Case 335: Linda Brown

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A cast recommends Hello, this is blind By.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Around every two years or so, I'm contractually obligated to
record an advertisement for my own podcast, The blind By Podcast.
I'm a writer and I like to use the podcast
space for writing. I write with my mouth for you
to read with your ears. I write about curiosity, and
I've delivered an episode every week for the past eight years.

(00:25):
I love doing it. If you want to listen to
If you don't, I'm sure we'll be grand, but most importantly,
mind yourself. The blind By podcast.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
A cast is home to the world's best podcast, including
Crime World, The Other Hand, and the one you're listening
to right now.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If
you feel at any time you need support, please contact
your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential
support and for a more detailed list of content warnings.
Please seed the show notes for this episode on your
app or on our website. At around two am on

(01:28):
Tuesday March nineteenth, nineteen eighty five, thirty two year old
David Brown got out of bed, put on some clothes,
and then headed outside to his Honda Prelude, which was
parked in the driveway. David got into the car and
backed out into Ocean Breeze Drive, the wide residential street
in Garden Grove, southern California, where he lived with his family.

(01:53):
The mood at the Brown residence had been somewhat tense
that evening. David's parents had I'm over to have dinner
with the David and his twenty three year old wife, Linda.
David and Linda had argued about how best to parent
their eight month old daughter, Ashley not her real name,
as she had been crying a lot lately. David didn't

(02:17):
think this was normal, and he wanted Linda to rock
Ashley to sleep to prevent her crying at bad time.
Linda wanted Ashley to learn how to self soothe and
said it would be fine to let her cry herself
to sleep. This had resulted in a quarrel between the couple.
When David asked his parents whether Ashley's crying was normal,

(02:39):
they reassured him that it was, and he subsequently apologized
to Linda. That hadn't been the only unpleasant aspect of
the evening. David had a fourteen year old daughter named
Cinnamon from a previous relationship who lived with him and Linda. Lately,
Cinnamon had been butting heads with her stepmother, and she'd

(03:01):
been in a particularly bad mood that night, squabbling with
Linda and being disobedient. Cinnamon was off school that week
for spring break and spending more time at home, which
only heightened the tense atmosphere to make matters even more difficult.
Linda's seventeen year old sister, Paddy Bailey, had also moved

(03:23):
in with the young family. Their three bedroom ranch style
house didn't feel big enough to accommodate all the issues
related to having a small infant and two teenagers living
in the same space. David, a successful man with his
own computer business, was having trouble sleeping and decided to

(03:44):
go for a late night drive. First, he headed to
a convenience store for a snack. He bought a single
serve apple pie and a Doctor Pepper soft drink, as
well as four comic books. David then headed back to
the Highway and to drove aimlessly for a while. The
roads were pleasantly quiet due to the lateness of the hour. Eventually,

(04:09):
he turned onto Newport Boulevard and made his way to
a Denny's chain restaurant to use the bathroom there. When
he was done, David made his way back home. He
parked his car and the driveway, then quietly went inside.
As he walked into the living room, he was met

(04:29):
by an alarming sight. His sister in law Paddy, stood
there holding eight month old Ashley, trembling violently and sobbing loudly.
While David had been out, something terrible had happened. At

(05:10):
three twenty five am, a call came through to a
nine one one dispatcher at the Garden Grove Police Department.
A caller identifying himself as David Brown blurted out, either
my daughter or my wife or both. I don't know
a dad. He explained that he just returned home to

(05:31):
find his wife's sister in a state of distress. David
said that Paddy had been sleeping when all of a
sudden she was startled awake by the sound of a
firearm going off. Fourteen year old Cinnamon had been standing
at the foot of Paddy's bed holding a handgun. She'd
fired a single shot into the wall behind Paddy's bed.

(05:55):
Cinnamon then laughed, and Paddy heard two more shots fired
from the director of the main bedroom. Baby Ashley cried
out from her nursery, which sat between Paddy's room and
the main bedroom. Terrified, Paddy said, she raced into the
nursery and scooped Ashley up, before barricading the two of

(06:15):
them in her room until she heard David return home.
She and David then briefly tried looking for Cinnamon, but
there was no sign of her. David told the nine
one one dispatcher he was worried she might have harmed
her stepmother and herself. He glanced into his bedroom and

(06:36):
noticed his wife lying in bed in an unnatural position.
He couldn't bring himself to go in and take a
closer look, too, scared of the grisly sight that might
be waiting. Within minutes, a patrol officer arrived at the
Brown residence. Ocean Breeze Drive was a pleasant, well kept

(06:57):
street in a nice part of town, home the professionals,
middle aged couples, and young families. It was the last
place anyone would expect a murder. The officer was mad
at the front door by David, who was visibly distraught.
I'm afraid to go in there and look, officer, he

(07:18):
said in a shaky voice. The officer headed through the
living room and DAN towards the main bedroom. Its door
was closed, so the officer pushed it open, shining his
torch into the dark space ahead. Its beam landed on
the bed, casting light across Linda Brown, who was lying

(07:40):
on her back. Her lower half was covered by a
blue blanket, but her torso was visible. Both her t
shirt and the sheets beneath her were soaked with blood.
Her right arm was extended, while her left hand was
holding her left ear. On the gold shag carpet. Next

(08:02):
to the bad was a Smith and Wesson thirty eight
calibus snub nosed revolver. From the doorway, the police officer
could hear Linda gurgling she was still alive. Paramedics were
urgently summoned. They found that Linda still had a pulse,

(08:23):
though it was weak. She also drew a short, shallow breath.
Linda was transferred to the DAN, where paramedics administered CPR,
then rushed her to the Fountain Valley Community Hospital. Meanwhile,
more police officers arrived at the property. Some began to
secure the crime scene, while others inspected the house. Overall,

(08:49):
the place was a mass Clothes and other objects were
strewn Throughout the residence. All of the rooms were cluttered
and waste paper baskets were overflowing. A dresser had three
of its drawers open, revealing various women's clothes, prescription pill bottles,
and an empty gun holster. Beneath Linda and David Brown's

(09:11):
bad was a box of twelve gage shotgun shells. There
was a bathroom adjacent to the main bedroom. Police checked
to see if Cinnamon was in there, possibly injured as well,
but there was no sign of her. Other officers began
to search the property's exterior in case Cinnamon was out there.

(09:35):
The front yard was entirely empty. In the backyard was
a garage, a trailer, and a secured kennel with two
doghouses inside, home to the family's three dogs, but there
was no sign of Cinnamon. An officer radioed dispatch with
the description of the missing girl, brown hair, brown eyes, short,

(09:58):
at a little over five feet tall and weighing about
one hundred and twenty pounds. A police helicopter was sent
to Ocean Breeze Drive to see if Cinnamon could be
spotted from above. It hovered alow over the houses, shining
a spotlight into their yards. Police trawled the street on foot,

(10:18):
using their flashlights to look for Cinnamon and door knocking
neighbors to find out if they'd heard anything. One man
who lived directly across the street said he'd been woken
by a loud thud at around three thirty am, but
heard nothing further. No one else reported hearing or seeing anything. Meanwhile,

(10:44):
Linda Brown's sister, Paddy Bailey began filling in the gaps
via a police interview carried out at the house. Paddy
had moved in with Linda and David six years earlier,
when she was eleven. She'd been having some issues at home,
and the newlyweds had welcomed her in. David's daughter, Cinnamon,

(11:05):
had only just moved in with them six months earlier,
in September nineteen eighty four. Cinnamon hadn't been getting along
with her mother so moved in with her dad. At first,
everything seemed great. Cinnamon adored her father, was content to
share a bedroom with Patty, and appeared excited to be

(11:26):
a big sister to baby Ashley. She even helped Linda
out with the baby where she could, But Paddy said
that within a few months cracks began to show around Christmas,
Cinnamon had become very moody and withdrawn. She started arguing
with her father and stepmother about household rules and the

(11:49):
chores she was expected to perform. Cinnamon seemed resentful of
how much attention her infant sister received in comparison to her,
and became increasingly repard elias and sarcastic. Paddy recalled that
a few weeks earlier, Linda had finally lost her patience.
She requested that Cinnamon move out of the house and

(12:11):
into a trailer they kept in the backyard. Even though
the trailer was properly furnished and had its own stereo
and TV, this banishment only increased tensions. Cinnamon started dividing
her time between the Brown residents and her mother's place again,
and she blamed Linda for her increasingly unsettled situation. When

(12:36):
the officers asked Paddy for an account of that evening's evance,
she explained that David's parents had come over for dinner
and to play cards, leaving at around nine thirty pm.
After that, Linda had a shower and went to bed,
while David, Paddy, and Cinnamon had watched television in the
living room. At one point, Linda got up for a

(12:59):
six drink and saw Cinnamon still up and sitting on
the couch. She reminded the fourteen year old to go
to bed, but Cinnamon ignored her. At about eleven p m.
David went to bed and Paddy and Cinnamon went to
Paddy's room, where there was a trundle bed that Cinnamon
often slept on. As Paddy got ready to go to sleep,

(13:24):
she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with Cinnamon.
Paddy didn't know what it was, but she could sense
that Cinnamon wanted to tell her something. Paddy offered to
stay up a bit longer and watch MTV, and offer
Cinnamon accepted. As they sat together in front of the television,

(13:45):
Paddy said she tried to encourage Cinnamon to open up,
to no avail. Eventually, Paddy decided to go to bed.
A few minutes after she went to her room, Cinnamon followed.
She asked Patty to explain something to her before going
to sleep. Cinnamon then revealed she was carrying a small

(14:08):
handgun and asked, how do you work this? Paddy asked why,
just in case? Cinnamon replied. When Patty asked, in case,
of what Cinnamon stated in case someone breaks in. Patty

