The Brenda Sue Brown Murder
Encyclopedia
On July 27, 1966, rescue workers found the nude body of eleven year old missing child Brenda Sue Brown in a wooded area near downtown Shelby, North Carolina
. The murder investigation remained cold until a series of newspaper articles highlighting the 40th anniversary of the case in the spring of 2006 brought forth new evidence.
After Brenda Sue did not return home, a search began.
At 10:15 am, Brenda Sue's mother, Gladys Brown, began a door to door search when Brenda Sue didn’t return home. Mrs. Brown then drove through her neighborhood asking neighbors and passing motorists if they had seen Brenda Sue. An hour later, a search team was formed by Shelby Rescue Squad members.
At 6:45 pm, Brenda Sue's nude body was found in a wooded area 150 feet from South Lafayette Street, not far from the family's home. Her body was covered by freshly cut tree limbs, leaves and brush, the red and white dress she had worn was folded neatly and placed atop the brush. A bloody rock was also found nearby.
Police reported that even though Brenda Sue was found stripped of her clothing, she had not been raped.
Detectives believed the killer was walking because of the heavy traffic on South Lafayette Street, the killer would not have been able to get out of a car and force the girl into the woods without being seen.
At the time, police had several suspects, including an unidentified white, bald man who had exposed himself to Brenda Sue's sister a few days before the murder and a local 13 Year old mentally disabled, African-American boy named Robert Roseboro who lived nearby.
With no leads, or sufficient evidence to make an arrest, Brenda Sue Brown's murder became a cold case
.
When officer Harold Smith questioned Roseboro at the police department, he said Roseboro stayed silent. "He wouldn´t answer. He just sat there. Roseboro´s silence made him more suspicious" Smith said.
The public was baffled as to why Roseboro, who was seen in the area on the morning of Brenda Sue's murder was not interrogated further by police.
Many locals theorized that Roseboro may have been protected by a local crime syndicate
who dominated Shelby, North Carolina
during the 1960's and because of this police would not arrest him.
"We just didn´t have enough evidence on him. We had to let him go," said Harold Smith, a retired police captain. Smith said he and other investigators in the case believed Robert Roseboro killed Brenda Sue Brown.
Roseboro lived a few hundred yards from where Brenda´s body was found. That with his refusal to answer questions made him suspicious, Smith said.
When the case was reopened, detectives visited Roseboro in prison, but he refused to talk about the Brenda Sue Brown murder.
Robert Roseboro would later be convicted in May 1969 of the 1968 murder of Mary Helen Williams of Shelby, who's murder paralleled the Brenda Sue Brown case.
Shelby police were called to the business, where Robert Roseboro walked out with his hands in the air.
Mary Helen Williams was found nude, with her body beaten and stabbed using a pair of scissors. The county coroner later said even though Mrs. Williams was found stripped of clothing, she had not been raped.
In the store´s restroom, police found Mrs. Williams´ dress and underwear.
At the time the Mrs. Williams' murder, racial segregation
was intense in Shelby and rumors of the Ku Klux Klan
threatening to harm Roseboro were taken so seriously that he was secretly transferred to a jail in a nearby county until his trial in 1969.
During the two-day murder trial, a pathologist testified that blood found on Roseboro´s clothes was type "A," which matched Mrs. Williams´ blood type.
Roseboro denied killing Mrs. Williams saying the detectives lied about the investigation and said he had no motive in the murder, being as there was no rape or robbery. He drew maps of where he was in the building when the police arrived, and explained how Mrs. Williams' blood got on his clothes.
Roseboro was found guilty for the murder of Mary Helen Williams and was sentenced to death, however, his sentence was reduced to life in prison.
Because of the similarities between the Mary Helen Williams murder and the Brenda Sue Brown murder, it became a common local belief that Roseboro had committed both.
In February 2010, Roseboro was subpoenaed to a Cleveland County
hearing to determine if enough evidence existed for Brenda Sue Brown murder suspect Thurman Price to be brought to trial.
During his testimony, which lasted less than ten minutes, Roseboro denied killing Brenda Sue Brown or knowing who did or having any remembrance of the day she was murdered, saying "You’re talking about something 40 years ago. How would I recall something that long ago?”
However, the evidence including Brenda Sue's dress, underwear, shoes, the powder-puff compact she was carrying, the rock that was used to kill her, two vials of blood, fingernail scrapings, branches and a hair sample had vanished.
According to police records, Sheriff Allen was the last person in possession of the evidence when he retrieved it from the SBI in Raleigh, North Carolina
in August 1966.
The only physical evidence still available is a bloody palm print that was taken from Brenda Sue's shoe in 1966.
On May 15, 2006, the remains of Brenda Sue Brown were exhumed from the Spring Hill Church Road Cemetery in Lillington, North Carolina
and examined for any available evidence. However, the wooded casket in which she was buried had disintegrated and only a few bones remained.
