NV NV - Agnes and Sharyn Burkin, stabbed to death while sleeping, Las Vegas, September 6, 1998

[MayhemInTheDesert]

Firefighters arrived on the scene of an intense blaze at 1:37 a.m. on September 6, 1998 located at 4620 Glenn Davis Drive in southeast Las Vegas. After putting out the fire, the bodies of 70-year-old Agnes Burkin and her 48-year-old daughter Sharyn were discovered. It was immediately apparent that neither woman had died from the smoke or flames. Both had been stabbed multiple times, and one of the victims had her throat cut. Arson investigators determined there were multiple points of origin for the fire and that the killer (or killers) had doused the home in accelerant before setting the home alight.

The only real clue evident in press reports of this crime is that a blue or teal Aerostar van belonging to one of the victims was missing from the home. That vehicle was recovered the following day abandoned in the desert near Ann Road and Decatur - a significant distance from where the double murders occurred. Police also told reporters that Agnes had kicked her adult son out of the home the year before the murders, but they were also clear in indicating they did not consider the son a suspect.

Almost 25 years later, there are no suspects in this brutal double homicide. Agnes was retired and Sharyn worked as lead assistant cashier at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino on the Strip. Both apparently lead quiet lives, and they had rented the home on Glenn Davis Drive for 25 years.

We wonder whether this was a burglary that went wrong or if the murderer had planned the crime. It seems the killer moved quietly since the victims were found in separate bedrooms - whoever the killer struck first did not wake the second victim. And the use of accelerant seems premeditated.

Link to an article in the Las Vegas Sun from the time of the Burkin murders:

https://lasvegassun.com/news/1998/sep/08/women-slain-before-blaze/


Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department cold case site for the 90's references the Burkin murders:

1990 - 1999

 

[Meganical]

I am reminded of the Times Square Killer when he committed two murders and arson at the Travel Inn in New York. What confuses me is the car--why take it and then, abandon it? If the killer wanted to hide the vehicle in the desert from being found by authorities, then I would assume the killer left DNA in the vehicle. And yet, if that is the case, then why did he/she not set the car ablaze too? The different elements of the crime seem disorganized, which would indicate the killer is probably a teenager. Most likely, a young male adult living in the victims' neighborhood with violent tendencies or criminal background and knew about the victims. The motive is probably that he/she planned to rob the older women and found them unwilling to give him/her what was asked for and thus, they were killed, or the killer decided to fulfill his/her fantasy of murder. The victims were known for living quietly and alone, which made them a relatively low-risk hunting ground for a killer. If the victims were not bound, then I would assume the motive was not burglary. At this point, I would investigate any young men that lived in the neighborhood that were later incarcerated for aggravated assault or murder.