Found Deceased TX - Thomas Brown, 18, Hemphill County, 23 Nov 2016 #2

[inmyhumbleopinion]

To me, along with the the laptop-containing backpack and the iPhone (incl. the "where" and "when" they were each respectively found - and the phone's condition), perhaps the most significant piece of evidence in this case is the .25 cal bullet casing found in Tom's SUV. Maybe I missed something, but has it's presence ever been explained - by anyone? Was it ever checked for prints or DNA? Where is the casing now?

Unless Tom owned a .25 caliber handgun, the presence of a spent .25 cal casing in his vehicle would almost have to be explained by anyone claiming to know what might have happened to Tom that night (whether suicide or foul play) - yet as far as I know, the presence of the casing has never been explained - by anyone. And a bullet casing is not like a receipt or a phone charger, it's evidence of a weapon. Possibly the murder weapon.

And it is not a common caliber. Certainly not a common caliber owned by LE, even for off duty use or use as a back up weapon. A .25 cal handgun is actually pretty rare.

To solve the case, I think the presence of the casing must be explained/answered. It is integral. If Tom's death was a suicide (perhaps by a .25 cal handgun?) why wasn't a .25 cal gun (or any other means of self harm for that matter) discovered along with the body? If Tom's death was due to foul play, who among Tom's friends, family, associates, teachers, and LE, do we know of who owned a .25 cal handgun? Again, it's not a common caliber, and it is a small town.

While I understand that no evidence of a gunshot wound was found during the autopsy, was a gunshot wound ruled out / excluded?

In the absence of any other proposed (or evidence-suggested) weapon, one could argue that the presence of the .25 cal casing strongly suggests that a .25 cal handgun was the very weapon that was used that night - by either Tom or a perp. Who's gun was it? And who used it?

Did anyone recognize the "small caliber handgun" holster that was reportedly found during one of the searches? What brand was the holster? Where was it purchased? What manufacturer's .25 cal handgun (if any) would fit that particular holster? Were there prints or DNA found on the holster? Where is that holster now?

Again, the only weapon suggested by the evidence in this case is a .25 cal handgun. Find it, and I think you may solve the mystery of what happened to Tom Brown. Jmo.

Welcome to the thread, @Rush4087. Great post. I hope you stay with us.

I will try to answer your questions to the best of my ability. If anyone reading disagrees, please jump in and let me know :
Lewis has provided no possible explanation for the casing’s presence that I am aware of, though Skip Hollandsworth writes:
“After getting the call [that Tom’s Durango had been found], Lewis raced to the scene. He and a deputy approached the Durango.

[...]

And there was a thin streak of blood on the inside of the front driver’s door by the handle. ‘It looked like it was probably a knuckle cut or something, or a finger cut or paper cut,’ [Lewis] said. ‘It was very dry.’

There was one other thing Lewis and his deputy discovered: a .25-caliber shell casing on the floorboard. Lewis said he was confounded, because as far as he could tell, ‘there was nothing in the car that said that there was a gunshot that went off in that car. There was no splatter. There was no gunpowder residue in the car. There was nothing.’”
Tom Brown's Body, Chapter 2: Tom's Loop – Texas Monthly

Klein:
“Allegedly, after saying goodbye to Christian Webb ... [Tom] drove to the parking lot of the high school football stadium, where Canadian kids occasionally gathered. Klein said someone who was there (he wouldn’t identify that person either) had sneaked up behind Tom, who was sitting inside his Durango with the window down. This individual pulled out a .25-caliber pistol, and, in Klein’s words, ‘started messing with him.’

Klein said the person with the pistol had no desire to shoot Tom. ... But he accidentally pulled the trigger. The bullet entered through the top of Tom’s neck and lodged in his brain. The bullet’s shell casing landed on the truck’s floorboard.”
Tom Brown’s Body, Chapter 8: The Remains

To the best of my knowledge, it has never been reported if the casing was checked for prints or DNA.

Since the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance and death of Thomas Brown has been lead by the OAG investigators since Feb., 2018 and that it was an OAG spokesman (which leads me to believe that while the grand jury will be held in Hemphill County, the case will be presented to the GJ by an OAG prosecutor and not the 31st District Attorney, who, IMO, comes across as very unprofessional in the recording of the August 2019 OAG meeting in Pampa) who confirmed to Skip to that a grand jury will be convened to hear testimony about Tom’s death early next year, all evidence collected in the investigation should be in the custody of the Attorney General’s Office.