On May 21, 2006, a public memorial service was held and Brenda Sue's remains were laid to rest in Sunset Cemetery in Shelby, North Carolina
.
newspaper, The Shelby Star, ran a 13-part 40th anniversary series about the Brenda Sue Brown murder.
Shortly after, Lori Lail came forward to police claiming her grandfather, Earl Mickey Parker, told her shortly before his death on June 26, 2002 that he and a man named Thurman Price had killed Brenda Sue Brown.
The indictment indicates that Earl Mickey Parker described in detail how Brenda Sue was killed and according to authorities, his confession to his granddaughter is consistent with the evidence found at the crime scene in July 1966.
According to court records, Lail called the family of Brenda Sue Brown on April 3, 2006 and told Brenda Sue's sister that the killer is Thurman Price, but left out her grandfather's involvement.
On February 12, 2007 at 5:15 PM, Shelby Police arrested Thurman Price, 79, on first-degree murder charges.
Price's home is located within proximity of the location where Brenda Sue Brown's body was found, however, it is unclear as to weather he lived there in July 1966. According to county records, Price didn't purchase the home until 1973.
Price was released from jail on February 16, 2007 on $50,000 bond and denies any involvement in the murder of Brenda Sue Brown as he remains free on bond while he awaits trial.
On May 10, 2007, Earl Mickey Parker’s body was exhumed from Sunset Cemetery in Shelby to see if his palm print matched a bloody one found on Brenda Sue’s shoe. The results of the test was inconclusive as Parker's hands were too deteriorated to get a print.
Prior Criminal Record
In 1954, Parker, 26, and Price, 25, were indicted together for the rape
of Shirley Gantt, a 12-year-old girl, in Patterson Springs, North Carolina
. In January 1955, the men pleaded guilty to assault to commit rape.
According to court records, both Parker and Price were given a 3-5 year suspended prison sentence, ordered to keep a job, not to drink alcohol
and pay court costs
of $240.
The Deathbed Confession
On February 9, 2010, a Cleveland County
judge ruled that Earl Mickey Parker's deathbed confession
and Lail's testimony will be admitted evidence
at trial.
Lori Lail testified at the hearing that in June 2002 her grandfather, Earl Mickey Parker, told her on his death bed that he and Thurman Price killed Brenda Sue Brown in 1966.
According to Lail, she was alone with her grandfather in his hospital room at Cleveland Regional Medical Center in Shelby when he told her, “I’ve done some bad things with my life and before I can move on I need to get them off my chest.”
Lail recalled the story her grandfather told her that he walked to a local bootlegger’s house the night before, where he met Price and drank for several hours. While walking home the next morning they saw Brenda Sue near South Lafayette Street and they sneaked up behind her with the intention of rape.
Lail described how Parker told her that Price had grabbed Brenda Sue and dragged her from the road to where “There was a little black boy playing in a field and Price screamed after him to get home." Supposedly, this was Robert Roseboro. According to Lail's grandfather's account, Brenda Sue fought hard and scratched Price which made him angry and he picked up a rock and hit her in the face and told Parker that they had to kill her because “They would go away and do real time this time”.
Shelby, North Carolina
Shelby is a city in Cleveland County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 19,477 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Cleveland County.-Geography:Shelby is located at ....
. The murder investigation remained cold until a series of newspaper articles highlighting the 40th anniversary of the case in the spring of 2006 brought forth new evidence.
The Events Of July 27, 1966
After a morning of arguing over a powder-puff compact with her younger sisters, Brenda Sue was asked to walk her six year old sister, Patricia, two blocks to headstart class. This was the last time Brenda Sue would be seen alive.After Brenda Sue did not return home, a search began.
At 10:15 am, Brenda Sue's mother, Gladys Brown, began a door to door search when Brenda Sue didn’t return home. Mrs. Brown then drove through her neighborhood asking neighbors and passing motorists if they had seen Brenda Sue. An hour later, a search team was formed by Shelby Rescue Squad members.
At 6:45 pm, Brenda Sue's nude body was found in a wooded area 150 feet from South Lafayette Street, not far from the family's home. Her body was covered by freshly cut tree limbs, leaves and brush, the red and white dress she had worn was folded neatly and placed atop the brush. A bloody rock was also found nearby.
The Police Investigation
Authorities determined Brenda Sue had been beaten to death with the rock found nearby. Her skull had been fractured in 12 places.Police reported that even though Brenda Sue was found stripped of her clothing, she had not been raped.
Detectives believed the killer was walking because of the heavy traffic on South Lafayette Street, the killer would not have been able to get out of a car and force the girl into the woods without being seen.
