An Interview with Jason Burkett

Jason Burkett a young man serving a life sentence in a Texas Prison, Jason till now has been in the background just a name, the faceless person that was convicted of a horrible crime. He was the co-accused of Michael Perry and many of you have read about on the net, Jason however has remained silent until now. this is his story and his words. I promised Jason an arena in which to speak and it is a promise that I am keeping so this is unedited.

Jason can you give us a short Biography?

I was born in Galveston, Texas - I had neuroblastoma (cancer) and was not expected to live. I was a very sick little kid. I have 2 brothers and one sister.

sometime when I was young, my oldest brother had a friend named Billy who came to live with us. My mom opened her home and heart to him. He became my 3rd brother, who is still around and helps and does more for my mom than my other brothers!

you have siblings can you tell us a little about your relationship with them?

I am very close to my sister, Tasha. She is the only one to write me, send me money, or to visit, since me coming to jail. She is a year older than me, so we went to school together, had the same friends. She was/is my best friend, other than my mom. I have not had any relationship with my other two brothers, Shawn and Chris, because they are too caught up in their own lives to involve me. So, I do not think we have a good relationship. I write them both, with no responses.

You're a father, how has your daughter impacted your outlook on life?

I became a father right before I was arrested. Before she was born, I was not focused on life. I was a kid. I was only worried about having fun and living life. I grew up really fast, when Shelby was born. That little girl, she is my world. I was never expected to be able to have children after all the chemo and radiation I had as a child.. so she is my MIRACLE. When she was born, me and her mom - my wife - were living apart. I had been arrested, for a misdemeanor, and decided to sit in jail to get it behind me, in order to start over. I got out of jail, and my wife was at her moms with our daughter. I went to see them all the time, and spent as much time as possible with them. Shelby was/is perfect, and I wanted to be there for her. I went to work, building fences. I tried to save money, to get myself a home for Shelby and her mom, but I did not get to. I had the wrong friends, and I ended up here -

Shelby made me realize that I needed to get my shit together, and that I had to worry about her also. She needed me, and needed a home where she would grow up safe.

Your daughter is going to see the things written about you in the future how do you think the negative attention will affect her?

True, my daughter will see a lot of things posted about me when she is older. I can only hope that I will be sitting there with her, showing her how I had the wrong friends, who landed me in here but that I never gave up on my innocence, and I fought until I proved these injustices. I want to show her my mistakes and I hope it will teach her to choose her friends wiser. There are lots of lessons to be learned that is for sure.

You had a turbulent Childhood can you tell us a little about your experiences growing up?

My childhood was difficult because I did not have a lot of structure. My mom did her best, and had her hands full. She had to battle her own health, and still is, while trying to raise us kids alone. My dad was never around. Mom did this own her own. She worked, went to school, and came home and studied, and took care of us kids. I respect her for that. She gave her all to us, and went without for us to have food and clothes and a roof over our heads.

In 2001 you and your co accused were arrested but there is several stories over what happened that day. Can you clarify the events of that day?

The day that I was arrested I remember being shot, while in the Isuzu Rodeo. I do not recall how that happened., but I think the first officer shot me. I know there were pictures of the vehicles, but I do not have these. I had warrants for probation violation, and I did not think anyone knew who I was. When the officer woke us up, I only thought about the probation shit. I did not want to go to jail, leaving Shelby. True, I should have just put my hands up but I did not at that time know the full extent of the charges. I drove off, AWAY FROM THE OFFICER.. And remember loosing control of the vehicle. I think I was shot again, but I am not for sure. But I wrecked the vehicle and I jumped out and ran. I thought that no one could link me to the vehicle so I might have a chance of getting to Megan's house close by and getting away. I jumped out., grabbing the gun on my way. I did shoot it, only one time, at the back of the building away from anyone. I used it to get out of the back window. I tried to punch it and could not get it to break. As is highly known, and undeniable, I liked that gun. Perry gave it to me when he had it with a pistol. He stole it, without me or my knowledge. I thought that gun was really nice and that I could keep it if I just carried it. Stupid idea - I know!!

I made it to Megan's apartment and was bleeding a lot. She washed me up and she told me that I was wanted for some murders. I do not remember the exact words. When I heard this, I was in total shock. I called my mom and tried to get her to come get me. I was scared, because I did not know anything and did not know what was going on and why the law was trying to kill me. I tried to talk to Perry but he did not claim to know anything. Long story short.. the cops found out we were there and they came in. I know that had their guns out with dogs, etc. They did not do anything to me, physically, except handcuff me, and carry me down the stairs. I am not sure about Perry. I was pissed at him, and was focused on myself

There is little information about you on the net, why do you think that is?

