Naman Shrestha
In the spring of 1985, the entire community of Garden Grove, California, was left shell-shocked when a 23-year-old mother of one named Linda Brown was found dead. As the detectives dug deeper into the horrific killing, they uncovered a murderous plot with chilling family secrets and a financial motive. All the intricate details of the case and the investigation that ensued are covered in Investigation Discovery’s ‘Lies, Love, and Murder,’ which also features exclusive and insightful interviews with Linda’s loved ones and the officials who helped solve the case.
Linda Brown Was Found Dead in Her Garden Grove Home
Ethel Ruth Andersen Jurgens Bailey welcomed Linda Marie Bailey Brown into the world on August 26, 1961, in North Platte, Nebraska. She was also a beloved older sister of Patti Bailey. At a young age, she got married to David Arnold Brown, who had a daughter named Cinnamon Brown from a previous marriage. Linda and David also had a daughter of their own, Krystal. Besides Cinnamon and Krystal, Linda and David were also accompanied by Patti in their rented home in Garden Grove, California. She had dreams of watching her daughter succeed in life, but fate had other plans. In the early hours of March 19, 1985, 23-year-old Linda was sleeping in her bedroom when she was shot two times at close range, resulting in her tragic death. When the police arrived at the scene, they inspected the property and launched a homicide investigation.
Linda Brown’s Killing Involved Three Individuals Close to Her
The authorities interviewed Linda Brown’s family and friends, including her husband, David Brown. He claimed he was not at home because he had allegedly left after an argument broke out between his wife and his daughter, Cinnamon, who was arrested after she confessed to carrying out the killing. However, it is alleged that she had been coerced by David into killing Linda because he convinced her that she wanted to kill him. He also reportedly brainwashed her into thinking that she would not receive any jail time because she was a juvenile at the time. His alleged motive was to collect Linda’s $835,000 life insurance and lead a luxurious life with her sister, Patti. As per investigative reports, David had been having sexual relations with her since she was in her early teens.
Before giving the responsibility of carrying out the murder to Cinnamon, David had convinced Patti to kill her sister. However, she backed out of it in February 1985. After Cinnamon shot her stepmother to death, the police found her lying in a backyard doghouse with a suicide note that read, “Dear God, please forgive me. I didn’t mean to hurt her.” She would later allege that David had suggested her to take the drugs and fake the suicide. Cinnamon was shocked when she was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison for killing Linda. While she was at a California Youth Authority facility, David secretly married Patti in July 1986, and the two welcomed a child together in the following year.
When she learned about their union, Cinnamon told the authorities about David’s murder plot and worked with them to gather incriminating evidence against him and Patti. On August 13, 1988, wired up by the investigators, Cinnamon talked to David about the murder plot as he told her that if she were to tell the police the truth about the killing, “we’d all be in jail.” During the recorded conversation, he also suggested that Patti could take the blame and take her place in prison. Armed with enough incriminating evidence, the authorities arrested both David and Patti in their Anaheim home and charged them with Linda’s murder.
David Passed Away While Serving His Sentence, While Cinnamon and Patti Prefer to Stay Away From the Limelight
In his defense, David Brown maintained his innocence and tried to shift the blame to his then-wife, Patti Bailey. Not only did he deny talking about the murder with Cinnamon and Patti, but he also denied having a relationship with Patti. At the preliminary hearing, Patti testified against David and was allowed to proceed in juvenile court because she was 17 at the time of the crime and had cooperated with the authorities. She later pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to the California Youth Authority until she turned 25.
According to reports, he hired a fellow inmate to kill Patti so that she couldn’t testify against him in court. He also wanted to eliminate two other individuals, including Deputy District Attorney Jeoffrey Robinson, so that he could file a motion for a speedy trial while new prosecutors are assigned to the case. But his plan failed, and he was eventually convicted of first-degree murder. Consequently, in 1990, David Brown was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his involvement in the killing of Linda Brown. He also pleaded guilty to conspiring to have three individuals killed, for which he received a six-year imprisonment sentence, to be concurrently served with his life term.
While Cinnamon was paroled out after spending seven years in a California Youth Authority, Patti was released from the California Youth Authority after she turned 25. Decades later, on March 20, 2014, David reportedly died of natural causes in a protective housing unit in Corcoran, California, at the age of 61. As for Cinnamon and Patti, they have been leading private lives ever since they got released from prison.
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