At the time, police had several suspects, including an unidentified white, bald man who had exposed himself to Brenda Sue's sister a few days before the murder and a local 13 Year old mentally disabled, African-American boy named Robert Roseboro who lived nearby.
With no leads, or sufficient evidence to make an arrest, Brenda Sue Brown's murder became a cold case
Cold case
Cold case refers to a scene of a crime or an accident that has not yet been solved to the full and is not the subject of a recent criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, retained material evidence, as well as fresh...
.
Robert Roseboro
The unidentified man who exposed himself to Brenda Sue's sister a couple of days earlier could not be found. Meanwhile, Robert Roseboro was briefly questioned by police.When officer Harold Smith questioned Roseboro at the police department, he said Roseboro stayed silent. "He wouldn´t answer. He just sat there. Roseboro´s silence made him more suspicious" Smith said.
The public was baffled as to why Roseboro, who was seen in the area on the morning of Brenda Sue's murder was not interrogated further by police.
Many locals theorized that Roseboro may have been protected by a local crime syndicate
Syndicate
A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies or entities formed to transact some specific business, or to promote a common interest or in the case of criminals, to engage in organized crime...
who dominated Shelby, North Carolina
Shelby, North Carolina
Shelby is a city in Cleveland County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 19,477 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Cleveland County.-Geography:Shelby is located at ....
during the 1960's and because of this police would not arrest him.
"We just didn´t have enough evidence on him. We had to let him go," said Harold Smith, a retired police captain. Smith said he and other investigators in the case believed Robert Roseboro killed Brenda Sue Brown.
Roseboro lived a few hundred yards from where Brenda´s body was found. That with his refusal to answer questions made him suspicious, Smith said.
When the case was reopened, detectives visited Roseboro in prison, but he refused to talk about the Brenda Sue Brown murder.
Robert Roseboro would later be convicted in May 1969 of the 1968 murder of Mary Helen Williams of Shelby, who's murder paralleled the Brenda Sue Brown case.
The Mary Helen Williams Murder
At 11:30 am on June 22, 1968, a woman and her daughter arrived at Mary´s Cannon Towel Outlet, Mary Helen Williams' business located on Dixon Boulevard in Shelby, and saw a "closed" sign hanging in the window. The girl looked in the window and saw a woman laying on the floor covered in blood.Shelby police were called to the business, where Robert Roseboro walked out with his hands in the air.
Mary Helen Williams was found nude, with her body beaten and stabbed using a pair of scissors. The county coroner later said even though Mrs. Williams was found stripped of clothing, she had not been raped.
In the store´s restroom, police found Mrs. Williams´ dress and underwear.
At the time the Mrs. Williams' murder, racial segregation
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
was intense in Shelby and rumors of the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
threatening to harm Roseboro were taken so seriously that he was secretly transferred to a jail in a nearby county until his trial in 1969.
During the two-day murder trial, a pathologist testified that blood found on Roseboro´s clothes was type "A," which matched Mrs. Williams´ blood type.
Roseboro denied killing Mrs. Williams saying the detectives lied about the investigation and said he had no motive in the murder, being as there was no rape or robbery. He drew maps of where he was in the building when the police arrived, and explained how Mrs. Williams' blood got on his clothes.
Roseboro was found guilty for the murder of Mary Helen Williams and was sentenced to death, however, his sentence was reduced to life in prison.
Because of the similarities between the Mary Helen Williams murder and the Brenda Sue Brown murder, it became a common local belief that Roseboro had committed both.
In February 2010, Roseboro was subpoenaed to a Cleveland County
Cleveland County
Cleveland County is the name of several counties in the United States:* Cleveland County, Arkansas, named for Grover Cleveland, the twenty-second and twenty-fourth president of the United States...
hearing to determine if enough evidence existed for Brenda Sue Brown murder suspect Thurman Price to be brought to trial.
During his testimony, which lasted less than ten minutes, Roseboro denied killing Brenda Sue Brown or knowing who did or having any remembrance of the day she was murdered, saying "You’re talking about something 40 years ago. How would I recall something that long ago?”
The Case Is Reopened
In 2005, Brenda Sue Brown´s sisters, Patricia Buff and Mary McSwain, spent months asking the Shelby Police Department to reopen the case. Officers told them Brenda Sue's case files were missing. After four days of searching through files in storage, the files were found packed in an unmarked box with the files of Mary Helen Williams murder case.However, the evidence including Brenda Sue's dress, underwear, shoes, the powder-puff compact she was carrying, the rock that was used to kill her, two vials of blood, fingernail scrapings, branches and a hair sample had vanished.
According to police records, Sheriff Allen was the last person in possession of the evidence when he retrieved it from the SBI in Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
in August 1966.
The only physical evidence still available is a bloody palm print that was taken from Brenda Sue's shoe in 1966.
