On this day, Oct. 19, in 1998, Tennessee state Sen. Tommy Burks was murdered by his political opponent, Byron (Low Tax) Looper.
Burks, 58, was a heavy favorite over the Republican candidate Looper, who had legally changed his middle name to (Low Tax) from Anthony to try to help his political career. Looper was the Putnam County property assessor.
Burks was shot once in the head at his farm. He was sitting in his pickup truck near a pumpkin patch where he planned to take children on a hayride.
Burks’s wife, Charlotte, was elected as a write-in candidate with 95 percent of the vote.
Looper, 46, is serving a life sentence in a Tennessee prison.
– Scott McCabe
