Conspiracy theories are always  popular because they titillate the imagination. Instead of just one suspect in a murder, we have two, or three, or even more. Imagine the possibilities!

The Stacey Burns murder has more that its share of conspiracy theories. Once again, this is the result of the lack of information being shared with the public because of the intense nature of this “ongoing investigation.” now in its seventh year.

One theory is that the murder was the result of a murder for hire, or involved what is, in the jargon, a “hit man.” I know there are people out there, police especially, who dispute this simply because it had to be a crime of passion. As the FBI profiler, Brad Garrett,  said on 20/20, “this was up close and personal.” Of course, he had information the general public is not privy to. If this hired killer theory  is to be believed, the three requirements of a murder must still be present- motive, means, and opportunity. Motive for a hired killer is always money, I would assume. Means for that same killer was available and apparently easily disposed of since we’ve heard nothing about finding the knife involved in the murder and he/she could have been told to make it look like a crime of passion so as to implicate or misdirect attention to a particular individual. Opportunity is more difficult since there were others in the house, but it is not an insurmountable obstacle. (Obviously, since the murder was successful)

I bring this theory to your attention primarily because a man I respected for a very long time (forty years) for his integrity, intelligence, and insightfulness thought this was a distinct possibility. He believed that the killer was long gone before Stacey’s body was even discovered and certainly long gone before the police began their investigation.

Once gain, the investigators must have long ago dismissed this theory after a thorough examination of the facts and interviews with those who held this notion.

Duke