On May 15, 2006, the remains of Brenda Sue Brown were exhumed from the Spring Hill Church Road Cemetery in Lillington, North Carolina
Lillington, North Carolina
Lillington is a town in Harnett County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,915 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Harnett County.-Geography:Lillington is located at ....
and examined for any available evidence. However, the wooded casket in which she was buried had disintegrated and only a few bones remained.
On May 21, 2006, a public memorial service was held and Brenda Sue's remains were laid to rest in Sunset Cemetery in Shelby, North Carolina
Shelby, North Carolina
Shelby is a city in Cleveland County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 19,477 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Cleveland County.-Geography:Shelby is located at ....
.
The Arrest Of A Suspect
In The spring of 2006, the Shelby, North CarolinaShelby, North Carolina
Shelby is a city in Cleveland County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 19,477 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Cleveland County.-Geography:Shelby is located at ....
newspaper, The Shelby Star, ran a 13-part 40th anniversary series about the Brenda Sue Brown murder.
Shortly after, Lori Lail came forward to police claiming her grandfather, Earl Mickey Parker, told her shortly before his death on June 26, 2002 that he and a man named Thurman Price had killed Brenda Sue Brown.
The indictment indicates that Earl Mickey Parker described in detail how Brenda Sue was killed and according to authorities, his confession to his granddaughter is consistent with the evidence found at the crime scene in July 1966.
According to court records, Lail called the family of Brenda Sue Brown on April 3, 2006 and told Brenda Sue's sister that the killer is Thurman Price, but left out her grandfather's involvement.
On February 12, 2007 at 5:15 PM, Shelby Police arrested Thurman Price, 79, on first-degree murder charges.
Price's home is located within proximity of the location where Brenda Sue Brown's body was found, however, it is unclear as to weather he lived there in July 1966. According to county records, Price didn't purchase the home until 1973.
Price was released from jail on February 16, 2007 on $50,000 bond and denies any involvement in the murder of Brenda Sue Brown as he remains free on bond while he awaits trial.
On May 10, 2007, Earl Mickey Parker’s body was exhumed from Sunset Cemetery in Shelby to see if his palm print matched a bloody one found on Brenda Sue’s shoe. The results of the test was inconclusive as Parker's hands were too deteriorated to get a print.
Prior Criminal Record
In 1954, Parker, 26, and Price, 25, were indicted together for the rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
of Shirley Gantt, a 12-year-old girl, in Patterson Springs, North Carolina
Patterson Springs, North Carolina
Patterson Springs is a town in Cleveland County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 620 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Patterson Springs is located at ....
. In January 1955, the men pleaded guilty to assault to commit rape.
According to court records, both Parker and Price were given a 3-5 year suspended prison sentence, ordered to keep a job, not to drink alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
and pay court costs
Court costs
Court costs are the costs of handling a case, which, depending on legal rules, may or may not include the costs of the various parties in a lawsuit in addition to the costs of the court itself. Court costs can reach very high amounts, often far beyond the actual monetary worth of a case...
of $240.
The Deathbed Confession
On February 9, 2010, a Cleveland County
Cleveland County
Cleveland County is the name of several counties in the United States:* Cleveland County, Arkansas, named for Grover Cleveland, the twenty-second and twenty-fourth president of the United States...
judge ruled that Earl Mickey Parker's deathbed confession
Deathbed confession
A deathbed confession is a confession of some sort when someone is assumed to be close to death. Sometimes, it takes place on their "deathbed," the bed in which a person dies or lies in during the last few hours before death, hence the phrase.-Judaism:...
and Lail's testimony will be admitted evidence
Evidence
Evidence in its broadest sense includes everything that is used to determine or demonstrate the truth of an assertion. Giving or procuring evidence is the process of using those things that are either presumed to be true, or were themselves proven via evidence, to demonstrate an assertion's truth...
at trial.
Lori Lail testified at the hearing that in June 2002 her grandfather, Earl Mickey Parker, told her on his death bed that he and Thurman Price killed Brenda Sue Brown in 1966.
According to Lail, she was alone with her grandfather in his hospital room at Cleveland Regional Medical Center in Shelby when he told her, “I’ve done some bad things with my life and before I can move on I need to get them off my chest.”
Lail recalled the story her grandfather told her that he walked to a local bootlegger’s house the night before, where he met Price and drank for several hours. While walking home the next morning they saw Brenda Sue near South Lafayette Street and they sneaked up behind her with the intention of rape.
Lail described how Parker told her that Price had grabbed Brenda Sue and dragged her from the road to where “There was a little black boy playing in a field and Price screamed after him to get home." Supposedly, this was Robert Roseboro. According to Lail's grandfather's account, Brenda Sue fought hard and scratched Price which made him angry and he picked up a rock and hit her in the face and told Parker that they had to kill her because “They would go away and do real time this time”.