(14:29):
tried to reassure the girl that their home's alarm system
would prevent intruders, but Cinnamon was adamant that she wanted
to know what to do in case of an emergency.
Paddy eventually told her, I'm not positive, I've just seen
this on TV. You just cock it back and pull
the trigger. Cinnamon thanked Patty and left. Then Patty went

(14:55):
to sleep. The next thing she knew, she was being
woken up by Cinnamon firing a single shot into the
wall of her bedroom. David Brown gave a similar account
of the evening's events, though he explained that he hadn't
been home when the shooting unfolded. After going to bed

(15:18):
beside his already sleeping wife, he'd read a few comic books,
but struggled the doze off. His mind troubled and racing
due to the recent discord in his home, he decided
to go for a drive to clear his head. He
described how when he returned home more than an hour later,
he'd found a distraught Paddy holding his baby. Paddy told

(15:43):
him what had happened before going out to the backyard
to look for Cinnamon checking in the trailer where she
usually slept, but Cinnamon had vanished. While Paddy looked for Cinnamon,
David called his parents in a state of shock. They
told him to call the police, and that's when he

(16:03):
phoned nine to one one. David told officers that the
family owned eight rifles, as well as two handguns that
were always loaded. While some of the firearms were kept
in a safe, he kept his blue still revolver wrapped
in a Kmart shopping bag in the bottom drawer of
his nightstand. The other handgun belonged to Linda, and David

(16:27):
said he didn't know where she kept it. Gunshot residue
tests were carried out on Paddy and David to see
if either of them could have fired the weapon. Both
tests came back negative. David was visibly distraught, shaking and
chainsmoking as he spoke with the police. His parents soon

(16:50):
arrived at the residence and took baby Ashley into their care.
At four twenty six am, almost exactly an hour after
David first called nine one one, a call came through
from the hospital. Linda Brown had died. The case was
now a murder investigation, and the suspect was still missing.

(17:18):
By six am, daylight was beginning to break. During a
search of Cinnamon's trailer, police officers had found a small
Dasund puppy which belonged to the fourteen year old. They
decided to place it in the kennel in the backyard
where the family's other dogs, two Cocker Spaniels and a
Pomeranian were kept. Detective Fred McLean and two other officers

(17:43):
entered the kennel and set the puppy down. As they
did so, detective McLean noticed something poking out of one
of the two doghouses that sat at the back of
the pan. It was a white tennis shoe. Detective mc
lean walked towards the doghouse and bent down. Peering inside,

(18:07):
he saw a small figure curled up in the fetal position.
It was a young girl whose long brown hair had
fallen across her face. Cinnamon. Detective mc lean called. The
girl muttered unintelligibly in response. The detective reached inside the

(18:29):
doghouse and took Cinnamon's hand in his, pulling her up
and out of the small space. She wore a sweatshirt
and pants which were covered with what looked to be
bright red vomit. Vomit also coated the floor of the
doghouse Cinnamon had been lying on, dotted with what looked
to be pill capsules. The smell of urine permeated the air.

(18:55):
Cinnamon's hair was disheveled, She was shaking and appeared barely conscious.
Clutched in one of her hands was a piece of
pink cardboard paper wrapped with a red ribbon. Detective McLean
took the paper from Cinnamon. Written on it in messy,
childlike handwriting were the words dear God, please forgive me.

(19:21):
I didn't mean to hurt her. Detective McLean guided Cinnamon
into a waiting police car to be driven to the station.
On the way, Cinnamon asked the two officers accompanying her
if her father was all right. They told her he was.
Is Paddy all right? Cinnamon asked yes. They answered, how

(19:47):
about Linda? Cinnamon said, how's Linda? The two officers didn't reply.
When they reached the police station, Cinnamon was photographed, underwent
a gunshot residue test, and was checked by paramedics. Still

(20:09):
as groggy as she'd appeared at home, Cinnamon drifted between
lucidity and unconsciousness. It appeared that she was either intoxicated
or under the influence of a drug. Her blood pressure
was low, but she wasn't in any danger and could
still answer questions. At eight a m. Cinnamon Brown was

(20:31):
interviewed by Detective McLean. Do you know why you're here?
Detective McLean asked, because I hurt Linda. Cinnamon replied, how
did you hurt Linda? He asked, I shot her? Came
the response. Detective McLean informed the teenager that Linda was dad,

(20:55):
and then read Cinnamon her rights. While Cinnamon said that
she felt sick, she agreed that she understood her rights
and would proceed with questioning. She told detective MacLean that
she'd moved out of her mother's home because her mother
yelled too much and it made her nervous. Cinnamon got

(21:15):
along well with her father, so she'd thought living with
him would be better, but she and Linda soon began
to clash. Cinnamon said she disapproved of Linda's parenting, especially
her use of a self soothing method for the baby,
which Cinnamon saw as neglectful. She also accused Linda of

(21:37):
sometimes hitting her baby, which angered Cinnamon. She said that
Linda was tired of her and didn't like her, adding
that Linda had said she no longer wanted Cinnamon in
the house, so she'd moved out to the trailer in
the backyard, but that hadn't resolved matters. Cinnamon said that

(21:58):
the previous evening she and had had a big fight.
She told me that she hated my guts, and I go,
I guess I hate you too, Cinnamon recalled. Detective MacLean
asked if Linda had said why she hated her, No,
Cinnamon replied, she wouldn't tell me. Cinnamon believed Linda was

(22:23):
jealous of her close bond with David, adding I'm my
daddy's daughter. Though she struggled at points to answer the questions,
Cinnamon managed to continue. She said that the previous night's
argument had culminated in Linda threatening to kill Cinnamon if

(22:43):
she hadn't left the house by the time Linda woke
up the following morning. Detective McLean asked Cinnamon whose gun
she had used to shoot Linda. Cinnamon said it was
her father's and that she'd found it in an office
draw explaining, I shot three shots. One of them was

(23:03):
in my room with Paddy, and the other two were
with Linda Cinnamon hadn't planned to shoot Paddy. That shot
had only gone off due to Cinnamon trying to figure
out how to operate the weapon. She said that no
one had shown her how to use the revolver, but
she'd had some experience firing little guns before. As the

(23:28):
interview went on, Cinnamon became increasingly drowsy and her speech
slowed with each answer. At one point, she murmured under
her breath, please don't let them get away with murder.
When Detective mc lean reminded her that she had to
answer his questions to ensure she didn't get away with it,

(23:51):
Cinnamon replied, in a dazed voice, I'm trying to, but
I can't keep my eyes open. Realizing Cinnamon was on
the verge of passing out, McLean ended the interview after
just thirty minutes. By this stage, she could barely hold
her head up. Just as they were about to leave

(24:14):
the interrogation room, Cinnamon explained why she was so tired.
Earlier that morning, she'd taken about eighty capsules of some
kind of drug. Testing revealed that she'd taken a massive
overdose of dava set, a prescription painkiller, and diozide, a
diuretic used to treat high blood pressure. Cinnamon was admitted

(24:38):
to the Garden Grove Medical Center for treatment. After arriving
at the hospital, Cinnamon told another police officer there how
she'd shot Linda before falling asleep. She was subsequently transferred
to the jail ward of another hospital, where she confessed

(24:59):
twice more to a physician and a psychiatrist. Cinnamon was
monitored carefully over the following days. All up, she had
consumed three bottles of prescription medication that had belonged to
her father, and it was a miracle she had survived.
The dose she'd taken contained more than six times the

(25:22):
fatal amount of propoxyphene, an opioid and a key ingredient
in davsat. During an interview with the police, Cinnemon's father,
David Brown, said this was not the first time his
daughter had self harmed. Just two weeks earlier, she had
overdosed on aspirin. David said he blamed himself for Linda's

(25:46):
murder because he hadn't realized how deeply troubled Cinnamon was,
and he therefore had encouraged her to seek therapy sooner.
He said, he'd forgotten to set the house alarm before
his late night drive. Had he done so, Cinnamon might
have triggered it, and Linda might still be alive. Regardless

(26:08):
of Cinnamon's actions, David vowed to stand by his daughter,
insisting she needed him now more than ever. I just
love her to death, he said. An autopsy confirmed that
Linda Brown had died from two gunshots to the chest,
one of which had pierced her superior vena cava, the

(26:31):
large vein that carries blood from the upper body to
the heart. One shot had been made from twelve to
eighteen inches away, while the other had been closer at
a distance of three to six inches. Three days after
the murder, a memorial service was held for Linda, with
a viewing of her body, which was dressed in a

(26:53):
blue lace dress, her head resting on a burgundy colored pillow.
Mourners approached the casket in turn, each placing a red
rose inside as they paid their respects. Linda was subsequently
cremated and her ashes were interred in the base of
a fountain at Pacific View Memorial Park. A plaque was

(27:16):
added that rad your love, kindness, caring and beauty will
shine forever love Ashley and David. Meanwhile, Cinnamon Brown was
formally charged with first degree murder. She was booked into
Orange County Juvenile Hall in absentia while she remained hospitalized.

(27:44):
Cinnamon Brown's trial began less than six months after Linda's death.
Due to her age, California Lord dictated that she could
not be prosecuted as an adult and that she would
be tried by judge alone. In a curious development, Cinnamon
pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming that she

(28:06):
had no memory of the shooting. A psychiatrist testifying on
her behalf stated that she was suffering from psychogenic amnesia,
disassociative disorder, and recurrent depression, which prevented her from recalling
any details of the crime. As each new witness took
the stand, from police investigators to the medical personnel who

(28:29):
had treated her, Cinnamon insisted they were all strangers. The
prosecution completely rejected the insanity plea, arguing that Linda's death
was a cold blooded murder carried out by a quote
depressed and angry girl who had carefully planned the crime.

