‘˜Snapped’ to film episode on Burousas murder

By Walter GeigerA representative of Jupiter Entertainment recently contacted the Pike County Journal Reporter for information on the 2009 murder of Buzz Burousas in anticipation of airing an episode on the case on the popular Oxygen Network crime show ‘Snapped.’Burousas was found dead in his vehicle at the end of the driveway of his home at 560 Caldwell Bridge Road near Concord. His wife, Teresa Mangham Burousas, initially told sheriff’s deputies that a white male and a black male attacked her as she worked in a flower bed, drug her across her yard, hit her in the head with a hammer, cut her with a knife and killed her husband.She was life flighted from the scene but was released the next day. Her story unraveled quickly.In early October 2011 she appeared before Judge Quillian Baldwin for a bench trial without a jury. The prosecution argued Teresa Burousas forged a $30,000 postal credit union check the morning of the murder, put $20,000 in her account and left the bank with $10,000 cash.She admitted that she met her husband at the end of the driveway. She concealed a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver behind her back and told her husband to open the door of his 2006 Chevy Cobalt, saying she had a surprise for him. She then shot him twice.Veteran GBI crime scene analyst Lanny Cox testified Buzz Burousas was shot once in the chest and then suffered a second wound to the side of his head which was fired from very close range.The couple had an unusual relationship. They met in 1981 at Gordon College, dated every Friday night but did not marry until January 2006. After the wedding they lived with their respective parents until their home was completed then moved there in September 2006.Just days after the murder their home mysteriously burned to the ground.Defense attorney Ricky Morris claimed Buzz Burousas abused his wife.Judge Baldwin found Teresa Burousas guilty of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during commission of a crime. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 10 years probation with credit for the two years she had spent in jail awaiting the trial.At present, she is incarcerated at Pulaski State Prison near Hawkinsville. She has served over five years in confinement.At the time of the shooting, her father, Doug Mangham, was chairman of the Pike County commission.Buzz Burousas, a Barnesville native, was the son of late, longtime Lamar chief magistrate Jimmie Burousas.