Court sees autopsy photos

Mother testifies at murder trial

October 3, 2006

By MARY AMES/Frontiersman

PALMER - A man on trial for the deaths of his live-in girlfriend and their infant son sat quietly while the jury viewed 17 autopsy photos in Palmer Superior Court on Monday.

Christopher A. Kevan, 25, is charged with six counts of murder for the Oct. 25 strangulation deaths of Brandie Burns, 26, and Ashton Burns, 7 weeks. Kevan faces two counts of first-degree murder and four counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of the mother and baby who shared his Bogard Road apartment.

Connie Burns, mother and grandmother of the murdered pair, testified about her daughter's relationship with Kevan and her attempts to bring Brandie and Ashton to live with her in Georgia, where they would be safe from Kevan's abuse. For the first time in the two years Brandie had been with Kevan, he answered the phone when Connie Burns called on the afternoon of Oct. 25, she said. Before Kevan handed the phone to her daughter, he spoke with her, Connie Burns said.

&#8220He said he had a couple of things he had to do, and then everything would be over,” she said. &#8220Then I talked to Brandie.”

That was the last time Connie Burns spoke with Brandie.

Connie Burns left court after her testimony to avoid seeing the autopsy photos. But she returned to hear testimony from Dallas Massie, a retired Alaska State Trooper who was in charge of the Palmer post of the Alaska Bureau of Investigation at the time.

Massie described Kevan as &#8220somewhat stoic” during his interview at the trooper post on Oct. 26. Kevan spoke in a matter-of-fact manner about what happened, he said, and informed investigators the deaths happened the night before. Kevan said &#8220it must have had something to do with the boy,” and that &#8220she kept nagging,” Massie said.

Kevan told investigators that after he killed Brandie and Ashton Burns, he &#8220wanted to be with them,” Massie said. Kevan told investigators he tried to cut his jugular vein, tried to stab himself and, when he failed, tried to drown himself by lying in the cold water of a nearby pond.

Richard Payne, assistant district attorney, asked if Massie thought Kevan really wanted to kill himself.

&#8220In my experience, if someone wants to kill themselves, they can succeed,” Massie said.

Payne asked Massie if Kevan &#8220had a moment of reflection” during the strangulations.

&#8220He said he took a step and grabbed her by the neck, and once he did that, he had to go through with it,” Massie said. &#8220I think he just didn't want to go to jail. After he grabbed her by the throat, he knew he was going to go to jail. So he might as well kill her. The theme was he knew his fate from the moment he grabbed her.”

Kevan denied taking any drugs, Massie said, but was not so clear about how much he'd been drinking.

&#8220He said he had two shots of brandy,” Massie said. &#8220But when we indicated that wasn't enough to be intoxicated, he said maybe it was two glasses.”

Kevan didn't give up many details of the deaths, and spoke mostly in answer to direct questions during the interview, he said. At first, Kevan told investigators he strangled the pair at the same time, one throat in each hand, but then, &#8220he shied away from it.”

Kevan told investigators that he was responsible for Ashton's previous skull fracture during that interview, Massie said. He was familiar with the incident because he was visiting a friend at the hospital when Brandie Burns brought Ashton in on Oct. 1.

The first-time mother said she tripped as she was carrying Ashton, and when she fell, the baby's head hit the wooden bed frame.

&#8220He said she lied,” Massie said. &#8220He said he'd been drinking and playing airplane. He threw him up in the air and dropped him. He said she saved him on that one - that the hospital bill would be paid if he were out of the picture.”

Massie said Kevan seemed at first to want to blame Brandie Burns for her own and Ashton's deaths, then said it was his fault. But Kevan wouldn't confirm statements he previously made about their deaths to his father or his uncle, who arrived at the apartment before troopers.

&#8220He said it should be obvious,” Massie said.

The jury is scheduled to hear testimony from the state medical examiner today and continue the trial next week.

Contact Mary Ames at 352-2284 or mary.ames@frontiersman.com.