Episode 154: The Murders of Jason Burgeson and Amy Shute
From left to right: 19-year-old Gregory Floyd, 21-year-old Harry Burdick, 20-year-old Sammie Sanchez, 19-year-old Raymond Anderson, and 21-year-old Kenneth Day
On the evening of June 8th, 2000, two young college students, 21-year-old Amy Shute and 20-year-old Jason Burgeson, were out on a date. Amy was from Coventry, Rhode Island, and Jason was from Lakeville, Massachusetts, and the two adored one another. Jason had left his parent’s home that night to pick up Amy, driving his white 1991 Ford Explorer. The couple then drove into Providence, Rhode Island, where they met two of Jason's friends, Joshua Wilson and Ray Reed, at Tommy's Bar and Grill in downtown Providence at around 10:30 p.m. All four of them left Tommy's after about an hour and then headed to Bootleggers, a dance club in Providence, with all four in Jason’s car. They arrived at midnight and left after about an hour, hanging out outside and sitting in one of the friend’s cars to talk for a while before parting ways.
No one had heard from either Jason or Amy after that, and the early morning turned into the next day and there was still no sign of either of them. Later that afternoon between 12:30 and 1:00pm, a groundskeeper at Button Hole Golf Course, located partly in Providence and partly in Johnston, discovered the bodies of a young man and a young woman against some hay bales in a part of the course that was under construction. The bodies were identified as Jason and Amy.
Detective Raymond Pingitore of the Johnston Police Department arrived on scene and found multiple used handgun casings and a live round of ammunition, but no gun was found at the scene. He also found tire tracks leading to the bodies. Detective David Detora of the Johnston Police Department's Bureau of Criminal Investigation also was on the scene, and in addition to the spent handgun casings and live round of ammunition he found a latex glove 61 feet from the victims, a torn and empty condom wrapper about 30 feet from the victims, as well as Amy’s wallet and a Sony Discman. A diamond ring was found by Amy’s body that seemed as though she had attempted to conceal or hide it, and it was later found that this ring was given to her by her mother.
Jason’s family had told police that he had left home driving his white 1991 Ford Explorer, and a BOLO alert was issued for the car and the plate number. An hour and a half later, a car was pulled over matching the description and the driver, 19-year-old Gregory Floyd, was brought into the station. Police entered his home on a warrant early the next morning and recovered a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun, a clip adjacent to the gun with two live rounds in it, a gun holster, and another live round of ammunition. Gregory lived with 21-year-old Kenneth Day, who was also taken into custody.
Kenneth admitted that he and Gregory, along with three of their friends: 20-year-old Sammie Sanchez, 19-year-old Raymond Anderson, and 21-year-old Harry Burdick, had been riding around town on June 8th with the goal of “getting somebody,” or robbing someone. Sammie Sanchez and Raymond Anderson were then taken into custody. Sammie’s car, a Chevrolet Nova, was impounded. Inside the car police found two Grand Casino coins, a Freedom flyer, numerous foreign coins, an arcade coin, and approximately fourteen photographs. Some of the photographs had Kenneth’s fingerprints on them. Police also found a condom inside the wrapper, as well as an unwrapped condom. The lot numbers on the wrapped condom were compared to the lot numbers on the empty wrapper found at the crime scene, and they were a match. Several of Amy’s hairs were also found in the back seat of the car.
As the car was being searched, Gregory was giving police a detailed account of the events of the night in question. He had brought a gun he had purchased for protection to hang out with Kenneth, and the two decided to rob a drug dealer in the area. They called the other three men, and after multiple failed attempts to locate the dealer, they began looking for another target. Harry had stolen latex gloves from a local pizza place the boys frequented and they began to drive and walk around. Eventually, they spotted Jason and Amy sitting on the steps of an arcade talking with the Ford Explorer nearby.
Gregory approached the couple, pulled out his gun and asked them for money. Jason said he didn’t have any, and Amy said she didn’t have any either. Gregory and Harry then forced them into the Ford Explorer, and Amy gave them some cash she had found in her pockets. Harry started yelling about the keys, and Jason said he had left them in the ignition. Gregory started the car and they drove to Sammie’s car where the other three boys were waiting before they drove down the street. The two cars followed one another to what Gregory thought was a construction site but was actually Button Hole Golf Course.
All five men got out of the car to discuss their options, and Sammie suggested killing Jason and Amy, and Kenneth agreed because they had both seen his face. Kenneth then brought up wanting to rape Amy. The men began to argue with one another about what to do, with Kenneth threatening to shoot Harry for trying to leave. Raymond pulled Jason and Amy out of the car and made them sit on the ground about three feet away from the Ford Explorer while Gregory gave all of the men a pair of the latex gloves Harry had stolen. They then searched the car for valuables.
The men began fighting again, and Sammie then stated to Gregory, “If you're not going to do it, I'm going to do it.” Gregory then yelled “That’s enough!” and pulled the trigger, shooting Jason and Amy both in the head. Jason was shot twice, Amy once. Sammie stole $18 in loose change from the Ford Explorer that he used to put gas in both the Explorer and his own car, and then the men parted ways.
Gregory drove home, parked the Ford Explorer in the parking lot of the Urban League near his house, and was apprehended later that night for driving the stolen vehicle.
On December 18th, 2000, a federal grand jury indicted all five men for conspiracy to commit a carjacking and carjacking with death resulting in violation of federal statutory law. Gregory, Harry, Raymond and Sammie all entered into plea deals to avoid the death penalty. Kenneth chose to go to trial.
Gregory pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders of Jason and Amy, as well as multiple other charges related to the robbery and carjacking.
Raymond Anderson told the court during his own trial that he was a reluctant witness, and he had been at home with his son and the mother of his son when Kenneth called him to come hang out. He pleaded guilty to multiple charges and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Harry and Sammie are both serving life sentences without the possibility of parole.
In August of 2003, Kenneth was indicted in state court on nine counts: conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to commit carjacking, conspiracy to commit murder, two counts of first-degree robbery, two counts of carjacking of a motor vehicle resulting in death and two counts of first-degree murder. He was found guilty on all nine counts in June of 2004 and was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Gregory had filed for a compassionate release from prison in 2020 due to COVID, which was denied. He died of cancer in prison a year later in 2021. Raymond is set to be released in 2032.
Image sources:
burgesonandshute.tripod.com - “Remembering Jason Burgeson and Amy Shute”
providencejournal.com - “Man convicted in murders of Amy Shute, Jason Burgeson wants to be freed. Here’s his argument.”
turnto10.com - “Man convicted in Johnston carjacking-killings seeks compassionate release”