| Beating results in man's death
By David Hedges Publisher
Times Record-Roane County Reporter
Three Spencer residents were arrested on murder charges after a man was allegedly beaten to death and his body dumped along the road.
The pinky finger of the victim, Daniel Lee Burns, 51, of West Main St., was cut off, police said, apparently as part of an effort to punish Burns after he allegedly made inappropriate contact with a young girl.
Arrested Saturday were Raymond Lee Elswick, 40; Joey W. Hicks, 27, and his wife, Crystal R. Hicks, 26. All were charged with murder and arraigned in Roane County Magistrate Court before being transported to the Central Regional Jail.
The Hicks lived at 511 Market St. and were working on the rental home with Elswick Thursday when they asked Burns to help out, Spencer Police Chief Gary Williams said.
According to what the accused told police, sometime that evening Crystal Hicks walked into a room and saw Burns touching her 6-year-old daughter in a way Hicks did not like.
An argument started and the other three allegedly began beating Burns, first inside the house and later in the yard.
The three suspects eventually put Burns inside the Hicks' car, a Ford Escort station wagon, and drove him to a rural area where he was beaten more.
During a beating on Lion Fork Road, police said one of the suspects allegedly used a knife to cut off the little finger on Burns' left hand. His body was put back into the car and taken to Lick Fork where it was dumped into a roadside culvert.
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