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WARREN -- A Bristolville man convicted in the 2017 murder of Brandon Sample and the armed robbery of a pizza shop in Cortland was indicted on capital murder charges last week by a Scioto County grand jury.
An inmate at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Austin Burke, 25, was indicted on one count of aggravated murder related to a prison fight at the facility.
In August, Burke reportedly was involved in a fight with 65-year-old inmate Ruben Melendez. After being taken to an area hospital, Melendez was pronounced dead from suspected trauma to the head.
Burke was serving a life sentence in prison for the murder of Sample, whose body was found June 15, 2017, in a wooded area off Peck Leach Road in Bristol. He had been shot once in the head.
Sample's mother reported him missing three days earlier after he did not return home from swimming with a friend, according to a police report.
She told police Sample's father sent him a text about 4:30 a.m., and he responded he was on his way home, but he never arrived. His car later was found abandoned in Niles.
Burke received an additional three years in prison for using a firearm in the commission of the crime. Burke also received an 11-year sentence for the June 20, 2017, robbery of the Cortland Pizza Joe's, with an additional three years for using a firearm in that crime as well.
He was to be eligible for parole March 15, 2075, according to Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction records.