Convicted Trumbull killer goes to Supreme Court for appeal

COLUMBUS

The attorney for Austin T. Burke of Bristolville, who was sentenced to 58 years to life in prison in 2018 for killing a Warren man and leaving his body in a remote Bristol Township location, has appealed his case to the Ohio Supreme Court.

Burke, 19 at the time of the crimes, was convicted in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court of killing Brandon Sample, 22, robbing the Cortland Pizza Joe’s restaurant a short time later and possessing a plastic knife in the Trumbull County jail while awaiting trial.

The appeal follows a decision by the Warren-based 11th District Court of Appeals affirming Burke’s convictions and sentence.

The newest appeal again raises questions of whether cell tower location evidence — used at Burke’s trial that suggested Burke’s movements the day of the murder — should have been admissable at trial.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com