In the summer of 1991, the quiet life of Sidney Jethro Burnett, a 69-year-old retired preacher, came to a horrific end in his Knoxville, Arkansas home. On July 23rd, he was brutally murdered by Jack Greene. Greene's path to the Burnett residence was one of rage and misplaced revenge. His former girlfriend, Donna Johnson, had ended their turbulent relationship and fled with their daughter. Greene had a history of violence and had threatened to kill her and her entire family if she ever left him.
After Johnson left, Greene's violence escalated. He went to North Carolina, where he murdered his brother and kidnapped his 16-year-old niece, who managed to survive. He then made his way to Arkansas with the intent of finding and killing Johnson. The Burnetts were caught in the crossfire of Greene's fury because they had been a source of support for Johnson during her tumultuous relationship with him, once taking her to the hospital after Greene had cut her finger off. Greene had vowed to kill them both.
On that fateful day, Greene found Sidney Jethro Burnett at home alone. He tied the elderly man to a chair and subjected him to a savage beating with a can of hominy. The assault culminated in Greene slitting Burnett's throat from ear to ear and stabbing him. For the murder of his brother and the kidnapping of his niece in North Carolina, Greene received a life sentence. In 1992, a jury sentenced him to death for the brutal slaying of Sidney Jethro Burnett. He was subsequently placed on death row at the Varner Unit in Gould, Arkansas.
