Winfrey trial date set
San Jacinto Newstimes , October 2007

COLDSPRING – A motion to suppress evidence in the Richard Winfrey Sr. case was denied during a hearing Monday in San Jacinto County District Court.
Winfrey is charged with the capital murder of Coldspring resident Murray Burr. The case has been set for trial on Nov. 26, according to San Jacinto County Criminal District Attorney Bill Burnett.
Burnett said Winfrey’s defense attorney attempted to keep testimony out of court from Keith Pickett, a canine scent officer who assisted in identifying possible suspects in the case. Through the use of scent pads and a K-9 dog to perform suspect selection, Pickett was able to identify and charge Winfrey Sr., along with his son, Richard Winfrey Jr. and daughter, Megan, with Burr’s murder.
Burr was beaten and stabbed to death at his home outside of Coldspring in August of 2004.
Burnett said he was not surprised that the judge allowed the evidence to come in since canine scent pads have already been accepted as valid scientific evidence in other jurisdictions.
“The dogs alerted on the scent pads that put all three suspects in the house touching Burr’s body,” Burnett said.
Burnett expects the trial will take a week to 10 days considering the number of witnesses and the amount of evidence to be presented.
Richard Sr. is currently being held at a Texas Department of Criminal Justice unit. His son and daughter are being held in different locations and will be tried separately. No date has been set for their trials.