The political opponent of a popular state senator who was shot to death this week was arrested Friday and charged with murder.
District Attorney General Bill Gibson told the NBC "Today" show that Byron (Low Tax) Looper was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Sen. Tommy Burks. He said Looper was arrested outside his house, which police were staking out, early Friday. He was arrested without incident.Looper is being held at the Cumberland County Jail, said Nancy Lewis of the sheriff's department.
Burks, 58, a well-liked and respected legislator for 28 years, was shot in his pickup truck as he was preparing for a school group to visit a pumpkin patch at his hog farm in nearby Monterey.
Looper, the Putnam County property assessor, had been missing since then.
Burks, a Democrat, was a heavy favorite against Looper, a Republican, who was indicted last March on charges of theft and misuse of office. He also is being sued for $1.2 million by a former girlfriend who claims he forced her to have sex and illegally transferred ownership of her home to his name.
On Thursday, authorities asked the public for help in finding Looper, 34, who legally changed his middle name to (Low Tax). But Gibson did not label Looper a suspect at that time.
Also Thursday, Looper's attorney, Lionel Barrett, confirmed he had spoken to his client and said Looper might be willing to discuss the case with police.
Barrett refused to say whether Looper had any knowledge about the murder. Barrett said Looper recognizes his disappearance "certainly has raised some legitimate questions."
Looper was born in Tennessee and attended West Point from 1983-85, then spent most of his 20s in Georgia, where his mother lived.
He ran for the Georgia House at 23 and lost, then worked three years as a legislative aide. After working various other jobs, he came back to Tennessee and lost a race for the state House in 1994. He won the Putnam County assessor's seat in 1996 after running a highly negative campaign against the incumbent.
Since then, he has fired employees, filed lawsuits against other public officials, been sued by former workers and been involved in a fist fight between his employee and a taxpayer.
Burks served four terms in the state House before being elected to the Senate in 1978. He never missed a day of work during his 28-year legislative career.