Joseph Wayne Burnette Murdered Two Women 12 Years Apart — Where Is He Now?

The people who make up the small town of Longview, Texas never abandon their own. It doesn't matter if you've lived there your entire life or are just passing through for a spell, they welcome folks with open arms. They treat everyone like their own, even if it was the last place someone visited. Such was the case for a young woman whose body was found in October 2006. She was buried in Longview with a simple marker that had the name Jane Doe carved into it.

No one knew who she was or where she was from. All they knew about Jane Doe was her life met a grizzly end when she was briefly part of their community. She would eventually be known as Lavender Doe, based on the color of the shirt she was wearing when she died. The man responsible for her death was charged with murder before police could identify who she was. He never even knew her name. Where is Joseph Wayne Burnette now? Here's what we know.

According to the Longview News-Journal, Burnette pleaded guilty to the murders of two women in December 2020. By this point, the woman previously known only as Lavender Doe had been identified as 21-year-old Dana Lynn Dodd. She was murdered 12 years before 28-year-old Felisha Pearson. Family members of both victims were in the courtroom when the 43-year-old stood in front of a judge and muttered, "I want to get this over with. I want everybody to get their closure."

In her victim impact statement, Pearson's aunt said that discovering her niece had died was the worst day of her life. "That was the day you took away a mother, a daughter, a niece and a sister," said Rosalind Wallace. The Dodd family was equally as angry and devastated, especially after spending so much time not knowing what happened to Dodd. Amanda Gadd, Dodd's half-sister, grieved the loss of an entire life. "She’ll never have the chance to walk down the aisle, to experience motherhood," she said.

Gregg County District Attorney Tom Watson said their office was discussing the plea deal for about eight months. He said it ultimately benefits the family members of the victims because it allows them to avoid a painful trial. Burnette was sentenced to serve 50 years for each murder, to be served concurrently. He is housed at the Mark W. Michael Unit in Tennessee Colony, Texas.

Burnette's capture, as well as the identification of Dodd, wouldn't have been possible without the help of the DNA Doe Project. The nonprofit organization is based out of California and used "advanced genetic genealogy techniques to identify John and Jane Does." According to the Lavender Doe profile on their website, the DNA Doe Project had been working with the Gregg County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) since July 2018 to help identify her.

In January 2019, their volunteer genealogists made a tentative identification which eventually led them to Gadd. In an episode of Dateline, Gadd told Keith Morrison that she felt as if she was punched in the stomach. Dodd had a difficult childhood that resulted in a rather chaotic life, which ended horribly. Despite that, Gadd just wanted people to know that her sister "still had a good heart."

For more on Dana Lynn Dodd's story, watch Dateline's "The Woman With No Name."