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Police believe Cumberland man murdered brother for giving out COVID-19 vaccines

Jeffrey Allen Burnham
Posted at 5:10 PM, Oct 06, 2021
and last updated 2021-10-07 11:29:16-04

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. — Police believe a Cumberland man murdered his brother for giving out the COVID-19 vaccine.

New details have emerged about what may have been going through the mind of Jeffrey Burnham, before he allegedly killed his brother and sister in-law, Brian and Kelly Sue Robinette, at their Ellicott City home.

According to charging documents, Brian Robinette was a pharmacist who administered COVID-19 vaccinations as part of his job.

Burnham reportedly told their mother that "Brian knows something," and wanted to confront him about how the government was "poisoning people" with the COVID-19 vaccines.

On September 30 Burnahm allegedly showed up at the Robinette home on Autumn Field Circle and shot the couple dead, before taking off in their Corvette.

Investigators initially responded to the home as part of another murder investigation that took place the day before in Cumberland.

A neighbor there discovered 83-year-old Rebecca Reynolds on the couch inside her home, with a pillow over her face and a deep laceration to the throat.

Burnham's mother tipped off police that he had mentioned something about having to return Reynolds' car, which ended up being found near his brother and sister in-law's home.

Police suspect Burnham killed Reynolds before taking her car and using it to drive himself to Ellicott City.

RELATED: Tragic details in the murder of 83-year-old Rebecca Reynolds

Now detectives had to race and find where the Corvette was because Burnham was likely behind the wheel.

Brian Robinette's cell phone pinged around the exit ramp of route 100 at I-95 north. The EZ pass registered to the vehicle was captured going through the toll plaza on I-895 at the Harbor Tunnel around 8:30 that morning with a man believed to be Burnham driving.

Later that afternoon, police took another call from an informant who said they had just spoken with Burnham.

Burnham had apparently been back at his house with the Corvette, when he allegedly asked the informant for gas and said they'd be seeing him on television, while claiming that his brother was "killing people with the COVID shot."

A day later, Burnham was arrested after being spotted on the side of a West Virginia road in his brother's stolen Corvette.

MORE: Manhunt ends as police in West Virginia arrest alleged gunman wanted in three Maryland murders

On Tuesday, a judge in West Virginia agreed to extradite him back to Maryland to answer for all three murders.

A GoFundMe has been set up for the Robinette family.