I think that I am not on the net, simply because Perry has a lot of advocates trying to help him. I got life, and he has portrayed me as this monster. I think that it takes resources. That I just do not have. He has attorneys, he has investigators, and he has friends. So that is my answer. I hope we can change this though.

Your co accused has plenty of support, however you seem to have very little why do you believe that is?

Perry has a lot of support and I have very little. I think it is because of his sentence. People who are totally against the Death Penalty, they fight for these guys. I am not represented by an attorney, because I can not afford one. He has one because his case is a case of a death penalty. They know that those guys are about to lose their lives, so they insure that they are protected. If I had money, I have attorneys lined up, My case does not have the chance of my life being taken. I need to hire an attorney, or I will have to continue doing this on my own.

Recent articles written on AC have stated that and you alone are the shooter in all three homicides how do you respond to that?

Recent articles have made me out to be the killer of all these people. Every single time that is said it continues to make no sense. Perry has people making those comments, just to make me look bad. First of all- in the same sites that say I am alone, doing these murders, they also say that the crime did not even happen that day the state says. So they claim that these murders did not even happen on that day - then they say that I am alone when I killed these people that day. That makes totally no sense. I know this -- Three innocent people died. Perry can say what he wants, claim to have been no where around, etc... But, his DNA was at the crime scene, on a cigarette butt that was found lying under the body of James Adam Stotler. If he was not there, how did his DNA get there? So there is always more to every story

What was your relationship with Kristin Willis?

I met her in high school. She was my girlfriend. We dated a little but, then we broke up. I did not see her again until Sept. 2001 when I met up with her at a carnival, in Willis , Texas. I had been separated from my wife, Shawnna, so I started dating Kristin again. I wanted to settle down and had even asked Kristin to marry me. I do not think it was going to work, but I wanted a committed relationship and my wife was not with me. SO that was our relationship. I was dating Kristin, for the month of Sept and Oct. 2001 until I told her that we could not be together anymore. I wanted to be with my daughter and her mother. That that ended our romantic relationship. We still hung out, and "messed around" but no longer as a committed relationship

there is very little doubt that there was a cover up in Conroe, why do you think you were targeted by police to begin with?

The cover up in Conroe is not surprising. They always cover up stuff. I believe that I was caught up in this. Because I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I have no doubts, if you were with Perry that morning, you would have been in my place. They did cover up a lot and the protected Kristin. But that is expected from that county. Her father has been a Montgomery County Sheriff for as long as I could remember. I think that I was "available" for a perfect fall guy.

Do you know who was involved in the Murders of Sandra and Adam Stotler and Jeremy Richardson?

I do not know who was involved in these murders for certain. I was not there, so I could never say for sure, anyone. I know that I got some unsolicited statements, from people claiming to have committed the crime. I got a statement from Perry, sent from him at his unit. He now denies sending it to me naturally. But he says that he shot these people with Kristin being there when the 2 boys were killed. I also got a statement from someone claiming to be Kristin. Her signature is on the statement, and she now is telling the DA she did not write it. That is a bigger cover up, because the original statements that were filed with the courts, are now missing....???!!

Jason in your words what is it that you want the public to know about you and the situation that you are in?

I want the public to know that I am innocent. I want them to look into the facts of my case not just read what Michael Perry is saying. I would like people to know that I need help. If I can get the public involved, I might never regain my freedom. I would appreciate anything anyone could do. I would like to encourage everyone , anyone, to be a proactive supporter. To write a letter, make a phone call, or to contact people, concerning my situation. Try to contact all the Texas State Senators, all the US Congressmen, all the attorneys you could think of. I beg people to try to get the elected officials in this country to fight for justice. To step up and defend a convicted capital murderer, is not the "popular" decision. But it should not matter. Because I am poor and young should not exclude me from justice

Jason is there anything else that you want to say and get out to the public?

I really do not know what else to say. I am just hoping that someone will take the time to read this and help me. I know my mother can provide you with a list of addresses, phone numbers, etc.. for the US Congressman and the Texas State Representatives. I like for you to ask people to call them asking that they encourage an investigation into my case. If 200+ people call them they might decide to actually look into my case.