On May 4, 1995 the body of 32-year-old Toni Ann Burdine, a white woman, was found in an open field in Northeast Washington, D.C. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled; her clothes were partially torn away and her shoes had been knocked off. At the time of her death Burdine was known to be involved in sex work and drug use.

The case stayed cold until 2001, when DNA from Burdine’s body was matched to Darryl Donnell Turner, then 36 and from Washington, D.C. That match led to charges of first-degree murder in Burdine’s death. Turner was already under investigation for the 1997 strangulation deaths of two other women, Jacqueline Teresa Birch and Dana Hill; both victims were sex workers whose bodies were found in vacant buildings near Turner’s residence. Investigators began to suspect a pattern linking Turner to a series of at least seven murders of women between 1994 and 1997. A former girlfriend testified that Turner had expressed a preference for violent sexual encounters, including strangulation.

Anyone who knew Toni Ann Burdine, or who may have seen her in Northeast D.C. in 1995, is asked to come forward with information.