Family hopes its long wait is over
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Elaine and Elmer Brown, parents of Pamela Brown, listen to court proceedings Wednesday. Toby Talbot/AP |
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By Thatcher Moats Times Argus Staff - Published: February 19, 2009
BARRE – Bryan Brown was on patrol with local police during the Ethnic Heritage Festival in Barre on July 17, 1982. He was a teenager at the time, learning about police work.
That day, around noon, three young boys found his 18-year-old sister's body in a wooded area behind St. Monica's School. Bryan went to the crime scene and identified her remains for police.
Yesterday, Bryan and his family filed into the courthouse in Barre where Theodore Caron Jr. was charged with Pamela Brown's murder.
"It's just a matter of waiting, and sooner or later something was going to pop, and it was just a matter of time," said Bryan. "And it's been a lengthy time — almost 27 years."
Bryan has been a police officer at the Barre Town Police Department since 1983. He has talked to detectives about the case over the years, but he didn't tell family members until recently that they were close to charging someone with the murder.
"There are a lot of memories and a lot of thoughts that go through everybody's minds, and I kind of left them out of the mix until it was time," said Bryan.
Bryan said most local police officers know Caron because has been in trouble with the law for much of his life. But he did not think the 47-year-old Barre resident had killed his sister.
"I did not suspect this particular individual at this point until just recently," Bryan said.
Clifford Brown, Pamela's older brother, said, "I learned at about six or seven that night what really happened."
Clifford was 23 years old and was at home when his mother called and gave him the news. He described the days after as "just grief."
The family will have to ride out the legal process before anything is settled, Clifford said, but he added, "It was a relief to finally meet the man who took my sibling's life."
Casey Brown, Clifford's daughter, was born about a month after Pamela died. She has wanted police to solve the case for her grandparents' sake.
"It's been my wish for them to find out, for Grammy and Grandpa," she said through fresh tears.
Pamela's mother, Elaine Brown, declined to comment.
Bryan Brown thanked Hal Hayden and Walter Smith, the detectives who have been working on the case.
"I'd like to thank Det. Sgt. Hal Hayden of the Barre City Police Department and Det Sgt. Walt Smith of the state police," he said.
Neither detective could be reached for comment Wednesday, but Hayden has paid close attention to the case for years, according to a former Barre City police chief.
"When I worked in Barre, Hal spent much of his career dogging this case," said Trevor Whipple, who became a police officer in Barre just after Brown was killed and spent more than 23 years at the police department. "It was one of those he couldn't put down, and I know he's made a personal goal of not retiring until there was a conclusion to this case."
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