Man Who Killed Rhode Island Couple In 2000 Wants Compassionate Release
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (CBS) - In June of 2000, a young couple was carjacked in Providence and driven to a golf course in Johnston, Rhode Island. There, 20-year-old Jason Burgeson and Amy Shute were blindfolded and told to turn over their cash. Between them, they had $18. Moments later, they were shot and killed by Greg Floyd .
"Floyd gave absolutely no compassion to Jason and Amy that night in June," said Jason's sister, Kellie Burgeson-Surdis. Floyd is serving a federal life sentence, and is being held in North Carolina, but he has petitioned for compassionate release, possibly because of COVID-19.
"He admitted in his own testimony, 'I felt nothing when I pulled the trigger. They were begging for their lives, and I felt nothing,'" Burgeson-Surdis said.
Floyd and four other men were convicted of the crime, and Floyd admitted to being the trigger man.
But Kellie Burgeson-Surdis' family received a letter from the prison warden just last Friday, stating that if the family had objections to Floyd's release, they had to notify the warden, in writing , by Tuesday. They FedExed a letter Saturday. "I just don't think there should be any compassion when it comes to his release," says Kellie.
Even if her letter gets to the warden by Tuesday, it's unclear what impact it may have.
