The plot of Burked draws very heavily upon the facts surrounding the actual 1998 Las Vegas death of Ted Binion, son of Benny Binion, who was the original owner/founder of Binion's Horseshoe Casino in downtown Las Vegas. Like Braun, Binion was a heroin addict, had a large stash of silver buried in an underground desert vault, valued at approximately $4 million at the time of his death, the fact that Binion had requested a friend who built the vault remove the silver should anything happen to him, and the fact that Xanax was found in his bloodstream. Binion's girlfriend (and former Cheetah's dancer) Sandy Murphy, as well as her lover Rick Tabish, were arrested and originally found guilty of murdering Binion, but eventually they were granted a new trial and acquitted regarding the murder charge.
When Grissom mentions the Edinburgh body snatchers Burke and Hare, Catherine Willows remarks "Is this part of the Sherlock Holmes Fan Club Kit?". Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle attended the very medical school at which Burke and Hare submitted their victims (though decades later). Furthermore, Doyle based the character of Holmes on his Anatomy Professor at the university.