FILE 364 / 18 February 2023 / 69 MIN / express

Bird Of A Violent Feather

High Point, North CarolinaListen

The town

N ↑Public placePublic placePublic placeTown centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

We're going to High Point, North Carolina here... it's a bigger town now, a hundred and thirteen thousand people. about 0:03:37

History, in brief

1750

English Quakers and German immigrants came to the area before 1750.

about 0:04:21

Town note

High Point became a major manufacturing centre in the late 1800s, producing tobacco and textiles.

about 0:04:26

Town note

Its central location in North Carolina made it a useful go-between place for shipping.

about 0:04:39
All 4 history facts

1750

English Quakers and German immigrants came to the area before 1750.

about 0:04:21

Town note

High Point became a major manufacturing centre in the late 1800s, producing tobacco and textiles.

about 0:04:26

Town note

Its central location in North Carolina made it a useful go-between place for shipping.

about 0:04:39

The figures, as told

Money

Median home value$172,000
Median household incomeabout $43,000
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2023

Population

"113,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:03:53

Population at the time of the murder

"about 60,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:03:55

Median household income

"about $43,000"

Comparison: "scaled down a little from the averages". Direction: below.

As told in 2023 about 0:04:06

Median home price

"$172,000"

Comparison: "scaled down a little from the averages". Direction: below.

As told in 2023 about 0:04:06

The reviews

2.8 / 5 · average of 5

5 stars

“A run-down small college town with not much to do, where most businesses were closed or run-down and entertainment had to be found on campus; the reviewer ran cross country and liked trips to Winston-Salem and Salem Lake, and wonders how High Point University's expansion will change things.”
about 0:05:47

4 stars

“Needs a lot more to do but is still a nice place to live; the restaurants could be much better and the town needs a Dave & Busters or something.”
about 0:07:02

3 stars

“Lived in High Point for five years and everything has been excellent, loves the city and being close to a lake, but has waited three months for the city to collect loose leaves and is always told next week.”
about 0:07:47

1 star

“Calls High Point the fifth circle of hell.”
about 0:09:22

1 star

“A ten-year transplant complains of litter everywhere, crime, nothing to do, no shopping beyond a picked-through Ross and TJ Maxx and a mini Target, dilapidated and abandoned buildings, and a money-grubbing government that stole downtown for the furniture market, leaving no downtown and only furniture showrooms closed to the public. Save yourself.”
about 0:09:43

“The furniture market is what there is to do: over 10 million square feet, roughly 2,000 exhibitors through 180 buildings, and for two weeks in the spring 80,000 people from over a hundred countries come to look at furniture, though it is not open to the public.”
about 0:10:30

In North Carolina

Closest episodes

  1. Deadly Deeds With DadWallburg, North Carolina · 15 January 202616 km / 10 miShow on map
  2. Cousins, Lovers & KillersSummerfield, North Carolina · 27 July 202324 km / 15 miShow on map
  3. Turd Boy: Satanic KillerClemmons, North Carolina · 21 December 202336 km / 22 miShow on map
  4. Serial GrannyBurlington, North Carolina · 11 June 202648 km / 30 miShow on map
  5. Mayberry: Chopped & PosedMount Airy, North Carolina · 13 January 202280 km / 50 miShow on map

The story

Frederick Chester Brown Jr, known as Fred, was born in Siler City, North Carolina, on 14 June 1945. He made the army his career, serving in Vietnam and rising to the rank of major. They married within six months and spent the following decades moving between postings, raising a son and a daughter. In 1988 Fred retired and the couple settled in High Point, North Carolina.

She offered $1,000 up front and $30,000 once she had the insurance money. A second attempt ended with him driving to Pennsylvania to see his parents instead.

Fred came out to help. He took $70 to $95 from Fred's wallet and threw the wallet out of the car, later throwing the gun into the Coosa River in Alabama; he was ticketed for doing 72 in a 55 in Rome, Georgia, on the way home.

About four hours later a road crew found his body face down in a ditch beside Highway 68, a red sweatshirt wrapped around his right arm, his unlocked 1982 Mercury station wagon nearby, his keys in his pocket and no wallet. He had been shot three times. The next day she told the mortician Dan Wright that Fred had made her live as cheap as dirt and that was how she would bury him. When she learned his job benefits came to about $25,000 she asked whether that was all the son of a bitch had left her. She sold the house and moved to Alabama, buying a double-wide trailer and continuing to sell birds.

Three years passed without leads.

The case

Murder of Fred Brown

Victims

Frederick Chester Brown Jr. Retired US Army major and business teacher at Guilford Technical Community College; husband of Brown

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 18 February 2023.

Accused

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Addie Collins. housekeeper who quit after four days because of the fighting and a bird that made a racial slur
Jean Williams. human resources director at Fred's job, who told his benefits were about $25,000
Dan Wright. mortician at Cumby Mortuary in High Point
Fred's daughter. at home when Fred disappeared and reported him missing with
Steffi. sister, handed a note in court asking her to care for children

The timeline

  1. June 14th, 1945 Frederick Chester Brown Jr is born in Siler City, North Carolina.about 0:11:18
  2. While at the non-commissioned officer academy at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Fred Brown meets 21-year-old Darosa, the commanding officer's stepdaughter. (Fort Sill)about 0:11:59
  3. Brown and Darosa marry after six months of dating.about 0:15:19
  4. 1988 Fred retires from the US Army as a major and the couple settle in High Point, North Carolina.about 0:17:56
  5. 1988 Fred takes a job teaching business at Guilford Technical Community College. (Guilford Technical Community College)about 0:18:05
  6. teaches real estate at Randolph Community College in Asheboro. (Randolph Community College)about 0:18:34
  7. 1990 has open heart surgery and goes to Alabama to convalesce with her mother.about 0:19:05
  8. March or April 1990 asks her sister and brother-in-law in New Hope, Alabama, to kill Fred, offering $1,000 up front and $30,000 after the insurance pays out. ( home)about 0:35:23
  9. sets off for North Carolina but loses his nerve and calls to say he cannot go through with it.about 0:37:38
  10. draws a diagram of the High Point house showing the back door, the fence and where the dog would be.about 0:38:11
  11. tries again, loses his nerve and drives to Pennsylvania to see his parents instead.about 0:38:21
  12. and visit in North Carolina and meet Fred.about 0:38:52
  13. April 23rd, 1991 speaks to again and they arrange for the killing to happen in a couple of days.about 0:39:48
  14. April 24th, 1991, about 7:45 p.m. Fred's daughter leaves the house and sees him there; is out teaching a class. (Brown house)about 0:40:08
  15. April 24th, 1991, about 10 p.m. calls Fred from a service station, says his car has broken down, lures him to Gallimore Dairy Road, tells him his wife wants him dead and shoots him once in the back and twice in the head. (Gallimore Dairy Road)about 0:44:08
  16. April 24th, 1991, about 11 p.m. A neighbour hears three gunshots. (Gallimore Dairy Road)about 0:43:56
  17. April 24th, 1991 takes $70 to $95 from Fred's wallet, throws the wallet out on the road, throws the gun into the Coosa River in Alabama and is ticketed for doing 72 in a 55 in Rome, Georgia. (Coosa River)about 0:48:00
  18. April 25th, 1991, 5:45 a.m. and her daughter report Fred missing. (Brown house)about 0:40:42
  19. April 25th, 1991, about 9 a.m. A road crew finds Fred's body face down in a ditch beside Highway 68, shot three times, a red sweatshirt wrapped around his right arm and his unlocked 1982 Mercury station wagon nearby. (Highway 68 ditch)about 0:40:58

Places and phrases

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Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode