IA IA - Rose Burkert, 22, & Roger Atkison, 32, Williamsburg, 12 Sept 1980

[mcbrainder]

Who was the father of Rose's child?

Good question. I have no idea. He must have been out of the picture. When Rose died, it was half-brother and his wife that raised her.

 

[mcbrainder]

The key thing I come back to is that they ended up getting a room there because of a last-minute cancellation.

Unless it was random, they were followed, or the phone calls led someone there.

I really wish I could talk to the babysitter.

 

[CursSleuth]

The key thing I come back to is that they ended up getting a room there because of a last-minute cancellation.

Unless it was random, they were followed, or the phone calls led someone there.

I really wish I could talk to the babysitter.

But isn't the babysitter Rose's own mother?

Tisha made a terrific point. Did Rose know Roger was married? And why an unknown call? Police can track 2 calls and the other unknown fail to it? Why? Because was untraceable? If so, cannot be Roger phoning his wife.

I like your idea of the half-brother in the parking lot with Rose. But unless we don't have a real motive for the crime is hard to believe in the half-brother. Even if the encounter in the room made way to murder, there is the wound details, the soap bits and the message to explain. If the half-brother went there with murder in mind, things can fit a little bit but then again, why he would kill his half-sister? Just because he did not like her how to traise kids? The fact she was possible being laying with men? There must be other reason if we gonna consider the half-brother. And now I am gonna ask you if you believe in this possible but demonic reason. The half-brother, that seems was a child abuser, could have in mind to kill her and then to keep Rose's child to plan future abuses? Kinda hard to believe don't you think? So, what possible motive he had to do such thing if truly was him. An accident in the room? I think the weapon (closest indentified as to an axe or trawler) is an unusual item that people often do not carry along... so, if he took with him, he was planning murder all from the start.

I agree that Roger in his skivvies is out of the ordinary, but I also don't think it's impossible. Some people are just comfortable and careless like that. Now, if brother sees Rose in the parking lot, smiles and says "Rose! What the heck are you doing here?" and they end up going into the hotel together, that would definitely explain his composure

Out of the ordinary? C'mon man, some hotels where I've been to I would strip naked around with my wife if the weather was hot. Done it a few times. I do not think "out of the ordinary" at all. It is 9:30pm, hot, he's not thinking to go out. Why the heck should he be full dressed when going to bed?? If he was a very shy man and the first date he was having, I can agree with you, but we all know what Roger was in terms of romance and getaways...

 

[CursSleuth]

Good question. I have no idea. He must have been out of the picture. When Rose died, it was half-brother and his wife that raised her.

I thought in my subconscious, Rose's child was her ex-bf. How old anyway was the child? Months? For how long Rose was dating Roger? Just a couple of months?

 

[4SAM]

you mention possible sex abuse by the brother. Do you think he was the father of her child????

 

[CursSleuth]

Would bomb up the case, would not? But it wasn't what I said.

 

[mcbrainder]

But isn't the babysitter Rose's own mother?

Tisha made a terrific point. Did Rose know Roger was married? And why an unknown call? Police can track 2 calls and the other unknown fail to it? Why? Because was untraceable? If so, cannot be Roger phoning his wife.

I like your idea of the half-brother in the parking lot with Rose. But unless we don't have a real motive for the crime is hard to believe in the half-brother. Even if the encounter in the room made way to murder, there is the wound details, the soap bits and the message to explain. If the half-brother went there with murder in mind, things can fit a little bit but then again, why he would kill his half-sister? Just because he did not like her how to traise kids? The fact she was possible being laying with men? There must be other reason if we gonna consider the half-brother. And now I am gonna ask you if you believe in this possible but demonic reason. The half-brother, that seems was a child abuser, could have in mind to kill her and then to keep Rose's child to plan future abuses? Kinda hard to believe don't you think? So, what possible motive he had to do such thing if truly was him. An accident in the room? I think the weapon (closest indentified as to an axe or trawler) is an unusual item that people often do not carry along... so, if he took with him, he was planning murder all from the start.



Out of the ordinary? C'mon man, some hotels where I've been to I would strip naked around with my wife if the weather was hot. Done it a few times. I do not think "out of the ordinary" at all. It is 9:30pm, hot, he's not thinking to go out. Why the heck should he be full dressed when going to bed?? If he was a very shy man and the first date he was having, I can agree with you, but we all know what Roger was in terms of romance and getaways...

I only heard recently that the babysitter was Rose's mother. I believe it to be true but I'm not 100% on that. I believe Rose knew Roger was married but it's possible she didn't. I would think it would be hard for him to hide at that point.

I agree with you about Roger. I just mean that in the news archives and from what other people are saying, the killer was someone Roger knew well because he was in his undershorts. I don't believe that's necessarily true.

 

[mcbrainder]

I thought in my subconscious, Rose's child was her ex-bf. How old anyway was the child? Months? For how long Rose was dating Roger? Just a couple of months?

The child was 2. Rose met Roger a month before.

Roger would deliberately install telephone wire wrong at women's home and use it as an excuse to go back and talk to them. It was well known that he did that from his work crew.

 

[mcbrainder]

you mention possible sex abuse by the brother. Do you think he was the father of her child????

Funny that you mention that. I heard a rumor that said the same, but it's completely heresy, so I hadn't mentioned it. As of now, I wouldn't put too much investment into that, but it did come up from someone who would be reliable. This person told me it was a rumor as well though.

