In the months that followed, every time I called my sources, I was told that the grand jury had been delayed. And we know people want to go put roses and flowers and markers out there honoring Tom but now isnt the time to do that.. 1. Many in the audience were stunnedand angeredthat Klein expected them to believe such an incredible story. Were getting the signal? Well, what do you want to do next with your life? Jones came from a troubled family and moved to Canadian from Childress, via Higgins, to live with a local family that had befriended him. And that process is, you bring in all witnesses; they testify under oath. His brown hair was brushed over his forehead, and he was giving the camera a gentle smile. When 18-year-old Canadian High School student Tom Brown failed to return home by his midnight curfew on Thanksgiving of 2016, his mother Penny immediately knew something was wrong. . by Roy Neal on February 20, 1998, five months before his death from leukemia. Would you want someone like me investigating it? Klein knew that there were plenty of people in the audience who were suspicious of Penny, who is a longtime elementary school teacher in Canadian. And, as a matter of fact, Chris Jones has told multiple stories over the years. Skip Hollandsworth: And he did not take one. The Office of the Attorney General took over the case in February 2018. . His phone, laptop, bag, and keys were missing from his vehicle. So how can you accuse me of doing something to my son when I dont even know where he was? During the two years Ive followed this story, Ive asked Kading for interviews at least a dozen times. Rachel Kading: So, I dont know if the general public is really familiar with how polygraphs work, but theres usually a battery of questions. Do I think there will be an arrest in this? November 2022 Reader Quiz: What Did You Learn? Something doesnt, My aunt sharon was also telling him his little sister, He didn't want Slim at all but he did want, Sociopath, psychopath, whatever, steer clear of this person or prepare, What a rabid animal. . Philip Klein: Penny, would you please stand up? It was said he had been murdered, stuffed into a wood chipper by a notorious methamphetamine dealer. He was hugely popular with his fellow students. and you are not able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that that person is responsible for that homicide, you can never try that person again. Rachel Kading: He did not. Did they believe Tom had been killed by more than one person? If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. Our hope at that time was that if we did this, maybe the truth would come out. . Tom Brown was a high school senior, class president, and a player on the state champion Canadian Wildcat football team, and he was only 18 years old when he went missing just before . Chris said he never saw Tom again. . Oh, thats theory; Oh no, its fact. Fact! Why, Kading wanted to know, would Penny ask for the phones password unless she had the phone in her possession all along? If you've forgotten some of the details of this story, let me give you a brief recap. Where Are Tom Browns Mom and Brother Now. Tom Browns Body is a Texas Monthly production. In October 2021, Klein made public his theory that Tom had been murdered. . The lack of answers in the case has been a point of contention throughout the investigation. The lack of answers in the case has been a point of contention throughout the investigation. Canadian, Texas (population 2,649) is a small, prosperous town in the Texas panhandle. Philip Klein: And were gonna tell you about the manner of death. Just about everyone assumed he would announce the names of the teenager and the father who were involved in the parking-lot shooting. A positive ID was made using dental records. What will happen now is that the OAG and the Texas Rangers will continue their investigation and will continue to interview people and build evidence, he said. In my opinion, Castletine is a person of interest. Is it true theres a gambling ring? Finding Toms belongings did not yield any new evidence of significance for investigators.[4]. Rachel Kading: Yes, we looked into every story. Shes not. . Were they convinced that another story line might emerge? And hes like, Are you ready? Im like, Man whats going on? So I take off the goggles and he hits these lights, and theres Toms sitting in front of ustheres Toms sitting in front of us; hes in a chair. 36 36. Searching for cma property login maine west? You had multiple indictments that could be made. Tucker Brown: Every day I think we may not know anything, ever. When? Skip Hollandsworth: And that came across as deception on the examiners report. There was blunt force trauma on the skull but no evidence to prove whether it happened pre or post mortem. Toms mother, Penny Meek, made calls to one of his friends in January 2017, asking if they knew the password to what was then believed to be his missing iPhone. I would, until this thing is solved.. Suddenly, the day before Thanksgiving on November 23rd, he disappeared. Tom hadnt been on the football team for more than a month at that point. Chris told her that Sheriff Lewis had come to see him before the 2016 football season began. He claimed that an