David Brown was a successful, controlling businessman who lived in a wealthy neighborhood in California. In the early 1980s, he shared his large home with his fifth wife, Linda, her younger teenage sister, Patti, and his teenage daughter from his first marriage, Cinnamon. David relished being the center of attention and having his family financially dependent on him. He was highly manipulative and possessed a history of committing insurance fraud by intentionally destroying his own high-value property, such as computers and cars, to collect payouts.As time passed, Linda became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter named Crystal. Meanwhile, Patti, who had been infatuated with David for years, began spending a significant amount of time working and living alongside him. The family dynamic became increasingly complicated when Cinnamon caught her father and Patti kissing in a store, though she chose to keep this discovery a secret from Linda.On the night of March 19, 1985, Linda was fatally shot in her bed. David claimed he was out for a drive at the time because he could not sleep following an argument between Linda and Cinnamon. Hours later, Cinnamon was discovered hiding behind a doghouse in the yard, severely ill from an overdose of medication, and holding a note that read, "God forgive me, I didn't mean to do it". She initially confessed to the crime, stating that her stepmother hated her, but she later claimed to have amnesia regarding the event. Despite psychological evaluations suggesting she was not truly capable of cold-blooded murder, the 14-year-old Cinnamon was sentenced to 27 years in a youth facility.Following Linda's death, David quickly moved on, collecting over $800,000 from his late wife's life insurance policies. He used the money to purchase multiple luxury cars and real estate. In June 1986, he secretly married Linda's sister, Patti. He went to extreme lengths to hide their marriage, and when Patti gave birth to their daughter, Heather, David fabricated a story that the child was fathered by a fictional Greek man.The truth remained hidden until 1988, when an investigator visited an 18-year-old Cinnamon and showed her photographs of David and Patti living a luxurious life together. Feeling profoundly betrayed, Cinnamon finally broke her silence and revealed that David and Patti had orchestrated Linda's murder. David had manipulated Cinnamon into pulling the trigger by convincing her that Linda and her brother Alan were plotting to kill him and take over his business. He assured Cinnamon that, as a minor, she would not face serious prison time. Furthermore, he intentionally provided Cinnamon with a lethal dose of pills on the night of the murder so she would die and take the secret to her grave, though she ultimately survived the overdose.Investigators subsequently set up a recorded confrontation between Cinnamon, David, and Patti. While David attempted to pin the entire plot on Patti, Patti eventually confessed to the conspiracy, admitting she participated because she loved David. Patti received a four-year sentence for her role. Before his trial, David even attempted to hire a hitman to kill Patti, the lead detective, and the prosecutor to prevent them from testifying. He was convicted in 1990, sentenced to life in prison, and died behind bars in 2014. Cinnamon was paroled in 1992 and went on to build a normal life with a family and career. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-pieces--6886558/support.
