A Kent County Superior Court jury today found Gerardo E. Martinez, 29, of 1917 Warwick Ave., guilty of the first-degree murder of Lindsay Ann Burke, 23, of North Kingstown, and one count of driving a motor vehicle without the consent of the owner on Friday.
The jury also determined that the murder was committed in a manner involving torture and aggravated battery.
Following a seven-day trial presided over by Associate Justice Francis J. Darigan Jr., the panel deliberated for three hours before returning the guilty verdict.
This domestic violence murder of a lovely, accomplished young woman was preceded by one of the most brutal attacks imaginable, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch said in a press release Friday. We said right from the outset that we were going for life without parole, and the jury's verdict empowers us to do just that. My heart goes out to the Burke family for the incomprehensible loss they have suffered.
Special Assistant Attorney General Gina K. Lopes and Assistant Attorney General William Ferland presented the following evidence at trial:
At approximately 4:14 p.m. on Sept. 14, 2005, Office John McHale of the Warwick Police Department met Christopher and Ann Burke, the parents of Lindsay, at the home of Gerardo E. Martinez at 1917 Warwick Ave. The Burkes were concerned for their daughter's safety since she had not reported to work that day and they had not heard from her. She had been involved in a tumultuous relationship with Martinez for two years and had lived at the Warwick Avenue address with Martinez until she moved in with her brother and his wife, in North Kingstown, on Aug. 28.
Officer McHale attempted to check on the well-being of Lindsay Burke, but no one came to the door and nothing appeared out of order from the outside of the home. He advised the Burkes to file a missing person report with the North Kingstown Police.
At approximately 5:40 that evening, the New Hampshire State Police contacted the Warwick Police Department to report that Gerardo Martinez had been involved in a motor vehicle accident with a car that was registered to Lindsay Burke at the Warwick Avenue address. When New Hampshire State Police Trooper Rollston arrived on the scene of the accident, a volunteer firefighter was treating Martinez for self-inflicted lacerations to his forearms. There was an inordinate amount of blood in the car — disproportionate to Martinez's wounds. Martinez was conscious, but not responding to any questions.
Trooper Rollston said he was trying to assess the situation, identify the driver, and secure the scene, he located what appeared to be a suicide note, signed by Martinez.
After receiving a phone call from New Hampshire State Police, Sgt. Mark Canning and Officers McHale and Raymond Cox of the Warwick Police responded to 1917 Warwick Ave. The officers arrived at about the same time as Martinez's parents, who were concerned because they had not heard from their son for a couple of days.
Officers entered the residence with a key given to them by Mrs. Martinez. Once inside, they discovered a body later identified as Lindsay Burke in the first-floor bathroom, along with a large amount of blood. A knife covered in blood was observed on the vanity next to the sink. A picture of Burke's current boyfriend was in the sink.
After a search warrant was obtained, officers seized a video camera that was perched on top of a bureau facing the bed in a second-floor bedroom. It appears that a tape in the video camera was supposed to be a suicide video but, since Martinez lived, it doubled as Martinez's confession to killing Burke.
The medical examiner found that the cause of Lindsay Burke's death was massive hemorrhage due to sharp force wounds of the left carotid artery and left jugular vein, and found that the manner of death was homicide.
Martinez waived extradition in District Court in Concord, N.H., on Oct. 14, 2005, and was arraigned on Oct. 17, 2005, before Associate Justice Vincent A. Rogosta in Kent County Superior Court. He had been held without bail at the ACI since his arraignment. A sentencing hearing is scheduled in Kent County Superior Court on March 30, 2007.