Tonight a popular car salesman is dead and his killers are still on the loose. 51-year-old Michael Burns was shot at point blank range in front of his wife and 9-year-old son early Friday night at his shop which is front of Atlantic Bank on Freetown Road. 7NEWS has been on the story since Friday night and Keith Swift picks it up.
Friend of Deceased,
"Senseless."
Senseless! That is how friends and family describe the murder of car salesman Michael Burns. His shop was closed today but on Friday night it was a major crime scene. That's the man known as 'Big Mike' lying on the ground, dead, and he was killed directly in front of his small shop on Freetown Road around 8 pm. By the time our team arrived, crime scene investigators were scouring the perimeter for evidence, half of Freetown Road was closed to traffic, and dozens of onlookers gathered, including Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord. We spoke to one of big mike's friends who asked us not to use his name.
Friend of Deceased,
"I usually hang out on Saturday with this guy here, sometimes in the evening after work. Its sad, really sad to see an honest businessman going down like that in history."
Around 8 on Friday night Big Mike was doing what he did most nights, sitting in front of his small appliance shop, sharing a drink with friends. His brother-in-law Roy Menzies was with him.
Roy Menzies, Brother in Law
"We were out here early and we planned to buy something to drink. He said he wanted to go home early but he waited until everybody ready to go because we didn't have a vehicle, the vehicle we depended on was the taxi. So the man sent me to go guy the quart and when I came back we took a little taste together. We took like two shots together."
Roy along with 'Big Mike' and at least one other taxi-man started to drink. Roy went to urinate while Big Mike's friend went to buy him these boledo tickets at a nearby grocery store. Roy says that while urinating he heard the blast.
Roy Menzies,
"I told him I was going to take a leak and I'll come right back I went to take a leak at the back of the shop there, not behind his shop, behind the next neighbor's shop. When I went to take the leak, I heard 'bam.' I asked what happened out there. So I even pissed my draws, I didn't finish piss, and I dashed out there and I only heard bawling; the little boy and my sister were bawling and I saw him on the ground, facedown."
Big Mike was dead. Police say he was shot in his face - in front of his 9-year-old son and his wife. Police say the motive may have been robbery but if so they didn't get away with much. Our camera zoomed in on the items police removed from Big Mike's pants pockets and if you look closely- that's money, lots of it, which the culprits didn't take. And even if it was a robbery - this man says they didn't have to kill him.
Friend of Deceased,
"Mike is a good friend of mine and as a matter of fact all of us out here usually hang out with Mike on Saturdays. I really cannot see the motive or...well yeah I figure the motive was robbery but I don't see why they'd have to kill the guy. Mike was of good character. Bringing vehicles from the States was his main form of business and electronics, clothing, and stuff like that to sell at the shop. I figure these guys are must be some sort of cowards to perform such a devious act like this."
He calls them cowards, but to the law, they are simply murderers who tonight have still not been charged.
We note that 'Big Mike's wife owns a food shop near to his appliance shop.
