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Linda Brown, a 23-year-old married mother, was sleeping when her stepdaughter Cinnamon, 14, shot her twice in March 1985. It was the second shot that killed her. When authorities arrived at her family's Orange County home, they found the stepdaughter unconscious from an overdose of prescription pills in the doghouse. The teen confessed to the murder and was sentenced to 27 years to life the following year.
Cinnamon Brown later cooperated with already suspicious authorities and brought down her father and the victim's husband, David Brown, who masterminded the murder plot for months. Brown was leading a luxurious life after collecting thousands from life insurance claims. He was eventually sentenced to life without parole.
This Friday, July 21, an all-new episode of The Real Murders of Orange County revisits the shooting death of young mother Linda Brown from decades ago. The episode titled Stolen Youth will air on Oxygen at 9:00 pm ET.
"A young mother is killed in her own bed in what seems to be a sudden crime of rage, but the true killer is shockingly revealed years later to be a twisted master of manipulation."
Linda Brown's shooting death: A devious plot, a master manipulator, and an unexpected killer, among other details
1) Linda was shot twice in her sleep
Linda Brown was a 23-year-old mother when she was found dead with two gunshot wounds. She was sleeping when the shooting occurred sometime after midnight on March 19, 1985, at her family's Garden Grove, Orange County, home. Her 14-year-old stepdaughter, Cinnamon Brown, who pulled the trigger, was found overdosed on prescription drugs and covered in her own vomit and urine inside the doghouse in the backyard.
2) Cinnamon Brown confessed to shooting Linda
When authorities found 14-year-old Cinnamon in the doghouse on the night of Linda Brown's murder, they also found a suicide note which said,
"Dear God, please forgive me. I didn’t mean to hurt her."
According to reports, Cinnamon eventually confessed to authorities. She reportedly shot Linda twice, using a pillow as a silencer, and it was the second shot that killed her. The teen was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison in 1986.
3) Linda's husband led a luxurious life and got married to her sister after the incident
Linda was David Brown's fifth wife and was younger than him. The couple had an infant daughter when the former was shot to death by David's daughter from a previous marriage. Following the murder, he collected $835,000 in life insurance payouts from several policies, some of which were taken out in the victim's name only months prior to the incident.
Then, in 1986, David secretly married Linda's sister, Patti Bailey, who was only 17 years old when the young mother was killed and lived with the Browns. Moreover, it was revealed that Patti was his lover throughout. They had a child a year after their marriage.
4) Cinnamon cooperated with investigators to bring down the mastermind in Linda Brown's murder
While serving her sentence, Cinnamon Brown learned of David's luxurious life and marriage to his sister-in-law in 1998. She became tired of taking the fall and told investigators how her father planned the murder and brainwashed her and Patti, turning them against Linda. Cinnamon claimed she believed her father's life was in danger. She was allegedly coerced into committing the crime.
In August 1998, Cinnamon cooperated with investigators and started wearing a wire during David's visits and taping their conversations. It was during one such conversation that the latter incriminated himself. New information surfaced that the father-daughter duo, along with Patti, had been planning Linda's murder for months. Both Patti and David were arrested within weeks.
5) David Brown was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole
Patti agreed to testify against David Brown, who was determined to be the mastermind. The former and Cinnamon were mere brainwashed pawns in his schemes. He stood trial in 1990 and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Moreover, ahead of the trial, he even tried to have Patti and two members of the DA's office killed.
Linda Brown's murder case is set to feature on The Real Murders of Orange County this Friday.
