ST. PAULS — A local police chief was featured Sunday in a true crime television show called “Exhumed” which followed the St. Pauls murder case of Patricia Diana Burrow.
Red Springs Chief of Police Brent Adkins was featured in the “Deadly Generosity: Bones of Truth” episode on the Oxygen channel for his investigative work while serving as former police captain of the St. Pauls Police Department. Also featured in the episode were Assistant District Attorney Joe Osman, former State Bureau of Investigation Agent Adrian Williams and Donnie Douglas, former editor of The Robesonian.
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos are the executive producers of the documentary, which features cases in which the bodies of murder victims must be exhumed to solve their cases.
St. Pauls resident Diana Burrow died on March 11, 2011.
Burrow’s husband found the 61-year-old woman lying on the sofa in their home on McLean Street. Thinking she had died of heart disease, he did not request an autopsy, according to the episode. Weeks later, he returned to find his home had been robbed.
St. Pauls police officers found that the screen to a window at the home was missing, and someone had gained access to the residence through that window, Adkins said.
Then, rumors suggesting that two local brothers who were notorious for break-ins might be involved in Burrow’s death got the police captain’s attention. Adkins lost sleep as the department investigated the case, recalling the times he had stopped to speak with Burrow, whom he considered a friend, during patrols through town, he said.
“It was right there in our faces,” he said.
Adkins described Burrow as a kind, generous person who was always willing to help someone in need.
“She was an angel,” he said.
And as rumors swirled, the police department had to find proof that only an autopsy could provide. Thus, on Oct. 24, Burrow’s body was exhumed from Gardens of Faith Cemetery in Lumberton by St. Pauls police and State Bureau of Investigation agents.
On Nov. 6, 2012, Jason Wayne Johnson, of Blue Street, was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree burglary in Burrow’s death.
Johnson broke into Burrow’s home and was confronted by Burrows, former St. Pauls Chief of Police Thomas R. Hagens told The Robesonian in 2012.
“She recognized him, and began to berate him,” Hagens said in 2012. “He got scared, then panicked … and killed her. He then covered her body with a blanket and slipped out.”
Johnson and his brother Daniel Johnson lived near Burrow, who was always kind to them, and would help them out if needed, Adkins said.
“That’s what made it so disturbing,” Adkins said.
Police found the missing window screen under the home of the Johnson’s residence, Adkins said. Jason Johnson also confessed to the murder.
Adkins likes to think Diana is looking down from heaven knowing that justice was served.
“I didn’t want her to go out like that or even the family,” he said, of not solving the case.
And Adkins hopes the episode brings closure.
“I hope that it brings, you know, closure to everybody involved in that justice was served,” Adkins said.
“It brought peace to me as well, just so everybody would know that me as a person or the St. Pauls Police Department would never give up on anything,” he said.
Reach Jessica Horne at 910-416-5165 or via email at jhorne@robesonian.com.