What I'm trying to find out is when the half-brother came into Rose's life. Her father died in 78. I know her mother's name. What I can't find is who her mother was married to at the time and how long they had been married.

 

[mysterymike]

[FONT=&quot]Glad to see a couple more people contribute to this all-important discussion. Welcome to the conversation trisha_mc and 4SAM.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Please continue to include your theories. The more input and theories we have, the better chance of coming up with one good eventual scenario.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT]

 

[CursSleuth]

The child was 2. Rose met Roger a month before.

Roger would deliberately install telephone wire wrong at women's home and use it as an excuse to go back and talk to them. It was well known that he did that from his work crew.

A very good motive for a killing.

 

[mysterymike]

I'll address some what has been posted in better detail tomorrow, but I do want to say that I was doing some deep diving on this and read multiple newspapers from the weeks that followed and I was able to find the name of the hotel manager who went in the room after the maid.

I'm composing a list of people that could potentially tell us more and he's now on it. I was also wondering--if this is connected to Rose, would the ex-boyfriend, the one who made a great suspect until his alibi checked out, have known anything? Surely, he'd know about half-brother and maybe some things Rose told him. He's still alive and I have his name as well.

Good idea with the list of people. I'm sure the ex-boyfriend could contribute greatly to this murder case, assuming, of course, he is not the killer and would be willing to talk. If you decide to try and contact him, be careful. Considering his past with Rose, it sounds like he wasn't a very nice individual.

That's great you found out the name of the Hotel manager. Is the name unusual enough to be able to find him online? He could even lead you to the bartender's name, maybe he remembers his name.

 

[CursSleuth]

[FONT=&amp]Glad to see a couple more people contribute to this all-important discussion. Welcome to the conversation trisha_mc and 4SAM.[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]Please continue to include your theories. The more input and theories we have, the better chance of coming up with one good eventual scenario.[/FONT]

Sorry MisteryMike, but I think that's the way round. We'll all gonna end with more doubts and headaches than before... but off course it is healthy to keep this case up and running.

 

[mysterymike]

Sorry MisteryMike, but I think that's the way round. We'll all gonna end with more doubts and headaches than before... but off course it is healthy to keep this case up and running.

Yes, I guess you can look at it that way, but you can also look at it another way, the more different ideas you see, the higher the chance you'll find something you missed before or didn't think of before that can help fit easier into the puzzle you are trying to complete.

If you can even get a few people on here that can agree with one or more parts of this case, that could lead to agreement of other parts, which could eventually end up with an intelligent hypothesis of the scenario of the crime that could have several people in agreement. You never know.

 

[mcbrainder]

Good idea with the list of people. I'm sure the ex-boyfriend could contribute greatly to this murder case, assuming, of course, he is not the killer and would be willing to talk. If you decide to try and contact him, be careful. Considering his past with Rose, it sounds like he wasn't a very nice individual.

That's great you found out the name of the Hotel manager. Is the name unusual enough to be able to find him online? He could even lead you to the bartender's name, maybe he remembers his name.

It is a unique name and he was easy to find. He seems to be a pretty decent guy too, so maybe he'd be willing to talk to me. I'd like to see if I can get the bartender's name through him, like you mentioned. That's actually my main objective.

Hopefully the bartender is still alive.

 

[trisha_mc]

[FONT="]Glad to see a couple more people contribute to this all-important discussion. Welcome to the conversation trisha_mc and 4SAM.[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
[FONT="]Please continue to include your theories. The more input and theories we have, the better chance of coming up with one good eventual scenario.[/FONT][B][COLOR=black][FONT=Calibri][/FONT][/COLOR][/B]
[FONT="][/FONT]

Thanks! But I must warn you I'm a master at lurking. I really only ever post on here if I truly feel I have something to add or a different perspective. I've been on Websleuths nearly every day for years, and I think I've barely crossed 100 posts, LOL! I just happened to be so interested in what you guys were writing that I read the whole thread last night and felt like I saw a few things differently. But I do jump in every now and then. Keep going!

 

[4SAM]

Is there somewhere in here that lists the jobs that the other family members had at the time and was there ever a follow up as to where the key players are today?

 

[mcbrainder]

Is there somewhere in here that lists the jobs that the other family members had at the time and was there ever a follow up as to where the key players are today?

Which family members are you looking for?

I know where all living family members are today. One person I'm curious about (basically how much this person really knew), is in California. This person's lack of interest in the case and lack of mention in association is somewhat notable.

I think if this was a family thing, some direct members of the family had to have known the truth or figured it out at some point and helped cover.

I don't know what most of their occupations were at the time this happened though.

 

[CursSleuth]

We are obviously chasing the prime or known suspects as it shoukld be, but we cannot ignore other unknown suspects. The fact that Roger was a man that cheated his wife alot and deliberately installed telephone wires wrong at women's home (as McBrainder stated) to get some excuse to make dull conversations and try, in the betweens, something more spicy with the female househould. Maybe some husband or boyfriend of one of these women was so much jealous that he vowed to kill Roger in retribution. Maybe someone like if Roger knew him, wasn't a person to piss off. Maybe Rose was killed along because she could be a witness or she died anyway because at the eyes of the killer she was a "" messing around with another marital life...

 

[4SAM]

I think what gets me is there was no evidence of a fight. Its like Rose just laid down and they shot her. When I was asking about jobs family had, did LE check to see if everyone was where they were supposed to be? Timecards stamped that sort of thing.