(28:50):
Their most damning evidence came from the testimony of their
first witness, Paddy Bailey. Cinnamon appeared stunned, confused, and somewhat
betrayed as Paddy took the stand. Paddy detailed Cinnamon's behavior
leading up to the murder, including her moodiness, depression, and
suicidal thoughts. She described how Cinnamon's misunderstandings with Linda escalated

(29:17):
into full blown arguments so intense that Paddy would have
to leave the room. She also recounted her memories of
the night of the shooting, including how Cinnamon had shown
her the revolver and asked her how to use it.
Yet Paddy's testimony was not as critical of Cinnamon as
many had anticipated. She stated that she had never heard

(29:41):
Cinnamon say she hated Linda, and she had even seen
the pair hug on occasion. Paddy defended Cinnamon against claims
of drug use and refused to state definitively that she
was the figure she'd seen standing over her bed after
the first gunshot, or the one she laid a glimp
slipping out the back door. Paddy was accused of trying

(30:05):
to protect Cinnamon, which she denied. Cinnamon watched the trial
in a bleaque state, her expression perplexed as she struggled
to follow the police jargon, medical terms, forensic science, and
expert analysis. All the while, she kept scanning the room

(30:26):
for familiar and supportive faces. Among them was her mother, Branda,
but there was one very noticeable absence. David Brown didn't
attend the trial as either a witness or supporter, citing
illness related to a liver disorder. His testimony was presented

(30:47):
via stipulations, agreements between the prosecution and the defense about
certain facts or evidence, meaning neither side had to prove
them with additional testimony. Both Soil stipulated that David Brown
believed Cinnamon was guilty. After hearing the closing arguments, the

(31:08):
judge declared a fifteen minute recess. Upon returning, he announced
that he had reached a verdict. He concluded that Cinnamon
Brown had killed Linda Brown with premeditation and deliberation, Finding
her guilty of murder. Cinnamon shook her head faintly, her

(31:30):
face downcast. It was then up to the judge to
determine Cinnamon's state of mind at the time of the killing,
a decision that would decide whether she ended up in
a hospital or a prison cell. Multiple witnesses were called
to assess her mindset, specifically whether she was able to

(31:51):
distinguish right from wrong during the shooting. Psychiatrists found Cinnamon
too grounded to be psychotic, and too sincere, remorseful and
upset to have an antisocial personality. She showed no signs
of psychosis or hallucinations and appeared to function intellectually in

(32:11):
the average to above average range. The only possible explanation
they could find for her actions was intermittent explosive disorder,
a condition characterized by impulsive aggression and regular verbal and
physical outbursts. However, this couldn't be definitively concluded, as Cinnamon

(32:33):
refused to fully cooperate with the doctors. One psychiatrist who
tried to examine Cinnamon said she wouldn't let me in.
I had the feeling that there is a tremendous amount
of chronic emotional turmoil in this young woman, and with
the assumption that she indeed did what she is accused of,

(32:54):
in my opinion, this represents severe interpersonal and emotional difficulty.

Speaker 3 (33:00):
Es.

Speaker 1 (33:02):
After reviewing reports from doctors, investigators, and Cinnamon's friends and family,
the judge concluded that she was seen at the time
of Linda's murder Cinnamon was sentenced to twenty seven years
to life in a juvenile correctional facility where she would
receive psychiatric treatment. Given her age at the time of

(33:25):
the offense, she could be eligible for early release in
as little as six years, provided she remained a model
inmate and made progress in her treatment before being led away.
Cinnamon burst into tears. Case file will be back shortly.

(33:54):
Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors.

Speaker 4 (34:02):
With an ESB Network smart meter, you're in control track
your daily, weekly, and monthly electricity usage so you can
choose the right plan for your home. Smart meters help
all of us make smarter energy choices so we can
work together for Ireland's cleaner electric future. Sign up to
a free ESB Network's online account today and see how

(34:23):
your smart meter can work for you. ESP Networks Energizing
your Everything.

Speaker 3 (34:31):
A cast recommends Hello, this.

Speaker 2 (34:34):
Is blind By. Around every two years or so, I'm
contractually obligated to record an advertisement for my own podcast,
the blind By Podcast. I'm a writer and I like
to use the podcast space for writing. I write with
my mouth for you to read with your ears. I
write about curiosity and I've delivered an episode every week

(34:55):
for the past eight years. I love donuts. If you
want to listen to If you don't, I'm sure would
be grand. But most importantly, mind yourself.

Speaker 3 (35:03):
Blame by podcast a Cast is home to the world's
best podcast including Crime World, The Other Hand, and the
one you're listening to right now.

Speaker 1 (35:19):
Thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting
our sponsors, you support case File to continue to deliver
our quality content. Following her trial, Cinema Brown settled into
life at the California Youth Authority Prison in Ventura, about

(35:41):
two hours drive north of where she lived with her family.
After missing Cinnamon's trial entirely, her father visited her regularly,
telling her he was working hard to have her case
reopened and secure her release. David's visits always lifted Cinnamon's spirits.
He funded her commissary account, allowing her to buy food

(36:04):
and personal care items, and even letting her charge his
business accounts to order items by mail. Around his daughter,
David remained his characteristically fun and upbeat self. He was
optimistic about Cinnamon's situation, reassuring her You'll be out of
here soon. David also updated Cinnamon on life outside. He

(36:29):
spoke of major changes, notably his purchase of a new
home in Anaheim Hills, though he admitted it wasn't ideal,
calling the neighborhood shoddy, and to step down from Garden Grove.
He said he couldn't bring himself to stay in the
house where Linda had been killed. David's parents moved in

(36:49):
to help raise baby Ashley, while Paddy Bailey was remaining
temporarily until she could arrange a more permanent living situation.
David told Cinnemon that she wasn't missing out on much
as the family spent most of their days at home.
Over time, David's visits grew less frequent. He cited his

(37:11):
declining health, which made the drive to the facility difficult.
David had a liver disorder and sometimes struggled with his breathing.
On phone calls, Cinnamon begged him to come up to visit,
saying she missed him and feared she might never see
him again. It was difficult to get hold of David

(37:32):
most of the time. When Cinnamon called the house, her
grandparents answered and told her David wasn't around. When he
did visit, their meetings were brief and often ended before
Cinnamon could voice her worries about her predicament. If she
managed to open up, David either ignored her concerns or
offered vague assurances, like saying he was contacting lawyers to

(37:55):
have her case reopened and working on securing her release.
He always wanted to know exactly what she was telling
those overseeing her care, instructing her not to disclose anything
and to keep insisting that she didn't remember the night
of the shooting. Without David's visits, Cinnamon found other ways

(38:17):
to pass the time. Her behavior in detention was exemplary.
Though she mostly kept to herself, she was cooperative and friendly,
and she adjusted well. She attended high school classes and
earned good grades while also working a part time job
to save money. She got along with the other incarcerated

(38:38):
teens and even saying in the facility's church choir. She
participated in nearly every program offered, except counseling, which she
consistently refused. Despite undergoing numerous psychological examinations in an attempt
to understand what drove her to kill, Cinnamon remained markedly

(39:00):
guarded and unwilling to let anyone inside her mind. Then
one day in December nineteen eighty six, fourteen months into
Cinnamon's sentence, she made a peculiar remark to her examiners.
Four weeks earlier, Cinnamon had been visited by her paternal grandfather,

(39:21):
Arthur Brown. Arthur was a devoted family man who loved
Cinnamon deeply and was profoundly distressed to see her spending
her youth incarcerated. According to Cinnamon, Arthur had made a
significant comment during his visit. He claimed he knew who

(39:41):
had really killed Linda, and that when the time was right,
he would reveal it. Word of Arthur Brown's peculiar remark
reached detectives j Nuwell and Fred MacLean, the investigators who
had worked Linda Brown's case. Although Linda's murder had technically

(40:04):
been solved, Nuwell and McLean had been unable to shake
the unsettling feeling that the story was incomplete. There were
some curious aspects to the crime that had left them
scratching their heads despite its seemingly clear cut nature. For starters,
David's actions in the wake of his wife's murder had

(40:25):
been odd. After returning home to find Paddy Bailey distraught
and talking about gunshots, David had refused to even enter
the bedroom to check on Linda. He'd called his father
before calling nine one one, and told first responders who
was too afraid to see Linda. This behavior was at

(40:46):
odds with the way family members of victims typically responded
by rushing to check on their loved one and to
minister first aid. When police had interviewed David in the
aftermath of Linda's murder, he'd made some emotional outbursts and
seemed more concerned with complaining to detectives about having a
bad headache. David had told detectives that earlier that night,

(41:10):
after going to bed, he and Linda had sex, yet
her autopsy revealed no evidence that she'd recently had intercourse.
David had also mentioned how he'd asked Paddy to go
out in the backyard to look for Cinnamon when he
first arrived home. This struck detectives as bizarre at the time.

(41:33):
Cinnamon had been a potentially armed fugitive who just killed
her stepmother and fired a shot into Patty's bedroom. Why
would David ask a seventeen year old to look for
his daughter outside in the middle of the night instead
of looking for her himself. Some strange things had happened
at Linda's funeral too. During the service, the minister presiding

(41:58):
over the ceremony spoke about how David and Linda's marriage
was sometimes rocky. This prompted David to start hissing at
the minister and gesturing for him to stop speaking. The
minister paused the memorial and went to speak to David,
before returning to the pulpit and telling the audience that

(42:18):
he'd been mistaken. David and Linda's marriage had been almost perfect.
Despite outwardly supporting Cinnamon, David hadn't attended her trial except
to hear the verdict. At that time, he'd acted oddly
flirting with his ex wife and Cinnamon's mother, Brenda, by

(42:40):
playfully pulling her hair. He hadn't looked somber or concerned
about his daughter's fate at all. All of these strange
things left Detective Jane Ywell wondering if there was more
to the case than met the eye. In his experience,

(43:01):
a murder of this kind within a family was usually
the result of a slow build up of grievances over
a long period of time, But according to Cinnamon and
the other family members, Cinnamon's decision to shoot her stepmother
had been impulsive, springing up almost out of nowhere. Detectives
had recovered diaries and other documents that Cinnamon had kept.

(43:25):
Nothing she had written expressed any animosity or resentment toward
her stepmother. They were breezy, lighthearted scribblings about pastimes and
music she liked, and activities she was doing with friends.
Arthur Brown's alleged to comment to his granddaughter Cinnamon only
reinforced the detective's belief that Linda Brown's murder was not

(43:49):
the open and shutcase the courts had been led to believe.
Detective Mule had spoken with Arthur during the initial investigation
and found him to be skittish and nerve. After reports
surfaced that Arthur had told Cinnamon he knew who had
really killed Linda, Detective Nule decided it was time to

(44:09):
pay him another visit. Arthur had recently moved in with
David in his new home in Anaheim Hills. While David
had told Cinnamon their new neighborhood was shoddy and a
downgrade from their previous home, this couldn't be further from
the truth. The lavish blue green stucco and Fieldstone manner

(44:32):
sat on a quiet, tree lined street in the county's
most exclusive neighborhood. It featured a large, manicured lawn, a
triple garage, a balcony with picturesque views, and a swimming
pool with a hot tub. It was a massive upgrade
from David's modest bungalow in Garden Grove. Detective Nule discovered

(44:55):
that the Anaheim Hills house had been paid for in
cash thanks to several life insurance payouts that David had
received following Linda's murder. He had also used the payout
to purchase multiple high end cars and fund a lavish
lifestyle that included gambling trips to Las Vegas. The discovery

(45:15):
of these payouts was of particular interest to Detective Nuwell.
Early in the investigation, David had told the authorities that
Linda only had one small life insurance policy. It turned
out that he'd actually taken out three policies, with a
fourth in progress at the time that Linda was killed.

(45:36):
In total, he'd collected more than eight hundred and forty
two thousand dollars from his wife's death, the equivalent of
more than two point five million in today's money. Detective
Nuwell discreetly watched the property, scanning for any sign of Arthur,
and more importantly, for David. He suspected the only way

(45:59):
he could get up Arthur to open up was to
speak to him privately, away from the prying years of
his son. When Nuell spotted Arthur in the yard and
saw that David's car wasn't in the driveway, he seized
the opportunity. Arthur was immediately wary of the detective's unexpected presence,

(46:19):
though agreed to speak briefly. Muwell explained that Cinnamon had
been upset by something Arthur had recently told her. Arthur
immediately went on the defensive, insisting he didn't know what
he could have said to cause concern. Still, his affection
for Cinnamon was evident, as he referred to her as

(46:40):
a darling little girl. Arthur revealed that he had only
ever visited Cinnamon when David was present, except for the
one meeting four weeks earlier. He had gone alone after
Cinnamon called him saying she wanted to talk. Arthur claimed
that Uneman had simply wanted to tell him how much

(47:02):
she loved him, and that she had managed to get
six months off her sentence for the good work she'd
been doing. Arthur told Detective Null that the juvenile correctional
facility was no place for Cinnamon. He then added, nervously,
I don't believe she had anything to do with it,
and I still don't I never will. The detective asked

(47:27):
what he had said to Cinnamon. Arthur replied, I told
her that I was sure I knew who planned the
whole thing. Muell advanced cautiously, sensing Arthur's apprehension to speak.
It was clear to him that the older man was

(47:47):
genuinely frightened. When Nuell suggested that Cinnamon might not bear
the full weight of guilt, Arthur nodded silently in agreement.
Said I told Cinny that I felt like I knew
who planned it because I heard her say she was
going to do something to save David. Detective Nuwell pressed

(48:12):
for clarification, heard who say, Arthur went quiet and glanced
anxiously over his shoulder before continuing. Paddy Arthur claimed that
two weeks before Linda's murder, he had been driving to

(48:33):
a picnic with Linda, David, and Linda's sister, Paddy Bailey.
During the drive, Linda got out of the car to
use the bathroom. At this point in his recounting to
Detective Nule, Arthur spat on the ground to emphasize his
disgust as he described the then seventeen year old Paddy
as a quote foulmouthed bitch. Arthur said that while Linda

(48:59):
was a he overheard Paddy talking about wanting to get
rid of Linda in order to save David. Paddy allegedly
claimed that Linda was plotting with her twin brother Alan
to kill David and to take over his business. Arthur
said it took him more than five months after the
murder to recall this conversation in the car due to

(49:22):
the shock he was experiencing at the time. He told
Detective Nuwell he hadn't liked Paddy since and that he
might have told Cinnamon what he'd heard, though he couldn't
be certain. Still, Arthur was adamant that Cinnamon wasn't fully
responsible for Linda's murder, declaring I'd bat my life on that.

(49:48):
Detective Nuwell was left in a difficult position. Arthur Brown's
story would likely never hold up in court, and he'd
only agreed to speak with Newell on the condition that
his comments remain confidential. But even if Nuell could enact
on Arthur's allegations, he still wanted to know everything about them.

(50:09):
He asked Arthur if he was fabricating the story out
of dislike for Paddy. Arthur staunchly denied this, saying he
simply hoped that by confiding in Nuwell about the incident,
it might help Cinnamon. At that moment, a car suddenly
pulled into the driveway. It was David Brown. Panic flashed

(50:33):
across Arthur's face as he muttered, if I stick my
neck out too far, I'll lose my son, my granddaughter,
and another granddaughter. Nuwell quickly reassured him that wouldn't happen.
All he wanted was the truth. As David approached, Nuwell
stuck out his hand and, thinking on his feet, introduced

(50:57):
himself as a real estate agent named Walker. Arthur stood
beside him, lips pressed shut, sweat dotting his forehead. How
you doing, David asked, casually, shaking Null's hand. It seemed
that David didn't recognize Neuell as one of the detectives

(51:17):
who had investigated his wife's murder nearly two years earlier,
the three men shared a friendly conversation about property in
the area before Nuwell quietly took his leave. The allegation
that Paddy Bailey had wanted her older sister Dad was startling.

(51:40):
Paddy had never told the police that she'd felt any
animosity toward Linda, speaking of her only with fondness. When
Paddy had been eleven years old and having troubles at home,
it was Linda who had suggested that she move in
with her and David until things improved, or until she
turned eighteen. Linda had told Patty, I'd love to have you.

(52:05):
When Paddy was formally interviewed for the first time after
Linda's murder, she was asked point blank, did you kill
your sister without hesitation? She replied, no, I didn't. After
Cinnamon's sentencing hearing, detective Fred MacLean ran into Cinnamon's paternal aunt, Susan,

(52:26):
in the courthouse parking lot. She revealed that the last
time she spoke with Linda, it was clear she was
miserable because she and David were fighting a lot. However,
according to Susan, Cinnamon wasn't the source of the family's troubles.
The problem was Paddy. Susan explained that Cinnamon's move into

(52:51):
the trailer wasn't punishment to appease Linda, but done because
Paddy didn't want to share her room. Despite Paddi claims,
Susan said her relationship with Cinnamon was distant at best.
Paddy had little sense of humor and became irritated whenever
Cinnamon was having fun. Linda had also noticed Paddy's smug

(53:15):
expression whenever Cinnamon was in trouble. In the end, Paddy
got what she wanted and Cinnamon was sent to live
in the trailer. Paddy always got her way with David,
Susan told detective McLean. Linda had allegedly confided in Susan

(53:35):
that she felt Paddy was dangerous, admitting she never let
Patty care for her baby alone for fear she might
cause harm. Susan told Detective McLean Linda was very worried
about Patty's behavior. She said Patty was acting strange. There

(53:56):
was another worrisome observation that Susan had made. Ever since
Linda's death, Paddy and David had become inseparable. Susan's revelations
highlighted a major challenge for investigators. During their initial inquiry,

(54:18):
they had tried to uncover as much as possible about
the Brown family, but they'd been hindered by David's fiercely
guarded privacy. David was especially protective of his family, a
trait he had instilled in Cinnamon, Paddy, and Linda. The
family spoke little, if at all, about their home life.

(54:38):
It wasn't until investigators revisited the case after Cinnamon's conviction
that the most troubling stories emerged, and it became clear
why they hadn't surfaced earlier. The truth was David's marriage
to Linda hadn't been the almost perfect union that he
had described, and their relationship had some problematic origins. The

(55:03):
couple had met about a decade earlier, when David was
in his twenties and Linda was in her early teens.
Life hadn't been easy for Linda's family when she was
growing up. Her mother Ethel had been left to raise
her eleven children by herself while struggling with alcohol addiction.

(55:23):
Ethel depended on welfare payments for support. The family was close,
but disfunctional at times, and they always struggled to get by.
There were also allegations that some of the girls in
the family were sexually abused by a relative. The family's
luck seemed to shift one day when they met David Brown,

(55:46):
a young computer specialist who lived next door to their
home in Riverside. David explained that he'd heard about the
family's dire financial situation and thought he might be able
to help. David was extremely ill with cancer, and doctors
had only given him six months to live. He could

(56:07):
no longer perform basic household chores and wondered if the
Bailey girls that he'd seen walking to and from school
would be able to help. David was happy to pay
them in exchange for the housework. Ethel Bailey agreed, later
saying how do you say no to a dying man?

