Police work overtime to arrest suspect
A 23-year-old Smiths Station man is behind bars today, accused in the murder of 18-year-old Auburn University freshman Lauren Burk (right).
Auburn Police Assistant Chief Tommy Dawson confirmed Saturday morning that Courtney L. Lockhart had been apprehended Friday by the Phenix City Police Department and that he is being charged with capital murder during a kidnapping, capital murder during a robbery and capital murder during an attempted rape.
The news came just four days after Burk died from a single gunshot wound. Dawson wouldn’t offer any details about what happened Tuesday night except that authorities found Burk, lying on the roadway of North College Street between Farmville Baptist Church and U.S. Highway 280 after a 9:08 p.m. 911 call. Another call at 9:27 p.m. led police to campus, where they found Burk’s 2001 Honda Civic fully engulfed in flames.
Dawson credited the task force dedicated to this case for the work that led to Lockhart’s arrest. He said it was photographic evidence, obtained early in the investigation, that led them to believe Lockhart was Burk’s killer. Dawson would not say where the picture came from, but said that NASA experts helped to enhance it to make a clear identification.
Chief Frank deGraffenried said there was nothing to indicate that Lockhart was connected to any previous crimes in Lee County or Auburn, specifically the unsolved murder of local businessman Dick Salmon or the unsolved disappearance of AU graduate Lori Ann Slesinski.
Lee County District Attorney Nick Abbett said the next step is a preliminary hearing, probably on Monday. He said he plans to present the case to the grand jury on May 5. A trial probably would start a year from now.
“Capital cases do not move speedily through the system,” he said.
Dawson said he was confident Lockhart was Burk’s murderer, but he talked little about details linking Lockhart to the case.
“Again, I apologize for having to say this so much in this case, but I can not try this case in the media,” he said.*
*Caucasian perpetrators suspected of harming another person of a different race are tried and convicted in the media all the time. Duke U, for one. — Ed.