FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Shannon Gallagher legally became the inheritor of her uncle’s estate just days before he died from a gunshot to his head.
Gallagher, a former candidate for the Town of Surfside commission, called police to report finding Thomas Burke dead shortly before 7:30 a.m. on March 21, 2022, hours after she said the sound of a gunshot woke her shortly before 5 a.m.
First responders and detectives who arrived at the home in Fort Lauderdale believed the timeline of the suicide provided by Gallagher wasn’t adding up, court records show. An associate medical examiner determined Burke’s death was a homicide.
