Tracy Bernard Burleson, Houston Pastor Who Allegedly Had Son Murder His Wife, Goes On Trial (VIDEO)

A love triangle involving a minister, his son and the mistress they shared ended with one woman dead -- and the trio facing murder charges.

Tracy Bernard Burleson, a 44-year-old Houston pastor, is facing capital murder charges for the 2010 slaying of his wife, Pauletta Burleson. The pastor's wife was shot execution style in the back of the head while sitting in the family's garage, allegedly by her stepson, William Fuller, according to ABC13.

Fuller, who is also charged with murder, insists his father hired him to commit the killing, the Houston Chronicle reports.

But it's much more complicated than that.

It seems both the pastor and his son were in love with the same woman, 32-year-old Tyonne Palmer.

Fuller had previously been living with Palmer, who was taking care of him after he was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia. However investigators have uncovered evidence indicating she was actually dating both Fuller and Burleson at the same time, according to court records.

From ABC13:

Attorneys for Burleson say the son framed his father so he could date his father's mistress, Tyonne Palmer. Palmer is also charged with capital murder. She's accused of helping Fuller destroy the murder weapon following the shooting.

The pastor's alibi for the shooting appears to have some major holes. While Burleson admits that he and his wife argued in their driveway, he claims he went to a convenience store for chips and candy before she was killed. But investigators didn't find any snacks in his car afterward, the Chronicle reports.

Neighbors say they heard the gunshot at 10:15 p.m. -- but the store where Burleson claims to have made his purchases closed at 10 p.m.

Prosecutors say they have found another possible motive that suggests the pastor's involvement -- a $60,000 life insurance policy taken out in Burleson's wife's name, according to the Houston Chronicle.

About one week before the murder, Burleson's house of worship, the First New Mount Calvary Baptist Church, burned down, according to the Chronicle. Burleson has denied involvement in that incident, and no charges have been filed against him in relation to it.

WATCH (Fox 26's report):

Comments

[mother10]

11:01 PM on 10/02/2011

you should have to have some kind of training to pastor a church !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mother10]

10:52 PM on 10/02/2011

stupid looking thing

[Zilo]

02:37 PM on 10/01/2011

Jeez, how do people *become* this twisted? What on earth made him think he could do this and it was the right thing to do? I see his religion apparently didn't provide any morality for him, as Christians like to tell us it does.

[rbaker629]

02:46 AM on 10/11/2011

indeed...

[jemteku]

06:53 PM on 09/29/2011

Disgusting. A hypocrite of the highest degree. Rot in jail, "Pastor Pervert".

[mother10]

10:52 PM on 10/02/2011

what about the tramp ?

[brokerthanu]

01:17 PM on 09/29/2011

Ahh, those xtian family values...

[fearlessfaith]

12:14 PM on 09/29/2011

The Houston Chronicle reports that "Damon Crawford, a church deacon, testified Tuesday he surveyed the damage with Burleson, who said, "Now that the church is burned down, I've got one more thing to get rid of."

Days later, the wife ends up dead.

Why would he want to burn down the church? Well the church wanted to get the good "pastor" out of their pulpit because of financial mismanagement and the pastor sleeping with a choir-girl (wife caught him in the act, in the church office). I guessing this is before the mistress came into the picture. But does the order in which this came really matter?

Besides both husband and wife being arrested for beating the son with irons, electric cords, and I believe a baseball bat... Everything seems just fine.

Here's my point. This man was posing as a pastor. Hearing news like this makes me sad and angry. It makes me wonder who people worship when they go to church.

[elduce9]

11:33 AM on 09/29/2011

What a twisted story...wish Hollywood had such imagination...maybe there would be some movies worth seeing these days...

[Gadgetman]

11:07 AM on 09/29/2011

Good thing he was a minister otherwise he would really be violent.

[mother10]

10:54 PM on 10/02/2011

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahhahahaahhahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaahahahahahahahahahahahahhhah

[John Woodhouse]

10:17 AM on 09/29/2011

he can pass the plate in jail,AMEN

[catslegl]

07:17 AM on 09/29/2011

What are this pastor's credentials? Did he ordain himself so he could start a church and make his living that way?

[fearlessfaith]

10:10 AM on 09/29/2011

Do you have statistics to support your scholarly finding?

Let's see,there were some men of God in the Bible who were reformed murderers and even authored books in the Bible. Your post, sadly, says more about you than anything else.

[TFlint]

08:49 PM on 09/28/2011

Warning! Sick comments ahead!

[TurnSeiki]

05:30 PM on 09/28/2011

Wow. There are certain "groups" of Christians that have a hard time living up to the role of a man of the cloth. They're normally either from the South or the Northeast. This is just wrong. I'm gonna want the same girl as my dad KNOWINGLY?! Wow.

[capt hastings]

04:54 PM on 10/03/2011

Where did you get the South or Northeast home of warped pastors data from?
Here in the Midwest we have plenty of creepy cloth-wearing church leaders. They're not all Catholics either.

[raegrant5]

03:59 PM on 09/28/2011

I think the whole thing is wierd. Man and son having affair with the same woman so they kill the mom? Doesn't make any sence. If dad and son where having affair with the same woman then it would seem more likely they would be trying to eliminate eachother so one could have the woman for his own. The money isn't that much unless they are so bottom of the barrel that it looks like a million dollars! I think there may be more here than meets the eye.

[WesStrikesBack]

08:06 PM on 09/28/2011

Guess there was plenty of that to go around. /shrug

[rah138]

02:46 PM on 10/01/2011

If the father gets the son to kill the mother, then one is dead the other goes to prison, Which I'm sure sounded like a win win to this guy. He not only gets the insurance money from his wife, but he gets rid of his romantic rival (his own son).

[raegrant5]

03:26 PM on 10/01/2011

Killed two birds with one stone! Theres a loving father for ya! I wonder if God told him how to get what he wants? lol:)

[mskittykat1326]

03:39 PM on 09/28/2011

WTF kind of craziness is this - The dad and the son were after the same woman but had to kill the wife in order to get to her?? It's truly unfortunately that the wife had to die in all of this...senseless

[capt hastings]

04:55 PM on 10/03/2011

and just icky