody else in court looked at him. Nobody talked for 36 seconds as Burlison caught his breath.
Gates then resumed his argument. With Burlison's poor health, Superior Court Judge Scott Minter could save taxpayers money by letting him out of jail. Plus, Gates said, Burlison may not have known police were looking for him all these years. After he allegedly killed Ernest Griffin and shot his estranged wife, Mary Burlison, in November 1984, investigators say he drove away from the Golden Gallon convenience store in Rocky Face.
"This is a case where he was never arrested, was never given any kind of notification of any kind of court date," Gates said. "The police just hadn't gotten around to arresting him until just recently."
Conasauga Judicial Circuit District Attorney Bert Poston argued that Burlison has worked for years to avoid the police. He didn't get a driver's license, Poston said. Though police were on the lookout for his car, it somehow never turned up. Poston said Burlison told him he has lived most of the last 33 years in Virginia and worked in flea markets, where he could conduct business entirely in cash.
As for Burlison's physical condition, Poston suspected the defendant exaggerated in court to sway the judge. When he helped arrest him in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee on Monday, Poston said, Burlison did not use an oxygen tank. Also, he walked.
"I don't think it would be appropriate for the court to reward [33] years of deliberate avoidance of accountability on this case," Poston said.
Minter sided with the prosecutor and ruled that Burlison will remain at the Whitfield County Jail until his trial. Poston said he would provide discovery material to Gates next week, and Minter tentatively set a trial date for Sept. 24.
"This case will be a priority, due to Mr. Burlison's health," he said.
After the hearing, Poston provided more details of how investigators found Burlison. Glenn Swinney, a former Whitfield County Sheriff's Office detective who is now the chief investigator in the prosecutor's office, kept a copy of the file against Burlison. Here and there, Poston said, Swinney would enter Burlison's Social Security number into a database to see if he popped up anywhere.
A couple of months ago, Poston said, Swinney got a "hit" when looking at the database. After Burlison visited the hospital, someone tried to help him sign up for Social Security benefits. Investigators then figured where he was living in Lawrenceburg, and officers with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation visited him.
Poston did not provide extensive details. But without telling Burlison why they were there, the officers confirmed he was the fugitive out of Whitfield County. Investigators located Burlison's ex-wife and other witnesses who could testify at trial, and they obtained a governor's warrant that would allow them to extradite Burlison back to Georgia.
They then arrested him Monday. Poston said Burlison spoke freely about his life - except for the details of the killing. He said Burlison moved from Virginia to Lawrenceburg in the last couple of years to be closer to his family. During the bond hearing, Poston told Minter he worried Burlison's family may help him if he gets out of jail.
"The impression of the DA's office up there was that if we didn't [arrest] him, they would likely move him somewhere," Poston said. "And they would not be cooperative with law enforcement. They were not cooperative in 1984."
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at 423-757-6476 or at tjett@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett.