Linda Brown seemed to know for some time that her life was in danger.
The San Diego woman had taken out a restraining order on her estranged husband, the man who would eventually become her killer. She even worked out a signal with a neighbor, should an emergency arise.
“They decided that the victim would scream as loud as she could and break a window if she was unable to scream,” said Judge William Kennedy, during a sentencing hearing for Curtis Allen Brown, 44.
It wasn't long before the signal was put to use.
On Sept. 4, 2007, neighbors in a condominium complex in the Bay Terraces neighborhood heard screams and the crash of broken window, the judge said. Moments later, they saw Curtis Brown dragging his wife through the complex, pointing a gun to her head.
Yesterday, the judge sentenced Brown to 75 years to life in prison for fatally shooting his 41-year-old wife. Brown pleaded guilty last month in San Diego Superior Court to first-degree murder.
Deputy District Attorney Teresa Santana has said that Brown – who worked for San Diego city schools as a locker room attendant – broke into the condo on Bear River Row near Panamint Row and forced his wife outside. Neighbors heard gunshots and called police.
At the time, Brown was free on $75,000 bail stemming from a separate domestic-violence incident a few weeks earlier, during which he choked his wife. The couple had been married for 17 years.
When police arrived, they found the couple – both wounded and bleeding – lying on a narrow pathway inside the complex. Curtis Brown, who had apparently shot himself, rose up and pointed a gun at the officers.
Police shot Brown during the confrontation.
Several of the Linda Brown's neighbors, friends and co-workers attended yesterday's hearing. Written statements from family members who live in England were read aloud in court.
“You took away a beautiful person who lived and loved to help others,” wrote Cheryl Gardner, the victim's sister. “The only thing Lin was guilty of was loving a monster like you and (she) paid for this with her life.”
Dana Littlefield: (619) 542-4590; dana.littlefield@uniontrib.com
