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Suspect Arrested on Cold Justice Dies While Awaiting Trial for 1982 Murders
The man charged with strangling his common-law wife Susanna Flores and her daughter, has died less than two months before facing a jury.
A man accused of strangling his common-law wife and her 8-year-old daughter to death more than 40 years ago has died, according to local news outlets.
Murder suspect Billye Brown, whose case was featured in Season 7 of Oxygen’s Cold Justice, died while awaiting trial, according to ABC Abilene affiliate KTXS-TV. Brown was named the only suspect for the March 9, 1982, murders of Susanna “Susan” Flores Brown and Francesca “Cha Cha” Martinez but wasn’t arrested until 41 years later when D.N.A. connected him to the crime scene in Abilene, Texas.
Brown was arrested in October 2023 while reportedly outside the home in which the victims were killed, though it was unclear why he was there, according to CBS Abilene affiliate KATB.
On February 23, 2024, Brown left the courthouse after a standard hearing and laughed while telling reporters, “They’ve been duped,” regarding the victims’ family, according to KATB. He remained a free man while awaiting trial after making $200,000 bond one day after his arrest.
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Billye Brown died on Saturday, July 27, 2024, though little else has been released about his death. According to a memorial page with the Elmwood Funeral Home in Abilene, he was married to his current wife for over 20 years and had a daughter and two stepchildren.
Brown was 66 years old.
The Murders of a Mother and Daughter
In 1982, Brown told police that he came home from his job at the NuCorp manufacturing company at about 3:20 a.m., finding Flores Brown and Martinez dead. The mother was found in her bedroom with a cord — still attached to a lamp — around her neck. However, experts concluded that Flores Brown actually died by manual — not ligature – strangulation, and it appeared the killer tried to stage the scene, according to KATB. Facial lacerations helped Cold Justice investigators theorize the woman was also beaten with the lamp.
The 8-year-old child — who was not Brown’s biological daughter — was also found strangled to death in her bedroom. Evidence indicated she’d been dragged from under her bed, where relatives said she’d regularly hide when Brown was allegedly “controlling and abusive,” per KATB.
Brown told responders he found the back door ajar and a window partially open, but investigators suspected the scene had been reorganized to look like a break-in, as previously reported. Veteran prosecutor Kelly Siegler and the rest of the Cold Justice team also put his work alibi to the test in the March 2024 episode, concluding he could have easily been at home on the night of the murders.
Authorities looked into allegations of intimate partner violence, and those who knew the victims best soon painted Brown as a “womanizer” who allegedly cheated on his partner. One friend claimed Flores Brown was “really, really, really, extremely scared of her boyfriend,” as seen in the Cold Justice episode.
A relative also claimed Brown was “laughing and joking” about the murder as police worked the crime scene.
According to KATB, Flores Brown reportedly asked relatives to help her buy a gun and asked for money to change her locks not long before she was killed. As seen on Cold Justice, Flores Brown’s cousin, Sara Soto, said Brown was also allegedly responsible for causing Flores Brown to suffer a miscarriage in 1981.
Billye Brown's Arrest
When confronted by Cold Case investigators, Brown denied having a role in the double murder and said his relationship with his common-law wife wasn’t as rocky as people made it seem.
“We got along fine,” said Brown. “I messed up one time — I partied one time and didn’t come home, and she came and put dirt in my gas tank ’cause she was mad at me. I go home, and she was afraid that I’m gonna be all mad, so she calls the police.”
In July 2023, labs tested seminal fluid found inside Flores Brown’s mouth, which matched Brown’s. However, it could not be determined whether the D.N.A. came from a consensual act or otherwise.
When investigators collected the sample from Brown, he allegedly told them, “I think I just signed my death warrant,” according to KATB.
According to court records reviewed by Oxygen.com, Brown’s jury trial was slated to begin on Monday, September 16, 2024.
Learn more about the case by watching Cold Justice, now available to watch on Oxygen.
