Steve Burrow returned home from his night shift to a sight that would haunt him: his wife, Patricia “Diana” Burrow, lay lifeless on the couch, seemingly in the peaceful embrace of sleep. Draped under a blanket, her death appeared to be natural, albeit tragic.

However, the serene image was shattered by an unexpected source. A mail carrier in St. Pauls, North Carolina, stumbled upon a rumor that would dramatically alter the perception of Diana’s passing, suggesting a far more devastating end for the 63-year-old than her family or friends could have fathomed.

“I thought she had died peacefully,” recalled her son, Ronald Burrow, during a Dec. 20 episode of Oxygen’s Accident, Suicide, or Murder. “But I don’t think it was peaceful at all.”

Diana Burrow’s 2011 Death is Initially Believed to be From Natural Causes

Diana was not just a cherished wife and mother of three; she was a grandmother and a well-loved member of the St. Pauls community. Known for her active participation in church activities, she was a beacon of support and kindness to those around her.

Detective Michael Seago of the St. Pauls Police was familiar with the Burrow family, having known them for many years. On the morning of March 11, 2011, he was called to the scene, where he found Steve desperately trying to revive his wife with CPR.

“I’m noticing Steve Burrow is very frantic,” the detective recalled. “He’s very upset. He’s…shaking. He doesn’t know exactly what happened to his wife.” 

Emergency responders quickly took over life-saving efforts, but Diana was pronounced dead at the scene.

Steve told investigators that he had arrived home from his night shift in Fayetteville around 7 a.m. and noticed his wife seemingly sleeping peacefully on the couch.

“Normally, his wife would have been up when he got home,” explained First Assistant District Attorney for Robinson County Joseph Osman. “But she was just laying in a very relaxed, very peaceful state with a blanket over her and that’s when he noticed that she was cold.” 

Investigators noticed a small cut to her left eye, just above her eyebrow, but it was the only obvious mark to her body.

When asked about the injury, Steve told authorities that his wife had multiple health conditions and was taking numerous medications. As a result, she could be unsteady on her feet. 

So, authorities suspected that Diana may have gotten the cut after a fall. 

Given that there were no signs of foul play at the house, her death was considered to be from heart disease and no autopsy was performed. 

“So, it was closed out at that point,” the Assistant DA said. “There was nothing more done.”

Rumor and Troubling Break-in Put Diana Burrow’s Cause of Death in Question

Then, on March 22, a mail carrier came to police with a disturbing rumor. 

“The mail carrier relays to the police department that she’s heard a rumor that Ms. Diana was actually smothered,” shared special agent with the NCSBI Adrian Z. Williams. “She didn’t know many more details other than that, but she said that is a rumor out there.”

When authorities went to investigate, they were confronted with several obstacles: They had not analyzed the crime scene, taken any photographs or collected samples at the time of Diana’s death. Diana had also been buried without an autopsy. 

Then, just weeks after Diana’s death, someone broke into the family’s house and stole some of Diana’s jewelry, including her wedding ring, plus medications and even the left-over macaroni and cheese from the refrigerator. A screen was missing from one of the windows, leading police to believe that someone had likely climbed through the window to carry out the theft.

“It could have been two separate items that occurred,” Seago noted. “But as a detective, you look at every aspect from the break-in and her death to see if it was correlated.”

Suspect Emerges in Diana Burrow’s Death

The same day of the break-in, another 911 call came in reporting two men Daniel Johnson, 27, and his brother Jason Johnson, 28, fighting in the neighborhood. 

“They were well-known for stealing anything,” Osman said. “Honestly, if it wasn’t nailed down, the Johnson boys were gonna steal it.” 

As Daniel was being taken into custody, the detective found a pill bottle in his pocket with Diana Burrow’s name on it along with her ring and cell phone.

He was charged with breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering, possession of stolen property and assault. 

According to Steve, Diana had often helped the brothers out, giving them food or money when they needed it. She was even known to lend the pair, who lived next door, her cell phone. 

“She was always nice to them, never said anything bad about Daniel and Jason,” her son Ronald added. “To find out that one of these kids has my mom’s jewelry and a pill bottle of hers, I couldn’t believe it.”

Daniel refused to tell authorities where he’d gotten the items, but just one day after his arrest, his mother Melinda Harding went to police with a surprising revelation.

She claimed that Daniel had been drinking heavily one day and told her, through tears, that Jason had killed Diana.

Armed with that knowledge, special agent Williams took another run at Daniel, who finally agreed to talk. 

“He said that he broke into the people’s house. And she was in there,” Daniel said of his brother’s account of the crime. “So, he grabbed her around the mouth or whatever…to keep her from hollering.” 

According to Daniel’s account, Jason held his hand over her mouth until she stopped breathing, then fled with some of Diana’s jewelry, which he later sold to his brother.

To find out whether the story was true, investigators exhumed Diana’s body on Oct. 24, 2012 and conducted an autopsy. 

“It was very emotional,” Steve shared. “That was reliving everything over again or worse, but it was something that was necessary to do to get justice.”

The chief pathologist determined that Diana died from asphyxiation by smothering and had a broken hyoid bone in her neck. She also had a fractured rib bone and scratches on her ears, nose and left side of her face, suggested she had struggled in her final moments.

When confronted with the evidence against him, Jason ultimately admitted to killing Diana. He told authorities he’d just broken into the house to steal money or items for drugs, but then encountered a sleeping Diana on the couch. After she woke up and confronted him, he grabbed her and smothered her to death.

Jason was arrested and ultimately agreed to a plead guilty to killing Diana in exchange for a 50-year sentence.