HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – In a jailhouse interview with KPRC, Alex Jerome Haggerty claimed he did not know he had been charged with murder, and denied any involvement.
Prosecutors charged Haggerty with the murder of Brittany Burfield, 37, who has been missing for three weeks. In court documents, Haggerty is accused of drugging, stabbing and shooting Burfield “on or about June 25, 2018.”
Officers at the Harris County Jail said because Haggerty was initially booked on an unrelated charge, it was possible he didn’t know about the murder charge, which was filed less than 24 hours before the KPRC interview.
Dressed in an orange jumpsuit, Haggerty spoke with KPRC’s Jacob Rascon for 20 minutes from behind from behind a glass partition during visitation hours.
"I couldn't do that, that's not me," Haggerty said. "I don't even understand this."
The accused killer said Burfield offered him and his girlfriend a place to stay a few months ago. Haggerty called Burfield his "roommate" and "friend," and said he and his girlfriend "moved out after not very long," probably "a month" or so.
Burfield's mother, Tricia Valentine, said she was actually Haggerty's "landlord" doing him a favor, for a friend, and that Burfield was "scared of him" and "kicked him out."
"She had reached out a helping hand to Jerome Haggerty," Valentine said. "And it breaks my heart that he bit it off."
Haggerty said he and Burfield kept in touch after he moved out, and that he last saw her at a Jack-in-the-Box about three weeks ago, when she loaned him her car.
"She rented it out sometimes, for cash," he said. "Like 60 bucks or something."
Haggerty said Burfield hopped into another car with "her boyfriend, and a few friends," which was the last time he claimed he saw her.
“I told the detectives the same thing," he said. "And I gave them my DNA, and everything."
Haggerty said detectives found pieces of clothing belonging to Burfield at his house because they were gifts Burfield gave his girlfriend.
All of it just a tall tale from a killer, Valentine suggested, as she pleaded with the public to help find her daughter.
"If you know anything, and I mean anything, if he has talked to you, if he has told you anything, please call the authorities," Valentine said. "We really need to find her. We need to be able to give her a peaceful resting place, and we need to know. We need closure."