News 40 Investigates: Murdered woman’s husband has violent criminal history

BONNIEVILLE, Ky. – The remains of a 27-year-old mother, Erica Burden were discovered Thursday afternoon. Her estranged husband is currently behind bars in the Larue county detention center.

William Burden was arrested Thursday. He’s charged with murder, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse.

News 40 discovered Burden’s criminal past that may have led to Erica’s death.

According to court records, Burden was charged with assault multiple times over the course of the last 25 years.

Last September, he was charged with terroristic threatening and harassment. In July of 2008 he was charged with assault, domestic violence. In October and June of 2006 he was charged with criminal trespassing, terroristic threatening and assault and in 2004 he was charged with aggravated assault.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, each day in the U.S., three women are murdered by their current or former intimate partner. Typically there is a pattern of abuse before a domestic violence murder.