Larry Dean Brown was arrested June 8 in Colorado and indicted June 29 by a Tarrant County grand jury on a murder charge. He was later extradited to North Texas and booked into the Tarrant County Jail.<\/p>\n
Brown is accused of killing Beverly “Casey” Bruneau, a 35-year-old Braniff Airlines flight attendant who was found dead in her Grapevine apartment on Feb. 13, 1981.<\/p>\n
WOMAN FOUND IN SHALLOW GRAVE ID\u2019D AFTER 44 YEARS AS MILLIONAIRE TIED TO ESTATE MURDER PLOT<\/a><\/p>\n A 79-year-old Colorado man has been arrested in the 1981 strangulation death of a woman in Grapevine, Texas. (Terrant County Jail)<\/p>\n According to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/a>, Bruneau\u2019s boyfriend found her on the living room floor at about 3 p.m. after she failed to answer his telephone calls.<\/p>\n An electrical cord was wrapped around her neck, and blood was visible on her face and nightgown, the newspaper reported. The apartment contained evidence that Bruneau had struggled with her attacker, according to the affidavit.<\/p>\n The Tarrant County medical examiner determined that Bruneau had been strangled during the midmorning.<\/p>\n Brown came to investigators\u2019 attention on the day of the killing when detectives went to speak with his wife, who was Bruneau\u2019s best friend and former roommate. Both women worked as Braniff flight attendants and jointly owned a house in Dallas, according to the outlet.<\/p>\n TEENS SUSPECTED OF MURDERING CONGRESSIONAL INTERN LINKED BY DNA ON SHELL CASINGS, PROSECUTORS SAY<\/a><\/p>\n Brown\u2019s wife was working an international flight when detectives arrived so Brown instead spoke with the investigators.<\/p>\n One detective described Brown as evasive and noted that he repeatedly gave similar answers. Detectives also documented a fresh injury beneath Brown\u2019s right thumbnail, where the top layer of skin appeared to have been torn away.<\/p>\n Brown later told investigators that he had injured his thumb while working. The detective did not believe the explanation was consistent with the wound, according to the affidavit.<\/p>\n GRAPEVINE, TX – DECEMBER 25: Police line tape surrounds an apartment building where seven people were found dead at Lincoln Vineyard Apartment Homes on December 25, 2011 in Grapevine, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez\/Getty Images) (\u00a0)<\/p>\n Investigators also examined financial disputes involving the Dallas house owned by Bruneau and Brown\u2019s wife.<\/p>\n The property had been badly damaged by fires in November 1980. Investigators believed at least one of the fires was arson.<\/p>\n FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X<\/a><\/p>\n Brown, who had been laid off from his job as a Braniff pilot and flight engineer, held a partial interest in a construction company, the newspaper reported. After the fires, he allegedly obtained repair estimates through that company that exceeded the insurance carrier\u2019s appraisals.<\/p>\n Brown allegedly attempted to pressure Bruneau to sign fraudulent insurance documents with inflated repair costs, according to the outlet.<\/p>\n The case remained unresolved for decades.<\/p>\n LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE<\/a><\/p>\n In 2010, investigators submitted Bruneau\u2019s bloodstained nightgown<\/a> and other preserved evidence to a University of North Texas laboratory for additional testing. The examination produced the DNA profile<\/a> of an unidentified man, according to the affidavit. The profile was entered into the national Combined DNA Index System<\/a>, known as CODIS<\/a>, but did not produce a match.<\/p>\n A Grapevine detective began reviewing the investigation<\/a> again in 2025.<\/p>\n LISTEN TO THE NEW ‘CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO’ PODCAST<\/a><\/p>\n In 2026, Grapevine police asked the Larimer County Sheriff\u2019s Office in Colorado to help collect what the affidavit called a “covert DNA sample” from Brown.<\/p>\n Investigators retrieved two discarded soda bottles from trash placed outside Brown\u2019s home and sent swabs from the bottles to the University of North Texas laboratory, the Star-Telegram reported.<\/p>\n![\"Larry](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/larry-brown-01.jpg\")
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