Jeff Pope, and Either One or Two Michael Burtons


I've been meaning to talk a bit about southern California radio, but haven't gotten around to it until now.

Let's start off with the nice - specifically, a very nice email that I received from Jeff Pope of KGGI. It read, in part:


Let me start off by saying I only found your blogs after a listener of mine asked if I was ever at X 103.9, and when I confirmed, I replied, "Did you used to listen?"

"No, I got bored, did a google search on your name and found you on some guy's blog."

???

After further research, I found the blog....



Pope went on to say some nice things about my writing, but I'm not going to reproduce that because I'm proud of my humility.

I've never met Pope, but I did meet Michael the Maintenance Man (real name Michael Burton) once, back when he worked for KROQ. He was happy, smiling, joking around - all in all, a pretty good guy.

Of course, Burton was not all that happy by the time he left KROQ, having gotten into a dispute with Kevin and Bean regarding his religious beliefs.

IMPORTANT CAVEAT TO THE MATERIAL BELOW - I DO NOT YET KNOW WHETHER THIS "MICHAEL BURTON" IS THE SAME MICHAEL BURTON WHO WAS "MICHAEL THE MAINTENANCE MAN" ON KROQ.

I'll admit that "Michael Burton" is not an unusual name, that Southern California is a very large area, and that there could very well be two African Americans named Michael Burton in the vast territory that is Southern California. Still you have to wonder:


Deputies found three swords and four knives inside a Rancho Cucamonga house where a husband allegedly stabbed his wife to death last month.

One of the swords in the home of Michael and Otilia Burton had a blade measuring more than two feet long and appeared to be stained with blood, according to search warrant documents made public this week. Two of the knives also appeared bloody, according to the documents....

The weapons, which were recovered on the night the woman was killed, appear highly similar to those deputies seized from him during a 911 call to his house last year....

Michael Burton, who worked as a Pasadena firefighter before his arrest, is due to appear in West Valley Superior Court on Tuesday to face murder charges. He has pleaded not guilty, and his attorney has said he believes the man will be proven innocent at a trial.

Prosecutors claim Michael Burton, 45, killed his 35-year-old wife July 16 inside the family's home in the 10300 block of Cartilla Court.

The couple was in the midst of a bitter divorce at the time of her death. In court records, Otilia Burton had said her husband was controlling, manipulative and emotionally and verbally abusive to her and their children.

Police were called to the home by someone who reported Michael Burton was inside and suicidal. Officers were told the couple had been arguing for several days about the woman's extramarital affair.

When they arrived, Burton barricaded himself inside with his wife and two children. A friend of the man, who had been speaking to Burton by telephone, told deputies Burton would allow his two children to come out, but that his wife would not follow them because she was already dead, according to court documents.

Burton eventually released his children through an upstairs window.

Deputies obtained a search warrant to enter the home. Once inside, they say they saw him in the kitchen trying to stab himself. They found Otilia Burton on the floor dead from multiple stab wounds.



I was trying to find something on the past history of firefighter Burton, to see if he had done any janitorial or entertainment work in the past. All that I found was this:


Pasadena Fire Department spokeswoman Lisa Derderian, who knew the 20-year veteran, said that the department never had a problem with him.

"He was an outstanding employee and was always there for others," Derderian said. Burton was an engineer but was on inactive duty since May due to an injury on the job, she said.

"This is absolutely tragic, and the Pasadena Fire Department is assisting both families in whatever their immediate needs are at this time," she said.



So I don't know anything more than I knew previously, but I have a new song stuck in my head: Tone Loc's "Wild Thing."

From the Ontario Empoblog (Latest OVVA news here)

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