KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A Kansas City, Kan., man will spend the rest of his life in prison after he was sentenced on Monday for a 2009 quadruple homicide.
Adrian Burks, 40, pleaded guilty to the June 22, 2009, homicide of Amanda Remmers, James Warren, Peggy Castleberry and Castleberry’s 3-year-old daughter, Juanita Castleberry-Bess, in a Kansas City, Kan., home.
Related: Adrian Burks Pleads Guilty
The guilty plea allowed Burks to escape the death penalty. At his sentencing, prosecutors asked for a life sentence with a “Hard 50” on each count — meaning that he will be required to serve at least 50 years on each count, or 200 years, before he could be eligible for parole.
After learning his fate, Burks showed no reaction, but the family of the victims said they’re still angry.
“He could have burst into flames sitting in that courtroom. I could’ve smelled his flesh burning and it wouldn’t have made anyone feel any better,” said James Dobbs, brother of James Warren.
Dobbs said he’s angry with the way Adrian Burks killed his brother. Warren owned a house on Muncie Drive in Kansas City, Kan., and opened it up to 21-year-old Amanda Remmers, Peggy Castleberry and her three-year-old daughter. Back in June of 2009, Burks came over to that house to confront Remmers, his former girlfriend, and he not only shot and killed her, but the other three as well. Police found the adults dead inside and the body of the three-year-old girl outside.
“I find it remarkable that you take four lives and then you take a plea to save your own life, suddenly, now life has a value after you’ve taken four lives, including the life of a three-year-old child,” Dobbs said.
Three months before the quadruple murder, Burks shot and killed Cynthia Matteson’s son, Johnny Lee Baer. Prosecutors, though, declined to file charges, saying Burks killed Baer in self-defense. Matteson joined the other victims families in court as the judge gave Burks four life sentences, or a minimum of 200 years.
“Adrian Burks had no remorse, sat there with a smirk on his face,” said Matteson. “I guess he thinks this is a game, a game he played for life. Adrian Burks must have had the devil and the demons in him to do all this. Real people don’t do this.”
Wyandotte County prosecutors said Burks is being investigated for a murder in California, and while they initially filed for the death penalty, they decided to agree to a plea deal, so the victims families wouldn’t have to go through the pain of a trial.
