Burket v. Commonwealth

In this appeal, we review the capital murder conviction and sentence of death imposed upon Russel William Burket.

I

PROCEEDINGS

Burket was indicted by a Virginia Beach grand jury for the capital murder of Katherine A. Tafelski and Ashley Tafelski as part of the same act or transaction. Code §§ 18.2-31 and 18.2-10. He was also indicted for sexual penetration with an inanimate object of Katherine Tafelski, malicious wounding of Andrew J. Tafelski, Jr., malicious wounding of Chelsea Brothers, and statutory burglary. He pled guilty to all the charges against him, reserving his right to challenge on…