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Ex sentenced in woman's death
Wayne Burton Brown, 62, sits at a plea hearing Thursday morning, February 27, 2009, in Cabell Circuit Court. Brown was convicted of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Purchase this photoHUNTINGTON -- Wayne Burton Brown could spend up to 30 years in prison, but the mystery surrounding his ex-wife's death may linger forever.
"There are a lot of question marks," said the victim's only child, Bryan Welch hours after Wayne Burton Brown entered a plea and received his 30-year sentence.
Authorities believe Mary Jo Brown died Nov. 1, 2007. Her ex-husband shot her, placed her body inside of a 50-gallon garbage can and stashed it underneath the couple's house at 170 Midvale Drive.
"That is horrific," Welch said. "Somebody to put you in a garbage can, put you under the house and sleep in the same facility."
No one, including doctors or family, noticed the disabled woman's absence for more than three months. A missing person report was filed on Valentine's Day, and Huntington Police located her body four days later.
What led to Mary Jo Brown's death still baffles prosecutors, the defense attorney and her only son. Welch said it will be a question for the rest of his life.
"Wayne Brown would not tell the story to anybody," he said. "It's my mother. I'm curious what really happened. I'm just curious how it really went down."
Welch did not attend the Friday hearing, but he gave approval for the plea agreement leading to the conviction.
Wayne Brown entered a Kennedy plea to second-degree murder, which public defender Paul Jordan said allows a defendant to admit guilt without offering any description or reason for his actions.
Wayne Brown waived his right to a pre-sentence investigation, and Circuit Judge Dan O'Hanlon sentenced him to 30 years in prison. He must serve 10 years before being eligible for parole.
Cabell County Prosecutor Chris Chiles equated the punishment to a life sentence for the convict, who turned 62 in January.
"This man had no prior criminal history," he said. "It was a terrible thing that he did. A lady is dead who shouldn't be. This is an appropriate sentence considering again, for him it is a death sentence."
Wayne Brown declined comment as he left the courthouse. Jordan called the plea agreement a "win-win" situation for everyone involved. The prosecutors achieved a conviction and dismissed charges of forgery and uttering. The deal also allowed Wayne Brown to avoid a possible first-degree murder conviction.
"He saw what evidence there was. He saw the various things that could have happened at trial, and he made this rational decision," Jordan said.
Welch wanted a first-degree murder conviction, but he knew it was not a guarantee. He believed pushing forward was not worth risking a lesser charge.
"I think it's a life sentence for him," he said. "It's been dragged out anyway, so I feel that justice has been served."
Welch was Mary Jo Brown's only child. She was a disabled woman, who was not working at the time of her death. She was being treated for hepatitis and high blood pressure. Her neighbors told police she "was very confrontational with neighbors and that you knew when she was around." She had several siblings, but apparently they were not in regular contact. Court documents cite two sibling disputes.
Welch disputed reports that the family was not involved in his mother's life.
Welch said he was born in November 1966, during his mother's earlier marriage. His father went to Vietnam, and his mother was unable to care her child. She gave up Welch to his grandmother's care.
That forever changed the mother-son relationship. The two talked three to four times a year -- Mother's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Welch never knew of his mother's divorce. It occurred two years after the couple's July 1997 marriage, according to public documents.
Mary Jo Brown's sister, the late Della Courts, filed the missing person report and told police the divorced couple started living together again. They had returned under one roof for financial reasons. Mary Jo Brown bought groceries, while her ex-husband made mortgage payments and paid bills, according to the search warrant affidavit.
Welch said he was not aware of the separation or apparent reunion. He estimates four to six months would pass between conversations with his mother. He said she was scheduled to visit friends in Georgia near the time of her death.
"I just took for granted that's where she still was," he said.
A search warrant allowed police to find Mary Jo Brown's remains. It largely relied on information provided by Courts. Family members reported they had not seen or heard from the victim since October 2007.
The search warrant affidavit states Courts told police she had not been talking with her sister since a dispute in settling the estate of their mother and Welch's grandmother, who died Oct. 9, 2006.
In the affidavit, Courts spoke about her Feb. 10, 2008, visit to the Midvale Drive residence. She had spotted her sister's vehicle parked in the couple's driveway.
Courts entered the residence, and Wayne Brown said her sister had left in October 2007. Courts noticed her sister's bed was made with its comforter, but the linens were missing. He told Courts her sister left with the bed linens and a change of clothing, the affidavit states.
Courts continued to look around the room. She noticed her sister's clothing, personal effects and medications still at the house, the affidavit states.
Courts then became curious about her sister's cell phone. The affidavit says Wayne Brown told Courts her sister had a phone and provided her with the number. Courts called the phone and it started ringing inside of another room in the house.
"Wayne (Brown) stated, 'I am getting a call,'" Courts told police in the affidavit. "(He) picked up the phone, disconnected the call and then acted as if he was talking to someone on the other end of the line."
The affidavit states Courts contacted her sister's physician in Milton, but he had not seen Mary Jo Brown since October 2007. He told Courts her sister hadn't called for prescription refills and had missed an appointment with another doctor.
Mary Jo Brown's neighbors also noticed oddities. They had spotted Wayne Brown driving his ex-wife's vehicle. The affidavit states neighbors found that to be unusual because "she would not leave without her vehicle, which anytime she left the residence she drove 99 percent of the time."