individual called Chris Jones had been brought in to play for the Wildcats and to throw various games as part of a high-dollar gambling ring in Canadian that was betting on the outcome of Wildcat football games. If you liked the show, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. The law enforcement round-up is comprised of important arrests from the Child Exploitation, Human Trafficking, and Fugitive Apprehension Units. I dont know.. Or we would discover new evidence, or we would discover there were more witnesses, there were other people we could talk to. Put the name of Tom Brown from Canadian, Texas in your mind and check up every now and then online, there is more to come of this one . Rachel Kading: I always hope that that will happen, and Ill never lose that hope. One time she wrote about sports. .. I will say at this time that Chris Jones is a person of interest. A private investigator hired by the family believed that Tom was possibly the victim of an accident; children playing around might have accidentally shot him in the head and later placed the body and car where they were eventually found. And he was like, if you dont do that, he was gonna kill me. This is Penny Meek. NewsChannel10 spoke with the lead private investigator on the case, Philip Klein, who . His mother had saved the text message from Penny, and provided it to the officers, revealing the source of the original inquiry. Chris Jones: Yeah, when he took the goggles off me. That they could take away state championships? If Penny and her family seemed to be the target of the attorney generals investigation, why would they want a grand jury to be convened? Due to the poor quality of the recording, Holmes recapped what Jones said. Thomas Brown was an 18-year old student at Canadian High School in . This past fall, word spread through Canadian that Klein would be calling a town hall meeting. Other than have reporters like me come up and show up at your dining room table? Philip Klein: Chris Jones is an integral part in the Tom Brown case. Specific details have been withheld for the integrity of the case and the dignity of the family. Christian and her father spotted the vehicle in a really remote area parked, hidden under some trees, about four miles from Toms house near some ball fields and a water treatment plant on a small road close to a small set of apartments. Money from oil, gas, politics and cattle funnel through the two stoplight town. Tucker Brown: Im the fifth-generation person from Canadian. And if she did have her sons phone, how exactly did she get it? Thomas was 18, six feet one and 180lbs. And did she, months later, plant the phone by Lake Marvin Road, where it was found? Let me tell you this. "The last ping of Tom's cell phone is within a 100 square yards of the football stadium at Canadian," Klein said. During our interview, Kading said that there was another issue involving the family that troubled her. As for Penny, she says shes not giving up on her investigation, either. There were dark, ugly stories that the countys young sheriff, Nathan Lewis, was involved in Toms disappearance. At the meeting, Toms family sat in the front row. Theyve received questions as to whether or not theres a killer among in the community of Canadian. So, lets find out more about what happened then, shall we? And one of the questions was, Do you know the current location of his body?. Toms Dodge Durango was found early on Thanksgiving morning 2016 near the municipal waste treatment facility on the north edge of town. . Why? I hear your anger. Chris was one of his teammates. A redacted text string attached to the report shows a text message from Pennys phone requesting that the recipient ask her son if he knew Toms four-digit password. Please turn to Page 2 to read the statements of two school officials in response to Kleins accusations of corruption at CISD. The private investigator has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to review Thomas's case. Hes been interviewed how many times? But kidnapping Tom was supposed to inspire Chris to play harder and win a playoff football game? Part of the town thinks it could be an accidental death. Theres been a lot of discrepancies. The list of its authors can be seen in its historicaland/or the page Edithistory:The Murder of Thomas Kelly Brown. Youre done, thats it. A small smudge of blood was found on the driver side door of the Durango, a shell casing from a .25-caliber pistol, and a debit card belonging to Michael Caseltine, one of Toms friends who he saw earlier the same day of his disappearance. He was arrested for probation violation and sentenced to 100 days in county jail, and subsequently returned to Childress to serve his sentence. A new Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit formed within the Office of the Texas Attorney General has been involved in its first case the unsolved death of Canadian teen Thomas Brown. . Curiously, the phone seemed to be in pristine condition, and the authorities believed there were low chances of it having been there for several months before being discovered. addleshaw goddard apply; truck jackknife today; chanel west coast ex husband; amaretto nut allergy Chris Jones: . Fact. And the buzz around the room is