(56:31):
From then on, Linda and her teenage sisters had started
spending time helping David out around the house. His home
became something of a fun hangout spot, with David inviting
the girls to play games and chat with him. He
soon began dating Linda's older sister, Pam, who was then

(56:51):
fifteen or sixteen years old. The relationship didn't last long,
and to David turned his attention to Linda, who was
even younger at fourteen. The two soon became a couple.
Linda seemed smitten with David, who was soft spoken and romantic,
penning love letters and sending Linda flowers, despite the fact

(57:16):
that he was a divorced adult with a young child.
Ethel Bailey wasn't concerned by David's interest in either Pam
or Linda. She saw David as a safe person and
a successful businessman with means and opportunities that they didn't have.
As the months continued to pass, David shared some good

(57:38):
news with the Bailey family his cancer had miraculously been cured.
In nineteen seventy nine, he proposed to the then seventeen
year old Linda, who said yes. Due to her age,
she needed her mother's signature so the two could marry
in Las Vegas. One month later, they divorced and David

(58:03):
married another woman. He continued having an affair with Linda
throughout this other marriage, which also ended quickly. David then
went back to Linda and the pair remarried privately. Many
sought the relationship as highly inappropriate. It was skewed in

(58:24):
David's favour, with him being the much older, dominant, and
respected breadwinner. Almost overnight, Linda went from being a regular
teenager to a wife and a stepmother who was expected
to be a homemaker. She was also responsible for handling
the administrative work at David's successful and thriving computer firm.

(58:48):
Early into her and David's second marriage, Linda's younger sister, Paddy,
moved in with them to escape the chaos of the
Bailey family home. Then Linda became pregnant with facially, and
David's daughter Cinnamon arrived as well. Outside of the home,
Linda was isolated. She had no friends and no social

(59:11):
life to speak of. Neighbours said they only ever saw
her when she was mowing the lawn. Inside the home,
she was juggling the difficult task of raising two teenage
girls who weren't much younger than she was, in addition
to being a new mother. Moreover, Linda's mother in law

(59:33):
was somewhat overbearing, and David tended to side with her,
which led to arguments between the couple. Paddy and Cinnamon
often squabbled and competed for David's attention, further increasing tensions.
All things considered, Linda and David's marriage hadn't been the
fairy tale he had tried to portray it as. While

(59:56):
the life insurance policies that David had neglected to me,
along with Arthur Brown's claims about Paddy Bailey, were undoubtedly suspicious,
Detective Jane Null didn't have any evidence to tie either
of them to Linda's murder. Before Cinnamon had lawyer it
up and claimed to have no recollection of Linda's murder,

(01:00:18):
she had been adamant that she had acted entirely alone
in the killing. Detective Nuwell knew that the only way
the truth would ever come out was if Cinnamon revealed
it herself. Because she was still under age, the detective
was not permitted to approach her for a conversation without
permission from her guardian, David Brown. Instead, Detective Nuwell bided

(01:00:45):
his time for three years. He kept track of David
Brown's business and personal affairs while also monitoring Cinnamon's activities
at the youth prison. As soon as she turned eighteen,
he planned and to tell her everything he'd discovered. Although

(01:01:08):
Arthur Brown was unwilling to talk to the authorities any further,
he continued to speak with Cinnamon. Sometimes he let small
details slip, such as how nice David's new home was,
and how much more expensive it was than his previous one.
Arthur also mentioned that Paddy Bailey was still living with David.

(01:01:31):
In early nineteen eighty seven, she became pregnant to a
man named Doug, who took off after finding out about
the pregnancy. Paddy gave birth to a girl in September
nineteen eighty seven, and the two continued to live with David.
Another year went by, and on Sunday, July three, nineteen

(01:01:52):
eighty eight, Cinnamon celebrated her eighteenth birthday. Investigators finally had
their chance. Now she was no longer a minor, they
could approach her as an adult. Detective Jane Null called
Cinnamon and laid out what they had discovered, her father's

(01:02:13):
massive insurance payout and the life of luxury he was
now living. And that wasn't all. During one surveillance visit
to the Anaheim Hills home, Detective Nuwell had observed something
that cemented his concerns. David Brown locked in a passionate

(01:02:33):
kiss with Paddy. At first, Cinnamon Brown refused to believe
what the detective was telling her. She loved her father
deeply and believed he was fighting for her freedom, but
Detective Null kept a visiting, bringing proof that what he
said was true. He showed Cinnamon the four life insurance

(01:02:58):
policies David had taken out against Linda, as well as
photographs of David and Paddy in an embrace. He also
had proof that the pills Cinnamon had taken after shooting
Linda should have killed her. Gradually, Cinnamon's perspective began to shift.

(01:03:18):
This information, combined with the details her grandfather had revealed,
painted her father in a terrible light, and the truth
was a few months before Linda's murder, Cinnamon had witnessed
a kiss between David and Patty for herself. This had
left her incredibly upset and confused, but she'd tried to

(01:03:40):
forget about it. There was also the undeniable fact that
David's visits had tapered off and several years had gone
by with no evidence that he was working to have
her released. On Wednesday, August tenth, nineteen eighty eight, Cinnamon
called Detective and said she wanted to talk in person.

(01:04:12):
Case file will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting
us by listening to this episode. Sponsors a Cast recommends Hello, this.

Speaker 2 (01:04:26):
Is blind By Around every two years or so, I'm
contractually obligated to record an advertisement for my own podcast,
The blind By Podcast. I'm a writer and I like
to use the podcast space for writing. I write with
my mouth for you to read with your ears. I
write about curiosity, and I've delivered an episode every week

(01:04:46):
for the past eight years. I love doing it. If
you want to listen to If you don't, I'm sure
we'll be grand, but most importantly, mind yourself. The blind
By podcast.

Speaker 3 (01:04:56):
A cast is home to the world's best podcast, including
The Crime World, The Other Hand, and the one you're
listening to right now.

Speaker 1 (01:05:10):
Thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting
our sponsors, you support case File to continue to deliver
our quality content. Cinnamon was the only child of David
Brown and his first wife, Brenda. The couple had met

(01:05:33):
when they were teenagers and married when Brenda became pregnant.
They were both the just shy of their eighteenth birthdays
and barely scraping by. When their healthy baby girl arrived,
they wanted to give her a name that was unique
and memorable, one that would stand out if she ever
became famous. They chose Cinnamon Brown David was immediately smitten

(01:05:58):
with Cinnamon, whom affectionately called Sinny. While Brenda took on
the role of the steady parent, managing the daily routine
and a discipline, David cast himself as the fun parent.
He showered Cinnamon with affection and indulgences, from trips to
Disneyland to rides on his motorcycle. In turn, Cinnamon grew

(01:06:22):
to adore her father. After David and Brenda divorced when
Cinnamon was four, she began living with Brenda full time,
while seeing her father on weekends. Over the following years,
Cinnamon went back and forth between her parents as they
built new lives. They both remarried, relocated, and had other children.

(01:06:46):
David earned a technical degree and built a successful career
in the computer industry, eventually founding his own data recovery
business and amassing considerable wealth. Cinnamon remained in the primary
care of her mother, but as she got older, their
relationship became strained. As tensions with her mother grew, she

(01:07:08):
increasingly saw her father as her hero. Family members later
said that Cinnamon had always seemed desperate for her father's affection.
David cultivated this devotion, competing with Brenda for Cinnamon's love.
When Brenda remarried and had another daughter, David used this

(01:07:29):
to his advantage, encouraging the now teenaged Cinnamon to break
the rules while in her mother's house. And While David
could be all fun and games in some ways, he
also had a controlling side. He forbade Cinnamon from having
friends over or giving out their phone number. As she

(01:07:51):
grew older, he refused to allow her to date or
even socialize with boys. He wanted Cinnamon's life to revolve
around him and the family he built. Sometimes he tested
Cinnamon's loyalty by seeing if she would shoplift for him,
a tactic he had also used with the Bailey sisters.

(01:08:13):
Although Brenda considered Cinnamon a good kid and Cinnamon loved
her mother, the two clashed over rules and boundaries. After
one particular argument escalated into violence, Brenda decided that Cinnamon
might benefit from spending more time with her father. In
September nineteen eighty four, fourteen year old Cinnamon moved in

(01:08:36):
with David at his Garden Grove home, where he lived
with his new wife, Linda and Linda's younger sister Paddy.
One day after moving in, Cinnamon was sitting in the
living room watching television with her father and Paddy. At
one point, Paddy got up to go to the kitchen.

(01:08:58):
Once she reached the door, or she suddenly froze and
appeared to be listening intently to something. Paddy told the
others that she had overheard a conversation Linda was having
on the phone with her twin brother Allan. They were
talking about killing David, with Linda saying she needed to
get him out of the way. Cinnamon dismissed this as

(01:09:22):
a joke Paddy was playing on them, but Paddy was
adamant that it had really happened. In the days and
weeks that followed, David seemed to become paranoid. He repeatedly
approached his fourteen year old daughter, saying, Linda is going
to try to kill me. When Cinnamon asked why he

(01:09:43):
thought that, David replied, don't worry about it, I just
know she is. He said that Linda and Allen wanted
him gone so they could seize control of his company
and the multiple properties he owned. Cinnamon gradually began to
believe there was some truth to what her father was saying,

(01:10:05):
and she suggested that David get a divorce. David refused
this idea, stating that even if he divorced Linda, she
would still come after him. He also said that Linda
knew too much about his computer business and understood their
proprietary methods. If they divorced, she would just set up

(01:10:26):
a competing business and steal his clients. David told Cinnamon,
I'll just leave you guys. I'll leave you guys with
everything and take off and start over again. Upset by
this suggestion, Cinnamon repeatedly begged her father not to leave.

(01:10:47):
David replied, I have to either that or we have
to get rid of Linda. Convinced that her father was
in mortal danger and facing a kill or be killed situation,
Cinnamon began to talk seriously with David about what to
do next. Over the next few months, what started as

(01:11:10):
seemingly hypothetical discussions about getting rid of Linda turned darker.
David encouraged Cinnamon and Patty to compete for his approval
by coming up with the different ways they could kill Linda.
They discussed various scenarios running her over with their van,
pushing her out of it, or hitting her over the head.

(01:11:34):
They even joked about electrocuting her in the bath until
someone remembered that Linda only took showers. On Monday, March eighteenth,
nineteen eighty five, the day before Linda was killed, the
family intended to drive out to the desert to go
target shooting, but the trip was called off on account
of rain. Had they made it out there, the plan

(01:11:58):
was for someone to take a run charge at Linda
and shove her off a cliff. Whenever Cinnamon expressed a
doubt or faltered in these conversations, David asked her, do
you love me? Would you do anything for me? Other
times he talked wistfully about how he was thinking of leaving.

(01:12:21):
The prospect of her father abandoning her was always enough
to bring Cinnamon back to the plan. She told David
she would do anything for him. There was only one
way to prove just how much she loved him. She
had to kill his wife. David explained to Cinnamon that

(01:12:45):
she was the perfect person to carry out the murder
because at fourteen years old, she couldn't be charged as
an adult. He insisted that if she staged a suicide
attempt afterwards, the juvenile justice system would simply he sent
her to a psychiatrist for evaluation before releasing her home.

(01:13:05):
He had Cinnamon practice writing a suicide note. On the
evening of Monday, March eighteen, David invited his parents over
for dinner. After the meal, Cinnamon helped Linda with chores
while the others played cards and watched TV. When David's
parents left, Linda went to take a shower, leaving David

(01:13:28):
alone with the two teenagers. He told Cinnamon that she
had to kill Linda that night. He explained that the
situation had become urgent as Linda was planning on killing
him any day. Cinnamon began to cry as she grappled
with the idea. Linda and David soon went to bed.

(01:13:52):
As the house's alarm system had been activated, Cinnamon couldn't
go outside to her trailer without setting it off, so
she and Paddy both went to Paddy's room. They dozed off,
only to be abruptly woken by David telling them to
get up, Get up, we have to do it now.

(01:14:13):
He turned the alarm system off so they could move
freely through the property, then took Cinnamon to the back
of the house, where he had prepared a cocktail of
pills for her to take. Cinnamon was somewhat concerned by
how many there were, two or three bottles worth. David
reassured her it was just enough to make her sick

(01:14:36):
and to make it look like a genuine suicide attempt.
Putting her trust in him completely, Cinnamon swallowed them. The
previously complicated plans had been replaced by one to simply
shoot lender. David handed Cinnamon a small brown pillow and

(01:14:57):
showed her how to use it to muffle the sound
of his hand gun. He told Cinnamon to shoot Linda
twice in case the first shot didn't work, warning that
Linda would separate the family if she survived. He also
suggested that Cinnamon shoot herself in the head afterwards, not
anything fatal, just a small injury, to add further weight

(01:15:21):
to the staged suicide attempt. David then left the home,
telling Cinnamon and Paddy, you girls take care of business
while I'm gone. Paddy handed Cinnamon the loaded gun, and
Cinnamon headed to the main bedroom, where Linda was fast asleep.

(01:15:43):
She held up the gun and fired it through the pillow,
just like David had instructed, but the gun's hammer became
caught in the pillow. Cinnamon panicked. She raced back into
Paddy's room, where the two of them managed to free
the weapon, but at dis charged in the process. From

(01:16:03):
the main bedroom, they heard Linda moaning. Paddy told Cinnamon
to go in there again. Cinnamon returned and fired a
third time before dropping the gun on the floor. By
this point, the pills were kicking in and she started
to feel dizzy and nauseated. She went outside and laid

(01:16:26):
down in the doghouse with a pre prepared suicide note
gripped in her hand, just like David had told her to.
She had no idea that the dose of pills he'd
prepared was potentially lethal. Only her body's rejection of the
drugs through repeated vomiting had saved her life. Detectives j

(01:16:50):
Null and Fred MacLean sat horrified as they listened to
Cinnamon Brown tell her story. While they had always suspected
something more a play, the gravity of David's deception and
callousness towards his own daughter were staggering. They knew they
had to expose David for the manipulative predator that he was.

(01:17:12):
They just had to figure out how. After giving it
some thought, they presented Cinnamon with a plan. Cinnamon agreed
to help. When David failed to visit her on her
eighteenth birthday, she called him and asked him to come
and see her, saying she had something urgent to discuss.

(01:17:34):
David was reluctant, claiming that on top of his many ailments,
he was now prone to panic attacks and simply wasn't
well enough to make the trip. He pressed her to
explain over the phone, but she refused. In the end,
he agreed to visit that coming weekend. On Saturday, August thirteenth,

(01:17:58):
nineteen eighty eight, David drove up to the Youth Authority
prison in Ventura. The father and daughter headed out to
a small yard and sat across from each other at
a picnic table beneath a pine tree. Other inmates and
visitors milled about nearby, while guards kept a close watch
on the scene. The two made small talk for a

(01:18:21):
while before Cinnamon revealed the reason she'd requested the visit.
She wanted to tell authorities the truth about Linda's murder.
David desperately tried to calm his daughter. When Cinnamon asked
what was the purpose of it all, David offered a
scattered unsubstantiated story about Linda being deep into drugs and

(01:18:45):
owing money to dangerous people. He said that if Cinnamon
really wanted to leave prison, Paddy would confess to the
crime and take her place instead. At the mention of
Paddy's name, Cinnamon asked if for David was really the
father of Paddy's baby, which was a possibility the detectives
had suggested. David evaded the question with the awkward jokes

(01:19:10):
before Cinnamon returned to the subject of Linda's murder. David
cast all the blame on Paddy, saying she was the
one who'd believed Linda was plodding with her twin brother
to kill him, and that murdering Linda had been her idea.
Paddy's the one, David said, You and I didn't plan anything.

(01:19:32):
Paddy's the one who heard it. Paddy's the one who
did it. Isn't it logical that if Paddy did it,
then Paddy should be punished for it. I didn't want
it to happen. You should remember that. Cinnamon started crying, saying,
but before that you wanted it. No, I didn't, David replied,

(01:19:57):
I wanted to live. He claimed he was now living
in fear that Paddy was going to kill him, just
like she'd done to Linda. Cinnamon then brought up the
pills that David had given her that night. What kind
of pills were those? She asked, Those things really had

(01:20:18):
me knocked out. David replied, I have no idea. Cinnamon
reminded her father that he had handed her pills to take,
but he deflected, stating, Paddy said you didn't take what
I mixed because it was too gross. Without denying that

(01:20:39):
he'd provided the drug cocktail. He urged Cinnamon to maintain
that she couldn't remember what happened on the night of
Linda's murder. David warned, you can't tell the true story
because everyone who knew beforehand would be imprisoned. David promised
Cinnamon that he would convince Paddy to take the blame

(01:21:01):
so that Cinnamon could be released, but he himself could
never go to jail. I can't survive in prison, he whined.
I would kill myself before I'd let myself die a
slow and painful death in a cell. What David didn't
realize was that his meeting with Cinnamon was being closely

(01:21:24):
monitored by detectives and was entirely recorded via a wire
that Cinnamon wore beneath her blouse. While David had made
some incriminating comments, the detectives wanted more. Two weeks later,
Cinnamon phoned her father and requested that he and Paddy

(01:21:46):
both visit that day. David agreed, and he and Paddy
made the trip to Ventura. This time it was two
against one, as Cinnamon repeatedly asked them about Linda's mud.
The pair denied any knowledge of it. Paddy and David
also claimed not to remember many of the events Cinnamon

(01:22:08):
described from the night of the crime. Cinnamon asked the
David why he told her to write a fake suicide
note if he didn't want her to harm Linda. David
said he had no memory of this, and neither did Paddy.
The more David and Paddy tried to manipulate Cinnamon into

(01:22:29):
thinking she was crazy or confused about what had happened,
the more she stood firm in her convictions. Finally, towards
the end of the visit, Paddy offered to take the blame.
She told Cinnamon, if you didn't do it, and they've
stuck you in here for what you didn't do, the

(01:22:49):
least I can do is the same thing for you.
If you're in here for nothing, I'll go back in
for nothing because I love you to death. Although the
pair didn't outwardly admit to planning Linda's murder, they did
make some incriminating statements. Of particular interest were David's comments

(01:23:11):
about the pills he gave to Cinnamon and his imploring
of her to pretend she couldn't remember the night in question.
Detectives spoke to Linda's twin brother, Allan about the allegations
made against him. Allan was surprised by the claim and
insisted he had never threatened David's life, not even in jest.

(01:23:34):
He recalled that Cinnamon had once considered him her favorite uncle,
but after her personality shifted around Christmas of nineteen eighty four,
she grew to dislike him. He'd had no idea why,
and was unaware of just how unstable she had become.

(01:23:54):
On Thursday September twenty two, nineteen eighty eight, Detective j
Newll led a team to David's luxurious Anaheim Hills home
and arrested both David and Paddy, taking them to the
police station for questioning for two hours. David maintained his
ignorance about Linda's murder. He denied ever discussing the crime

(01:24:16):
with Paddy or Cinnamon, and said he never gave his
daughter drugs. He also continued to deny having any romantic
relationship with Paddy. But David's web of lies began to
unravel when detectives revealed they had photos of him and
Paddy in an embrace, as well as recordings of his
conversations with Cinnamon at the prison. His demeanor shifted instantly,

(01:24:42):
and he immediately began spinning a new tale. David said
he was terrified of Paddy and that he'd always believed
she was the one who really killed Linda. He claimed
the only reason he told Cinnamon to take the blame
was because he was a f of Paddy and her family.

