A man from Luzerne County man is locked up, charged with a gruesome murder.
Kimberly Ann Burgess was found beaten to death outside her Exeter apartment last spring.
Early Wednesday morning a man was charged with her death.
Burgess lived at the Exeter Gardens Apartments and that is where police said she died after a brutal beating.
While investigators said the crime was not random, neighbors said they are breathing easier now.
Exeter police called it one of the most brutal killings they have ever seen.
Burgess, a mother, was found beaten to death with a baseball bat, wrapped in a sleeping bag, lying on the grass outside her apartment.
Her boyfriend, Henry Platt, is now charged with the homicide.
Investigators said they got a tip from an ex-girlfriend and found Platt in a building on Hazle Street in Wilkes-Barre.
"I think there was a sense of relief, that we don't have someone who's charged with murder who's out there on the run," said Luzerne County District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll.
Police said Platt has a history of violence and they believe he became angry with Burgess when she asked him to pay bills.
The two lived together in Exeter.
"We know there are people who knew both of them and they knew the relationship and it wasn't a pleasant relationship and she was looking to get out of the relationship," Musto Carroll added.
According to records, a woman who had been Platt's girlfriend before Burgess filed a protection from abuse order against him, claiming he threatened to kill her.
People who live near the crime scene said they're glad Platt is behind bars.
"I hope he gets what's coming to him, you know? There was no reason for him to take her life," said Diane Ruehl.
Investigators said it took months for them to charge Platt with the homicide because they were waiting for DNA tests to come back from a state police crime lab in Bethlehem.
They said they are frustrated it took as long as it did, but the lab had a backlog of work.
Kimberly Ann Burgess was found beaten to death outside her Exeter apartment last spring.
Early Wednesday morning a man was charged with her death.
Burgess lived at the Exeter Gardens Apartments and that is where police said she died after a brutal beating.
While investigators said the crime was not random, neighbors said they are breathing easier now.
Exeter police called it one of the most brutal killings they have ever seen.
Burgess, a mother, was found beaten to death with a baseball bat, wrapped in a sleeping bag, lying on the grass outside her apartment.
Her boyfriend, Henry Platt, is now charged with the homicide.
Investigators said they got a tip from an ex-girlfriend and found Platt in a building on Hazle Street in Wilkes-Barre.
"I think there was a sense of relief, that we don't have someone who's charged with murder who's out there on the run," said Luzerne County District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll.
Police said Platt has a history of violence and they believe he became angry with Burgess when she asked him to pay bills.
The two lived together in Exeter.
"We know there are people who knew both of them and they knew the relationship and it wasn't a pleasant relationship and she was looking to get out of the relationship," Musto Carroll added.
According to records, a woman who had been Platt's girlfriend before Burgess filed a protection from abuse order against him, claiming he threatened to kill her.
People who live near the crime scene said they're glad Platt is behind bars.
"I hope he gets what's coming to him, you know? There was no reason for him to take her life," said Diane Ruehl.
Investigators said it took months for them to charge Platt with the homicide because they were waiting for DNA tests to come back from a state police crime lab in Bethlehem.
They said they are frustrated it took as long as it did, but the lab had a backlog of work.
