Lorraine Snell, 19: Cousin's Husband Arrested For Her Murder 40 Years Later
DNA finally connected the prime suspect to the slaying.
It took 40 years for the family of Lorraine Snell to receive an update about the status of her murder case.
It was on September 25, 1980, when the newly engaged Lorraine met up with her cousin’s husband, James Burrus, at the Midwood Terrace catering hall on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn to reserve the space for a party for her fiancé.
The two were seen leaving the location together at 11:00 p.m., and that was the last time Lorraine was seen alive.
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There was nothing abnormal about the evening for the 19-year-old, but 12 hours later, Lorraine’s body was located in the back of a station wagon parked behind a grocery store. The vehicle belonged to the market's owner. There was a cable around Lorraine’s neck, and later, it was confirmed that she’d been strangled to death.
Meanwhile, when Lorraine’s mother awoke the following morning and discovered that the teen hadn’t made it home, she immediately called authorities. Unsurprisingly, they questioned Burrus about the timeline of that evening, and there was reportedly a gap that went unaccounted for. What helped solidify Burrus as a suspect was that he was employed at the grocery store where Lorraine’s body was located.
However, there wasn’t enough information to arrest, so Burrus walked free. Decades later, a new set of eyes reexamined the death of Lorraine Snell, and the Cold Case Squad believed they may have enough to bring closure to this case.
They found that DNA had been collected from under Lorraine’s fingernails, so authorities visited the now-64-year-old Burrus for a sample of his DNA.
At the time, Burrus lived in New York and was a storefront preacher at By Divine Purpose Christian Center on Staten Island. Authorities spoke with and once again questioned him about the evening leading up to Lorraine’s death. He reportedly told a story similar to the one he had given years earlier, and when investigators asked, he agreed to submit his DNA for testing.
Burrus’s DNA reportedly matched what was collected from under Lorraine Snell’s fingernails 40 years prior.
“Those cops checked me from head to toe,” Burrus told PIX11 in 2014. “They had a guy come in to pick under my nails.”
After a year-long investigation where detectives revisited surviving witnesses, on March 12, 2020, Burrus was arrested for murder. He pleaded not guilty and maintained his innocence.
District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said at the time, “My thoughts today are with Lorraine Snell’s mother, Pearl, who has waited for decades to see her daughter’s killer brought to justice. With this indictment, the result of a thorough reinvestigation of the case and the evidence, including a crucial DNA association, we will now seek to hold the defendant accountable. I commend the NYPD and my Cold Case Unit for the meticulous work they did to put this case together.”
Meanwhile, Burrus’s friends weren’t so sure of his guilt.
“When I heard about this accusation, I knew it was bogus,” said Robert Goins, via The New York Post. “He knows a lot of people. A lot of political people and people know him.
“This man never says nothing negative, zero,” he added. “It’s always character building, uplifting praise, worship, ‘serve the Lord,’ and spirit and truth.” He cited his work with the community and youth.
Burrus Behind Bars
Veteran television journalist Mary Murphy gave an update on this case in January 2025. She reported that Burrus agreed to a plea deal. It meant that the murder charge would be changed to manslaughter.
“Using sentencing guidelines from 1980, Burrus faces just four to eight years in prison for the crime,” Murphy reported. “ He’s already spent five years on Rikers Island since his arrest in March 2020.”
Pearl Snell Holder, Lorraine’s mother, was 87 when she learned of the plea deal.
“I want him to stay in jail, and I want him to rot in hell,” she said. “He can’t look at me; he can’t face me.”
Lorraine’s older sister, Leticia, wept when we noted that Burrus didn’t offer a motive for the killing. “He can’t say why he killed her, because he’s a natural born killer.”
Please share this story about Lorraine Snell as a testimony that no one should give up hope in cold cases. She is our sister, and her life matters.
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