Burns v. Commonwealth

A jury convicted William Joseph Bums of the capital murder of Tersey Elizabeth Cooley in the commission of rape and/or forcible sodomy in violation of Code § 18.2-31, statutory burglary in violation of Code § 18.2-90, rape in violation of Code § 18.2-61, and forcible sodomy (anal intercourse) in violation of Code § 18.2-67.1.1 At the conclusion of the penalty phase of a bifurcated trial, the jury recommended that Bums be sentenced to death on the capital murder conviction, finding that “there is a probability that [Bums] would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a…