And according to his mom, Penny Meek, Tom did not own a .25-caliber handgun:
“At some point that afternoon, Sheriff Lewis talked to Penny. He asked if anyone in her family owned a .25-caliber pistol. No, she said. ‘And then, he just said he was returning the car,’ Penny told me.”
Tom Brown's Body, Chapter 2: Tom's Loop – Texas Monthly

As to your questions about the holster, I don’t think I can answer any of them (I’m sure it’s in the OAG investigators’ custody, though) since there has been very little information made public about it.

 

[OutWest]

A little discussion about the 25 caliber casing. We know that there isn’t any material proof at this point that Tom died as the result of a gunshot wound. However, the presence of a shell casing in a vehicle belonging to a missing person who did not own a weapon of that caliber and who did not like guns or like to shoot guns, along with some blood evidence, most definitely provides strong likelihood that gunshot is involved. Cannot be ignored.

Because the spent shell casing was a 25 ACP, we can very possibly learn something important. Of all calibers available today, the 25 ACP is at the absolute bottom of the list of desirability. Actually, IMO it is not even on the list. They are low power, anemic, and have no viable practical use from the standpoint of target shooting, hunting, or self defense. First introduced around 1905, the guns chambered in 25 ACP are relatively low quality and typically sub-standard. No major American manufacturers currently produce them because there is virtually no marketable demand for that caliber in this day and age. So, who would typically have (or carry) a gun chambered in 25 ACP? It would be somebody who probably only had access to that gun and therefor the 25 was their only option; somebody who could not afford a higher quality firearm (~$500+), and/or who was less that 21 years of age, and/or who had a criminal record and could not pass the background check required for purchase from a FFL dealer. The gun probably would have been acquired in some manner other than recent gun shop purchase (e.g. family owned for years, cheap purchase/trade from an individual, stolen, borrowed, etc.). The "profile" that fits is a person(s) close to Tom's age within a few years or so .... but I think we already suspected that.

 

[Rush4087]

I am not sure if anyone is aware but Klein Investigations has released a statement on their FB page. Apparently, Jeff Castletine, father of Micheal Castletine, who committed suicide one week after Tom's remains were found, and who's son's CREDIT CARD was found in Tom's car, wrote in his suicide note that he killed himself because the Tom Brown investigation had been hard on their family. Something is very suspicious about this.

Did Tom know Michael's father?

 

[OutWest]

Yes, Mr. Castletine taught for a number of years at the elementary school as did Tom's mother.

 

[Razz]

Where is the bullet?! If it did enter the body re what Klein said, wouldn't there have been a bullet found with the remains?

This is terrible, but why would the Sheriff have said Tom ran off with an older man? Was there talk of an illicit relationship? Was there one and someone found out and ended TB's life?

 

[8th Bob-White]

Where is the bullet?! If it did enter the body re what Klein said, wouldn't there have been a bullet found with the remains?

This is terrible, but why would the Sheriff have said Tom ran off with an older man? Was there talk of an illicit relationship? Was there one and someone found out and ended TB's life?

My gut tells me that when Lewis heard early on about the interview with Saige that revealed the "diaper fetish" he decided that Tom was kinky & simply relied on that to explain his hair-brained theories.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

Where is the bullet?! If it did enter the body re what Klein said, wouldn't there have been a bullet found with the remains?

This is terrible, but why would the Sheriff have said Tom ran off with an older man? Was there talk of an illicit relationship? Was there one and someone found out and ended TB's life?

My gut tells me that when Lewis heard early on about the interview with Saige that revealed the "diaper fetish" he decided that Tom was kinky & simply relied on that to explain his hair-brained theories.

That’s what I believe also, @8th Bob-White, and it’s kind of funny because neither of the two people I know in real life with adult baby fetish (they are mostly into the clothes but wear diapers, too) is gay (one is bisexual and the other straight).

I wasn’t expecting Skip to spend as much time as he did talking to Penny about the possibility of Tom being gay in the last podcast. I found Penny’s answers to Skip’s questions illuminating, as they were helpful in understanding the culture and prevailing religious norms of the region. I’m sure it was one of the most difficult conversations she has ever had.

I believe Skip said he spent a year working on the story. I wonder at some point, if someone told him something that lead him to believe Tom’s death might have resulted from a hate crime. Perhaps sometime in the fall of 2016, someone found out about Tom’s fetish (we don’t know who all knew he liked to wear diapers), and like Lewis, assumed that he was gay.