(01:25:03):
While David had admitted that Cinnamon and Paddy were convinced
that Linda and her twin brother were conspiring to kill him,
he insisted he never believed the two young women would
really kill Linda. Meanwhile, twenty year old Paddy Bailey was

(01:25:23):
being questioned in another room. The investigators laid out the
evidence peace by peace, showing her how David had used
both her and Cinnamon as pawns. They told her what
David was saying in his interview and how he was
throwing her under the bus. For the first time, Paddy
began to see clearly how David had manipulated her for

(01:25:47):
over a decade. David had entered Paddy's life when she
was just eight years old, when he lived next door
to the Bailey family and ingratiated himself by offering to
pay the girls to clean his house. David would have
Patty sit on his lap while telling her how pretty
and intelligent she was. Given the troubles in the Bailey home,

(01:26:11):
Paddy was in a vulnerable position. She had also been
sexually abused by a close relative. The positive attention from
David made Paddy feel special. What started as inappropriate touching
by David escalated to sexual abuse. When Patty moved into

(01:26:31):
the Brown household at the age of eleven, David had
complete access to groom and manipulate her. He convinced her
that if she wanted to develop into a woman one day,
she needed to perform oral sex on him. He said
it was the only way she would grow up, and
assured her that it was entirely natural. When Patty's chest

(01:26:55):
later started developing, she thought to herself, Hey, this guy
is God. By the time Paddy was fifteen, David started
raping her. These assaults happened during drives to school or
whenever Linda was out sleeping or in the shower. If

(01:27:15):
Paddy ever resisted, David told her a million other girls
would love to take your place. When she outright refused,
David threatened to send her back to her mother's house.
He undermined Paddy's sense of self by telling her, no
one's gonna like.

Speaker 2 (01:27:32):
You for you.

Speaker 1 (01:27:34):
If she did as he said and behaved the way
he told her to, then people would like her. With
nothing else to compare his behavior to, the young girl
gradually came to believe this was the way things went
in every home. David promised Paddy he would marry her
when she was old enough, despite the fact he was

(01:27:58):
already married to her older sister. He had started planting
seeds about killing Linda shortly after Paddy had moved in
with them. The first instance was when the family was
driving home from a shooting expedition in the desert and
a gun was laying in Paddy's lap. They had stopped
at a fast food restaurant and Linda went inside to

(01:28:20):
get a drink. It was then that David said, wouldn't
it be funny if the gun in your lap went
off and shot Linda. Paddy assumed he was joking, but
over the years he made other similar comments, such as
suggesting Paddy shove Linda off a cliff. After Cinnamon moved

(01:28:42):
into the home, David started pitting Linda, Paddy, and Cinnamon
against each other. He encouraged them to via for his
attention and to turn against one another. While Cinnamon and
Patty had initially shared a room, the real reason that
Cinnamon had been forced to move from the house into
a trailer wasn't because of Linda. It was so that

(01:29:05):
David could sneak into Patty's bedroom at night. Over time,
David succeeded in convincing both Paddy and Cinnamon that Linda
was plotting to murder him. Given that David was everything
to Paddy, this possibility left her distraught. Initially, David attempted

(01:29:30):
to convince Paddy to kill Linda before Cinnamon had even
moved in with them. One night, he woke Paddy, handed
her a gun and told her to shoot a sleeping
Linda at close range through a pillow. Patty went to
Linda's room, but as she stood in the doorway with
the gun looking at her sleeping sister, she realized she

(01:29:53):
loved her and couldn't pull the trigger. Regardless, David convinced
her to go along with other parts of his plan,
roping her into manipulating Cinnamon instead. Paddy admitted to the
detectives that in July nineteen eighty six, just sixteen months
after Linda was killed, she and David had secretly married

(01:30:16):
in Las Vegas. At the time, he was thirty four
and she was eighteen. It was David's sixth marriage. They
kept the true nature of their relationship a secret, not
even telling David's parents, who lived in the same house.
When Paddy became pregnant, David concocted an elaborate lie that

(01:30:40):
she had met a man named Doug who had abandoned her.
This allowed David to play the role of kind benefactor,
generously allowing the pregnant teenager to continue living in his home.
After their daughter was born, David refused to be named
as the father on the birth certificate, convinced Paddy to

(01:31:00):
go along with his ruse, telling her that if people
knew they were together, they might judge them, or worse,
suspect they played a hand in Linda's death. For Paddy,
the realization that she'd gone along with so much, only
for David to sacrifice her as readily as he sacrificed

(01:31:21):
Cinnamon and Linda, shattered the last remnants of her loyalty.
In October nineteen eighty eight, just a month after her arrest,
Paddy Bailey made the crucial decision to confess and cooperate
with authorities. Her choice was influenced by multiple factors, David's

(01:31:41):
betrayal in trying to blame her entirely for the murder,
her growing understanding of how he had manipulated her throughout
her life, and the crushing weight of guilt over her
role in her sister's death. The details she provided about
events leading up to the murder and the night in
question matched those Cinnamon had shared. The police were elated.

(01:32:07):
Paddy's decision to break her silence was crucial in exposing
the full scope of David Brown's murder plot, and both
she and David were charged with first degree murder. Because
Paddy had been a minor when Linda was killed, she
would face juvenile court, but David was looking at serving

(01:32:27):
hard time. In January nineteen eighty nine, nearly four years
after Linda Brown's murder, the preliminary hearing for David Brown
began in the Orange County Municipal Court. Not only would
the hearing determine whether there was sufficient evidence to proceed
to trial, it would also be the first time that

(01:32:50):
both Cinnamon Brown and Paddy Bailey publicly testified against him.
Deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Robinson painted a pitch of David
Brown as a master manipulator who orchestrated his wife's murder
to collect her life insurance money. The hard work of
detectives Newell and MacLean had revealed that David's reputation as

(01:33:12):
a devoted family man was far from the truth. In reality,
he was intimidating, charming, and adept at twisting situations to
his advantage. He also used his wealth and status to
gain favour. David had told others that he was the
black sheep of his family and that he had endured

(01:33:34):
corporal punishment from a young age. As a teenager, he'd
developed a fixation on his health and told others that
he suffered from numerous ailments. His bedside draws were full
of various medications and vitamins. He spoke of enduring everything
from high blood pressure and serious gastro intestinal issues to

(01:33:56):
mental health afflictions and suicidal ideation. Throughout his life. He
repeatedly claimed to have terminal cancer, from which he somehow
always managed to recover. In addition to Linda and Paddy,
David had been married to three other women, with his
previous partners recounting episodes of controlling behavior, violent clashes, psychological abuse,

(01:34:22):
sex addiction, and extramarital affairs. Of particular concern was his
reported proclivity for underage girls. David sat emotionless as Deputy
District Attorney Jeffrey Robinson described how he had twisted the
loyalty and love of the young girls in his family

(01:34:42):
to do his bidding. In contrast, David's defense attorney suggested
Cinnamon and Paddy were setting David up as a fall guy,
attempting to shift a blame for their own actions onto
an innocent man. Cinnamon Brown was the first witness to
take the stand, now eighteen, She testified about how her

(01:35:04):
father had convinced her that Linda and her brother were
plotting to kill him. He had assured her that because
of her age, she would face no real consequences if
she was the one who ended of Linda's life. She
described her desperate need for her father's love and approval,
and how he had used that need to manipulate her

(01:35:25):
into murder. Paddy Bailey testified despite not being offered immunity
and knowing she could face serious consequences. The twenty year
old described how David had sexually abused her since she
was eleven, grooming her with attention and gifts while isolating
her from others. Her testimony corroborated Cinnamon's account of how

(01:35:49):
David had convinced them both that Linda needed to die.
She revealed the careful planning that had gone into the murder,
David's specific instructions, and how he had orchestrated the cover
up afterward. Despite the defense's attempts to paint Cinnamon and
Paddy as unreliable witnesses seeking revenge, the judge found there

(01:36:12):
was more than sufficient probable cause to believe David Brown
had masterminded Linda's murder. The judge ordered David bound over
for trial. As he was led from the court room,
David maintained the same emotionless expression he had worn throughout
the hearing. While in jail awaiting trial, David Brown met

(01:36:39):
a fellow winmate named Richard Steinhardt. Steinhardt was a former
member of an outlaw motorcycle gang who was in custody
on a parole violation related to a previous cocaine conviction.
The two men quickly developed a rapport when David discovered
that Steinhardt was a martial arts expert with a long
criminal history and ties to the underworld. He was also

(01:37:03):
due to be released shortly. These factors were appealing to
David as he was putting together a new plan. Rather
than face court for Linda's murder, he had decided to
simply eliminate those who were trying to put him behind bars.
The three people David saw as the greatest threats to

(01:37:25):
his freedom were Paddy Bailey, detective of j Nuwell, and
to deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Robinson. He reasoned that if
Newell and Robinson were out of the picture, new personnel
would have to be assigned to the case. If David
argued his right to a speedy trial. This would put
the prosecution at a disadvantage, while getting rid of Paddy

(01:37:48):
meant the prosecution would lose their star witness. He wasn't
too worried about Cinnamon, believing that she could be discredited
as unreliable and willing to do anything to get herself
out of prison. David told Richard Steinhardt that he had
five hundred thousand dollars buried in the desert and offered

(01:38:09):
to pay him ten thousand dollars per victim, as well
as two hundred thousand dollars for expenses, if he'd carry
out these three murders. David also wanted his own house
and motor home burned down to make it appear like
he too was being targeted. Steinhardt agreed. He later said

(01:38:30):
the idea of killing somebody or hiring someone else to
do the killing didn't matter to me. I just wanted
the money for drugs. To prove he was serious, David
arranged for six hundred dollars to be placed in the
glove compartment of his car so that Steinhardt could purchase
guns after he was released. Steinhardt agreed that after the

(01:38:53):
killings were complete, he would also help a David escape
from jail. Richard Steinhardt was released in early February nineteen
eighty nine. David authorized his attorney to pay his brother
Tom Brown, large installments of money, which would be passed
on to Steinhardt as he carried out different parts of

(01:39:13):
the plot. David didn't tell Tom what the payments were for.
He simply said that he needed a favor. On Monday,
February thirteen, David phoned Steinhardt from prison. Steinhardt told him
that he had killed both the Jeffrey Robinson and Detective
j Newell, stating bang bang right in the back of

(01:39:38):
the head. David's response was simply all right. David had
his brother deliver eleven thousand dollars in cash to Steinhardt
within the hour. Soon after, Steinhardt told David that he
had arranged for a hit woman to be arrested so
that she would be placed in the same prison as Paddy.

