Ronald Burke, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and jail-issued tennis shoes, asked for a court-appointed attorney this afternoon during a first appearance hearing in the slaying of Tamara Dunstan.
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Surrounded by five bailiffs who towered over him, Mr. Burke, 25, said he understood the charges against him - burglary, kidnapping and felony murder. He politely asked for an attorney, but suggested he might eventually replace him with one of his own.
With TV cameras rolling, Mr. Burke expressed concern about when bond would be addressed in Richmond County Superior Court. Magistrate Court Judge John Baxter could not give him a solid date.
The judge said the next hearing will be a probable cause hearing, in which investigators will lay the foundation of their case. No date has been set.
Richmond County Sheriff Ronnie Strength said Mr. Burke, a family friend of the victim, admitted to the burglary and slaying Sunday and directed police to the body in a rural Edgefield County field.
Sheriff Strength said it appears Mr. Burke was burglarizing the home of the victim's mother on Kipling Drive on Thursday when Mrs. Dunstan arrived. A confrontation led to her death, the sheriff said.
Sheriff Strength was waiting to meet with the family before releasing the cause of death.
Funeral services are planned for Wednesday, but arrangements have not been finalized. Platts Funeral Home of Augusta is in charge.
In Edgefield County, sheriff's Lt. Randy Doran said authorities do not believe Ms. Dunstan was sexually molested. Lt. Doran, who was present when authorities unearthed Mrs. Dunstan's body from a shallow grave on National Forest land Sunday, said she was found fully clothed.
On Monday, Edgefield Sheriff's authorities and South Carolina Department of Natural Resources law enforcement officers on all-terrain vehicles combed the grassy shoulders of South Carolina Highway 230, also known as Martintown Road, searching for evidence in the case.
Reach Greg Rickabaugh at (706) 828-3851 or greg.rickabaugh@augustachronicle.com.
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