11 Years Ago, Bradley Lockhart Lost Wife in Tragic Murder

11 years ago, in March 1998, Bradley Lockhart experienced an unimaginable tragedy that left two people wounded and three dead including his wife of seven years, Vickie Sue Lockhart, then 28, his wife's 19-year-old sister, Channel Lockhart and 24-year-old David Lee Epps.

Today, he is preparing to bury his five-year-old daughter, Shaniya Davis.

Davis' mother, Antionette Davis and a man who has been described as the boyfriend of Antionette Davis' sister, Mario McNeil, have both been arrested. Davis is charged with Human Trafficking for Prostitution amongst other crimes and McNeil has been charged with kidnapping. The Fayetteville police say additional charges are forthcoming, but have not released further details.

In all, five people were bound, gagged and shot during the early morning hours of March 3, 1998. The shotgun murders occurred at a home on Graham Road in Fayetteville that was being rented by Joe Epps Staton the brother of David Epps. The two injured men were Thorsten Malin, 21, and Tyrone Parker, 20. Malin rented the home along with Staton who was not home at the time of the murders.

Police reports stated that two men broke into the home with the intent to rob Joe Epps who had received almost $20,000 in a settlement the year before." They thought it was in the house," said mother Sheila Epps. "The money was in the bank, but my son may have bragged about having it."

Police reports stated that the killers ambushed the five occupants after one of the victims let them into the home around 1 a.m. Each person in the home was shot several times after being bound and gagged. Sheriff Deputies were summoned to the home at about 1:24 a.m. after Malin freed himself and escaped through a bedroom window and went to the duplex apartment next door, where the landlord lived, and they called 911.

The killers left the home after the murders, tossing the murder weapon near a school bus stop on the corner of Mackenzie and Duncan Streets in the Spring Lake area of Fayetteville.

Four men were arrested for the shotgun killings, but only two were convicted for the triple homicide: Vincent Lee Thomas and Litdel Burkhalter. Both were charged with First-Degree murder, First-Degree Kidnapping, Conspiracy Armed Robbery and Assualt with a Dangerous Weapon with Intent to Kill. Both were sentenced to life in prison.

Bradley and Vickie Sue Lockhart, had three children together. Since his wife's murder, the children have mostly stayed with their grandparents in the Remington subdivision behind Seventy-First High School.

Since Thomas' conviction, he has had 27 infractions while in prison, the latest having occurred in February 2009 according to the North Carolina Department of Corrections. He is currently incarcerated at the high security State Prison Scotland Correctional Institution in Laurinburg, North Carolina.

Thomas was a soldier stationed at Fort Bragg at the time of his arrest. He voluntarily went to the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department after eyewitnesses fingered him in a photo line-up. He was arrested at that time. Thursday morning to talk to sheriff's deputies after eyewitnesses picked him out of a photo lineup, said Sgt. Stephen McLamb of the Cumberland County sheriff's office.

Amongst the infractions he's been charged with in prison are:
02/20/2009 NO THREAT CONTRABAND
01/28/2008 WEAPON POSSESSION
01/28/2008 DISOBEY ORDER
12/06/2007 GAMBLING
10/20/2006 UNAUTHORIZED TOBACCO USE 08/13/2005 SEXUAL ACT
07/25/2005 ASSAULT STAFF W/WEAPON
11/06/2004 SEXUAL ACT
02/13/2004 ATTEMPT CLASS C OFFENSE
01/09/2004 ATTEMPT CLASS A OFFENSE
01/09/2004 DISOBEY ORDER
08/21/2003 SUBSTANCE POSSESSION
08/21/2003 DISOBEY ORDER 08/21/2003
GAMBLING 12/21/2002 ATTEMPT CLASS A OFFENSE
10/19/2002 SEXUAL ACT

Burkhart was arrested the day after Thomas and led Deputies to the area where the shotgun had been disposed of, but it wasn't there. Burkhart is currently incarcerated at the Lanesboro Correctional Institution in Polkton, North Carolina where he has racked up a total of nine prison infractions since his incarceration.

Here are a few of the infractions he has commited while imprisoned:
06/26/2008 SELL/MISUSE MEDICATION
01/09/2006 SUBSTANCE POSSESSION
07/15/2003 ACTIVE RIOTER
07/15/2003 DISOBEY ORDER
04/14/2003 ASSAULT STAFF W/WEAPON