(01:40:01):
She had agreed to kill Paddy in exchange for ten
thousand dollars. David was elated, telling Steinhardt, wonderful, You're a
good man. You did great. To further cementes plan, David
contacted another inmate from Patty's prison named Sally Jacobs. In

(01:40:23):
the wake of Patty's death, He offered to pay Sally
if she told the authorities that Paddy had admitted to
lying in her story against a David. What David didn't
know was that one of his earliest conversations with Steinhardt

(01:40:44):
had been overheard by a fellow prisoner who had gone
straight to authorities with the details of the plot. When
they confronted Steinhardt with the information, he quickly agreed to
turn informant. Police set up recording equipment capture during every
detail of David's murderous scheme. Between early January and early

(01:41:06):
February nineteen eighty nine, investigators taped twenty five to thirty
phone calls between David Brown and Richard Steinhardt. The recordings
revealed David discussing the planned murders of his wife and
two law enforcement officials as casually as one might discuss
the weather. Just as damning was David's use of his

(01:41:28):
own brother as an unwitting accomplice. Tom Brown had no
idea that he was facilitating a murder for higher plot.
When David asked him to deliver eleven thousand dollars in
cash to Steinhardt, he was simply doing a favor for
his incarcerated brother. Upon learning the true purpose of the
money he delivered, Tom was devastated. As far as I'm concerned,

(01:41:53):
I don't have a brother anymore, he told investigators. Anyone
who could screw his family like this isn't part of
the family. We trusted him. Sully Jacobs was also an
undercover police officer. The fact that David had tried to
have her claim Paddy was lying only strengthened the case

(01:42:16):
against him. Prosecutors subsequently filed several new charges against the
David conspiracy to commit murder, arson, and perjury. When Paddy
was told about the charges, she said, I expected something
like this from him. I don't put anything past him now.

(01:42:41):
As David Brown faced these new charges, attention turned to
the fate of the now twenty one year old Paddy Bailey.
Her position was unique and troubling. She was both a
victim and a perpetrator, a child who had been sexually abused, groomed,
and manipulated. Yet she had also been an active participant

(01:43:03):
in the plot that led to Linda's death, even attempting
to kill her sister herself before losing her nerve. Because
Paddy was seventeen at the time of Linda's murder, and
cooperated fully with prosecutors testifying against David Without any promise
of immunity, she was allowed to proceed in juvenile court.

(01:43:25):
On May eleventh, nineteen eighty nine, Paddy pleaded guilty to
first degree murder and was sentenced to four years in prison.
Despite her age at sentencing, she would serve her time
in the California Youth Authority, the same facility as Cinnamon.
It was a stark contrast to the twenty seven year

(01:43:46):
sentence that had been handed to Cinnamon Brown four years earlier.
The difference lay not just in their relative culpability, but
in timing. Paddy's testimony had helped to break the case
that would finally bring David Brown to justice. For Paddy,
the sentence marked both an end and a beginning. Although

(01:44:09):
she would remain in custody until she was twenty five,
she had broken free from David Brown's influence. Paddy would
have four years to come to terms with everything that
had happened, to understand how thoroughly David had twisted her
perception of normal family life, and to prepare for whatever
life might hold. When she emerged. While incarcerated, Paddy truly

(01:44:33):
began to grapple with what had happened to Linda and
the role she played in her death. As described in
the book A Killing in the Family by Stephen Singular
and Tim and Daniel Hill, Paddy spoke to visitors about
her deep regret and pain, and her desire to somehow
go back in time and change what had happened. If

(01:44:55):
I'd have said something, none of this would have happened,
she said. I could have told a teacher at school,
or told Linda even before I moved in that David
was doing funny things. If I talk about Linda in
therapy and to deal with her death, I'll start to
forget about her. I don't want to do that, so

(01:45:17):
I won't. I just don't want to forget her. I
took my sister's life. I'm out here on this pretty day,
and she's not. David Brown's trial began in the Orange
County Superior Court in spring of nineteen ninety. The prosecution's

(01:45:40):
case was built on the recorded conversations between David and Cinnamon,
testimony from Cinnamon and Paddy, and recordings and testimony by
Richard Steinhardt about David's subsequent attempt to have witnesses killed.
They painted a picture of a man driven by greed
and control. The defense called a very few witnesses and

(01:46:03):
David didn't testify at all. Throughout the trial, he maintained
the same and motionless demeanor that had characterized his behavior
since Lender's death. During closing arguments, Deputy district Attorney Jeffrey
Robinson heaped scorn on David, calling him a classical sociopathic

(01:46:24):
personality and a poor excuse for a human being. On
June fifteenth, nineteen ninety, after less than seven hours of deliberation,
the jury returned with their verdict. David Brown was found
guilty of first degree murder with special circumstances for financial
gain and conspiracy to commit murder. At his sentencing hearing

(01:46:49):
the following month, the judge told David, mister Brown, you're
a scary person. Look what you did to your own children,
to your sister in law. It's scary to think you
can manipulate people, and to do all this and to
not bet an eye. He sentenced to David to life

(01:47:11):
in prison without the possibility of parole. Cinnamon and Paddy
both heard the verdict while incarcerated at California Youth Authority.
After learning of David's fate, they found each other, sat
down together and cried. Linda Brown was just twenty three

(01:47:37):
years old when she died. The tragedy of her murder
rippled through multiple lives. A young woman dad, her infant
daughter left without a mother, a fourteen year old girl
manipulated into killing her stepmother, and an eleven year old
child groomed and sexually abused before being drawn into her

(01:47:57):
own sister's murder. The case inspired two books, both published
in nineteen ninety one. As well as a killing in
the family, there was true crime author Anne Rules If
You Really Loved Me. N BC aired a four hour
mini series titled Love, Lies and Murder based on Rules book.

(01:48:21):
The dramatization of the tragic story brought national attention to
the case, and in nineteen ninety two, after serving seven
years of her twenty seven year sentence, Cinnamon Brown was
paroled at the age of twenty one. After her release,
Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Robinson remarked, the real story is

(01:48:43):
the courage of this kid who was abandoned by her family.
A fourteen year old kid who was completely brainwashed for
a number of years by her father, who herself has
been the victim of terrible crimes and has now paid
her debt to society, maybe even more of it debt
than she should have. Robinson acknowledged the challenges that lay

(01:49:05):
ahead for Cinnamon. Her battle would be a very, very
tough one because her case is of such a high profile,
a girl who has been earmarked as a killer for
the rest of her life. Cinnamon's first ever television interview
was on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Sitting across from Oprah,

(01:49:25):
Cinnamon looked like a deer in the headlights as she
struggled to answer questions and describe how her father had
manipulated her into killing Linda. The power that David still
held over her emotions was evident. He's always going to
be my father, and I love him, she said. David

(01:49:46):
Brown unsuccessfully appealed his conviction, and on March twenty two,
twenty fourteen, after more than two decades in prison, he
died of natural causes at the age of sixty one.
He passed away without ever expressing remorse for his crimes.
David and Linda's infant daughter, Ashley was raised by her

(01:50:09):
paternal grandmother and has no memory of ever meeting her father,
despite seeing him regularly until the age of five. As
a young child, Ashley was told that her mother was
killed in a car accident, only to later learn that
Linda had actually been murdered. Initially, Ashley was told that

(01:50:29):
her father had been framed by her older half sister Cinnamon,
until some friends helped her uncover the truth by finding
a book about the case at a library. Today, Ashley
is married with the children of her own. She is
spoken about how hard it was growing up without a
mother and how her kids can't have the quintessential grandmother

(01:50:51):
who loves and spoils them the way other children do.
After Paddy Bailey was released at the age of twenty five,
she changed her name and eventually remarried, fighting for and
winning custody of the daughter she shared with David. She
attempted to reconnect with Cinnamon after their releases, but Cinnamon declined,

(01:51:13):
saying she wasn't ready and needed to focus on re
entering society. Cinnamon found work in the travel industry and
married in nineteen ninety four. She expressed a deep remorse
for Linda's murder. Despite Linda's young age, she had cared
for Cinnamon like a mother, even standing up for her

(01:51:35):
and defending her when David put her down. Speaking to
Anne Rule for her book If You Really Loved Me,
Cinnamon said, I feel very ashamed of what I did
to Linda. It's very painful knowing I took her life
and she'll never have a chance again. I cry and

(01:51:57):
pray for her often because I loved her. That's what
hurts more than anything. I loved her and still believed
my father's lies, and I killed her. If there was
one wish given to me, and it could be anything,
I'd wish Linda her life back.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Crime Junkie

The Breakfast Club

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Case 335: Linda Brown

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Stuff You Should Know

Crime Junkie

The Breakfast Club

All Episodes

Case 335: Linda Brown

Stuff You Should Know