They say that the most tragic element of the Civil War was the actions taken by brother against brother. That the rivers ran red with the blood of siblings who took each others lives on the battlefield, in a war that split families, obviously divided the nation, and scarred us forever.
And what is perhaps so disturbing about it, is that the willingness to cross such a boundary, the idea that your brother is the enemy, is a point of no return. A Maryland man may not launch a Civil War, but I write with a heavy heart in hopes this story does not presage one. Because this man allegedly added his mom’s friend to the list, and killed her too.
A Maryland man allegedly murdered his brother and sister-in-law because the brother, a pharmacist, was “killing people with the COVID shot,” as he allegedly told one person. Howard County police say Jeffrey Burnham, 46, shot and killed Brian Robinette, 58, and Kelly Sue Robinette, 57, last week. Burnham allegedly gave a paranoid warning to his mother, Evelyn, before the attack, saying, “Brian knows something.” She had called local police because of her son’s paranoid ravings, according to charging documents.
Burnham is being held without bond in Allegany County, where he is charged with stabbing Rebecca Reynolds, 83, to death inside her Cumberland home on Sept. 29. Police said he took her car and fled to Ellicott City, where a day later he killed Robinette, 58, and his wife Kelly Sue Robinette, 57. He faces first and second-degree murder charges in the couples’ deaths.
Reynolds was found dead inside her home with a deep laceration across her throat and a pillow over her face, the charging documents said. Police indicated there were signs of a struggle, noting a broken vase, cordless phone and cane on the floor near where Reynolds was found. The Robinettes were found fatally shot in an upstairs bedroom in their home on Kerger Road. A gun also was recovered from the home, according to the charging documents. Reynolds’ vehicle was found parked less than half a mile from the home, and the Robinettes’ 2007 red Corvette was missing.
I don’t know where to start. I am mentally exhausted from these people. I go to a store and deal with maskholes, I deal with threats, I find people standing outside of my pharmacy protesting, or threatening, I see idgits knock over a testing clinic in New York, and now this. But I am particularly concerned that the alledged perpetrator’s own mother reported her son over concerns for his mental stability, and nothing was done by the Cumberland Police to avert what the charging documents show was a triple homicide.
This does not mean the police did not want to do something about it, I do not know. Maryland law may limit their discretion in such matter, but I do know that the intersection of mental health and resources in the United States is a multi-car pileup of indifference, lack of funding, and training.
This particular pileup has four victims. Yes I count the alleged perpetrator as a victim. He is very likely a victim of Fox, of OANN, of Newsmax, of all of the disinformation and propaganda that poisons the mind, and leads to such tragedies. Mental health collapse is a tragedy, that leads to tragedies, and we must do something to address yet another, unaddressed crisis.
Or I fear, the rivers will turn red yet again. Only this time, with a massive media apparatus rooting against the union.
-ROC
I am weak, dealing with a stretch of fatigue I have been unable to pinpoint. We continue to monitor for cancer recurrence. This is the only living my health allows me to earn and I appreciate you. My newsletter is unaffected. Sign up here to subscribe! It publishes every Wednesday and is full of original reporting, laughs, and fun!
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-ROC