Serial Killer Nathaniel Burkett appears in court

Serial Killer Nathan Burkett

Serial Killer Nathaniel Burkett appears in court

Serial Killer Nathaniel Burkett appears in court Friday for a preliminary hearing.

Burkett, 62, known as “Criptoe”, was arrested for the murder of two Las Vegas women,  Barbara Cox and Tina Gayle Mitchell.

Cox, 22, was murdered in April of 1978 and Mitchell, 27, was murdered in 1984.

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At the time of his arrest, Metro Police thought there was a good possibility the Nathaniel Burkett may even be tied to more murders.

Barbara Ann Cox (Photo: Cox family, 8 News Now)

Nathaniel Burkett was indeed tied to another murder. He has since been charged in the 1994 murder of Althea Williams, from Los Angeles.

Th Las Vegas Metro Police Department was able to investigate these cold case murders because they received a grant to test backlogged DNA cases and the results led straight to Burkett.

He was arrested in Mississippi, where he is from, and extradited to Las Vegas.

Although he is from Mississippi, Burkett resided in Las Vegas for years.

He has an extensive criminal history in both states including numerous arrests for battery, domestic violence, kidnapping, robbery, disorderly conduct, contempt of court and failure to register as a felon.

In 1982, he was convicted of murdering his own mother.

He was also convicted of voluntary manslaughter in Las Vegas for the strangulation death of 41-year-old Valetter Jean Bousley in 2002 and served 6 years in prison.

In a YouTube Video that Metro Police made, and has since been taken down, Burkett was described as “an animal”

Neighbors, in the Las Vegas apartment complex where Burkett has lived, previously said how strong the man they knew was Criptoe” was and how they had even seen him carrying a shovel on his back. At the time, they did not think it was too unusual.

In retrospect, the thought of what he was doing with the shovel is frightening.

The grandfatherly looking Burkett did not display any emotion in court.

The hearing will continue on Wednesday to determine if there is enough evidence for the case to go to trial.

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