Ingram says meth fueled murderous crime spree

A selfie from Laplace's Facebook page.

A Cookville resident committed two murders in two different locations Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning before being shot dead himself.

According to Sheriff Tim Ingram, events began to unfold when deputies were called after reports of a shooting in the 1800 block of County Road 3140 at approximately 1 a.m.

Upon arrival, they found 29-year old Michael Laplace shot dead, and another man, 51-year old Johnny Burleson, who had been stabbed to death.

Deputies learned that Laplace and a 19-year old female, Cheyanne Bigelow of Omaha, had attacked his cousin Burleson at his home in an attempt to gain access to his financial information. When Burleson refused, they tied him up and put him in the trunk of a vehicle.

As they attempted to leave, they became stuck in the muddy driveway. Across the road, Jerry Burleson - Johnny's brother and also a cousin of Laplace - heard the commotion and went outside to help.

As he approached Laplace and Bigelow he was startled to see his brother - who had managed to extricate himself from the trunk - standing in the driveway, and as Laplace became agitated, he fought with Jerry Burleson.

Burleson retreated to his house to retrieve a rifle and returned to find Laplace had stabbed his brother to death. Jerry Burleson then shot Laplace dead.

Deputies learned from Bigelow that they had attempted to rob Laplace's grandparents that evening. Upon entering their nearby home, where Laplace lived, they found Laplace's grandfather, Silverster Harnden, Jr., 80, of Cookville, dead, and his grandmother bound and gagged.

Laplace and Bigelow had entered the home at 5:30 p.m., where his grandmother was alone at the time, and demanded she turn over bank account numbers and passwords. When she refused, they bound and gagged her and left her in another room of the house.

When Mr. Harden came home, Laplace demanded the same information, and when he refused, Laplace strangled him.

Sheriff Tim Ingram said the crime murderous crime spree was drive by meth, and highlights the need to keep fighting drugs in Titus County.

Cheyanne Bigelow

He said Jerry Burleson may have saved more lives by shooting Laplace.

"God only know what he would have done in the state he was in," said Ingram.

Laplace's Facebook page was a morass of racism and obscenities centered on the drug culture.

He wrote prophetically, on Sept. 13, 2012: "Piss me off & I'm go'n murder every1 of ya'll."

Jerry Burleson was hospitalized for his injuries, and was in stable condition Wednesday night.

Bigelow was in the Titus County jail Wednesday night with no bail set, charged with Aggravated Robbery and Possession of a Controlled Substance.