that Klein has organized this town hall meeting to deliver new bombshell information about what really happened to Tom. Thomas Brown lived in Canadian, Texas with his mum Penny, stepdad stepbrother, Tucker, who was home for thanksgiving. is lana parrilla still married; list of all disney animal sidekicks; razzleberry plant care; rockwall high school band . Thomas Brown was an 18-year old student at Canadian High School in November 2016. Yeah, probably, but I dont care., I want you to know what the hell happened to Thomas, he said. To absolutely everyones surprise, Klein didnt say a word about the theory of the parking-lot killing. We report on vital issues from politics to education and are the indispensable authority on the Texas scene, covering everything from music to cultural events with insightful recommendations. Chris is the stepfather, and, you know, probably one of the nicest men I think Ive ever met in my life, that has been so cordial. I know the truth about where Chris was. Additional production on this episode by Harper Carlton and Patrick Michels. Ive got blood in the car. Caroline Gear: And when he took the goggles off, are you telling me that Thomas was still alive? Toms disappearance became the mystery of the Texas Panhandle. Chris Jones: He pushed me in the back of his cop car. Thomas' remains were found in January of 2019 off Lake Marvin Road outside of Canadian. The two organizations have been running simultaneous investigations ever since, but so far, without success. This week on Reasonable Doubt, the team takes on the Raul and Cathy Sarinana were sentenced to death for abusing Would love your thoughts, please comment. Im sorry if youre angry with me, if youre angry with my crew. And thats, thats our focus. When a small town Texas teen goes missing, an entire community turns out to search the high prairie by land and air. But as Klein told the crowd all he had done to find out what had happened to Tom, he insisted, over and over, that he had found nothingnot a single piece of evidenceimplicating Penny, Chris, or Tucker. Jones is now serving time in prison. Rachel Kading: I dont think we can go there. Klein and his assistant, M.J. Holmes, presented a detailed timeline of the case which Klein said would be backed up by police records, radio transmissions, eyewitness statements, and camera views. Rachel Kading: Whats unethical about it is that if you do not feel that the indictment is going to lead to a conviction at trial, you are really shorting the case. The Attorney General suspended the investigation in August 2019, stating there was no viable evidence of foul play in Tom's death. Did you ever find out where Chris was? Murder Under the Friday Night Lights: Where is Tom Brown? chronicles the unfortunate death of Tom Brown, a young student with his whole life ahead of him. In January 2018, the Hemphill County Sheriff's Office requested the assistance of the Office of the Attorney General with the investigation into the death of Thomas Brown of Canadian, Texas. Skip Hollandsworth: And what was the result of his answers? Murder Under the Friday Night Lights is looking into the strange case of Thomas Tom Brown, who disappeared from his hometown of Canadian, Texas, in 2016. Leave them blank to get signed up. . Chris said that Sheriff Lewis let him go, but made it clear that Chris would be shot the next time he didnt follow orders. Thomas Brown, a teenager in Canadian, went missing the night before Thanksgiving in 2016. Ill never lose that hope. Penny Meek: Yes. What Chris is saying is that Lewis had told the teenager hed be killed if he didnt move to town and play for the Canadian Wildcats. On the sign were two sentences: There is a killer among us. So the district attorney and the state attorney generals office actually considered indictments of multiple people. . So you get somebody indicted for a homicide. Why wouldnt you let people see what you had? Andrea Knabel vanished in Louisville, Kentucky, while walkingbetween her sisters home and her parents house. J.K. Nickell is our editor and Paul Knight is our fact-checker. On the night before Thanksgiving, 2016, Tom went cruising around town with his friends. And he wasnt even close to Chris in any way. He said their team is very well focused right now and that they knew a body was out there all along. Furthermore, circumstantial evidence pointed in different directions. Okay. Skip Hollandsworth: And you found yourself investigating to see if that story was true? Every victim is important, and this case is no different than that. And former deputy Pyne Gregory has a gun to Tom Browns head. Jones identified then-Sheriff Nathan Lewis as the enforcer for a high-dollar gambling ring in Canadian that was betting on the outcome of Wildcat football games. I asked Kading about one of Kleins stories: that Tom possibly had been shot in the football stadium parking lot. Rachel Kading: No; its irresponsible to do so. When I talked to Penny about all this a year ago, she told me it was the sheriffs department that had asked her to find the passcode. Klein then went over phone evidence to support his theory Brown's death was a homicide. Have you backed off that theory completely now? 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