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Man accused of killing 3 wanted to confront pharmacist brother over Covid vaccines, documents say

Jeffrey Burnham, who was arrested in West Virginia, is accused of killing his brother, his sister-in-law and another woman in Maryland last week.
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A Maryland man accused of killing his pharmacist brother and two other people had complained that he falsely believed his brother was harming people with the Covid-19 vaccines, court documents say.

The man, Jeffrey Burnham, 46, was arrested Friday in the killings of his brother, his sister-in-law and another woman who were slain in two communities more than 100 miles apart, police said.

Brian Robinette, 58, and Kelly Sue Robinette, 57, were found fatally shot last Thursday in their home in Ellicott City, near Baltimore, police said. Rebecca Reynolds, 83, had been found dead the night before in Cumberland, and her car was stolen, police have said.

Burnham, who lives in Cumberland, was arrested Friday in West Virginia.

He faces multiple counts of murder and is being held without bail in Allegany County, where Cumberland is, records show.

Online court records did not appear to list an attorney for him Wednesday night.

Charging documents filed in court do not spell out a suspected motive in the killings. They say that Burnham's mother told police that he said he wanted to confront his pharmacist brother about his false belief that the government is poisoning people with the Covid-19 vaccines and that Burnham had said, "Brian knows something."

Burnham's mother had called police and said her son was saying the FBI was after them, which made her worry about his mental stability, the documents say.

Burnham is alleged to have taken his brother's Corvette and stopped at someone's home asking for gas after the killings. He said that the person would see him on TV and that his brother was "killing people with the Covid shot," according to the charging document. That person called state police.

Burnham is charged with one count of murder and a vehicle theft charge in Allegany County, according to online court records.

He faces additional murder charges and other counts in Howard County. The prosecutor's office is going through the indictment process. The Howard County State's Attorney's Office declined to comment Wednesday because the case is ongoing.

Reynolds was a classmate of Burnham's mother. When Burnham was arrested in West Virginia, he had flagged down a fire department member and said he had killed three people, NBC affiliate WBAL of Baltimore reported, citing state police.