So on the night before Thanksgiving, after he and Christian part ways, Tom goes to Fronk’s. While he is filling up the Durango with gas, someone (a “friend”/[“Friend 1”]) takes a picture of Tom at the pump and sends it to another “friend”/“Friend 2”], as if to say, “He is alone now.” By the way, I believe this is the picture Penny, Klein and one of Klein’s investigators all say Lewis showed them very early on, but now Lewis denies its existence. “Friend 2” texts Tom and asks him to come meet them at a specific location (but not the high school football stadium, IMO; personally, I believe this happened on a private property). So Tom goes to this location, both “Friend 1” and “Friend 2” are there, and then things go wrong.

 

[OutWest]

This is terrible, but why would the Sheriff have said Tom ran off with an older man? Was there talk of an illicit relationship? Was there one and someone found out and ended TB's life?

The "run away" and "family covering suicide" narratives are are lame tactics to divert attention away from where the evidence points. When persons exhibit strange, deceptive, and illogical behavior, there is ALWAYS a reason that they do so. Always.

 

[MimosaMornings]

I am not sure if anyone is aware but Klein Investigations has released a statement on their FB page. Apparently, Jeff Castletine, father of Micheal Castletine, who committed suicide one week after Tom's remains were found, and who's son's CREDIT CARD was found in Tom's car, wrote in his suicide note that he killed himself because the Tom Brown investigation had been hard on their family. Something is very suspicious about this.

Credit card - not debit card?
How many 17 year old high school kids have their own credit card?

 

[Grungster]

Credit card - not debit card?
How many 17 year old high school kids have their own credit card?

Oops

 

[8th Bob-White]

MimosaMornings - It was Michael Caseltine's debit card (not credit) per Episode 2 of Tom Brown's Body. It seemed like that losing his debit card was a regular occurrence for Michael according to the podcast.
Tom Brown’s Body, Chapter 2: Tom’s Loop
Lewis, however, did spy Michael Caseltine’s debit card, which had fallen between the front seats.

inmyhumbleopinion -- Your theory seems pretty sound. If it turns out to be a hate crime (think it is a federal offense) would a trial take place in federal court?

 

[nannymo]

Where is the bullet?! If it did enter the body re what Klein said, wouldn't there have been a bullet found with the remains?

This is terrible, but why would the Sheriff have said Tom ran off with an older man? Was there talk of an illicit relationship? Was there one and someone found out and ended TB's life?

Saige had a friend who lived in the Denver area. This was discussed during the podcast I believe. FBI thought she was using this friend in Denver to communicate with Tom......therefore, the older man he ran away with! Figment of Sheriff's imagination.

 

[8th Bob-White]

Did anyone else find it odd how the FBI agents grilled Christian Webb about the theory that Tom had run away to Denver and was using Nate's phone to communicate with her? Since they knew she was texting Nate's phone why didn't they investigate in Denver to confirm who was using that phone? Seems that could have been determined vs raking Christian over the coals.
It surprised me that Skip didn't talk with Macy Patterson (or perhaps she declined to be interviewed) about the Denver connection.

 

[jellybean96]

To me, along with the the laptop-containing backpack and the iPhone (incl. the "where" and "when" they were each respectively found - and the phone's condition), perhaps the most significant piece of evidence in this case is the .25 cal bullet casing found in Tom's SUV. Maybe I missed something, but has it's presence ever been explained - by anyone? Was it ever checked for prints or DNA? Where is the casing now?

Unless Tom owned a .25 caliber handgun, the presence of a spent .25 cal casing in his vehicle would almost have to be explained by anyone claiming to know what might have happened to Tom that night (whether suicide or foul play) - yet as far as I know, the presence of the casing has never been explained - by anyone. And a bullet casing is not like a receipt or a phone charger, it's evidence of a weapon. Possibly the murder weapon.

And it is not a common caliber. Certainly not a common caliber owned by LE, even for off duty use or use as a back up weapon. A .25 cal handgun is actually pretty rare.

To solve the case, I think the presence of the casing must be explained/answered. It is integral. If Tom's death was a suicide (perhaps by a .25 cal handgun?) why wasn't a .25 cal gun (or any other means of self harm for that matter) discovered along with the body? If Tom's death was due to foul play, who among Tom's friends, family, associates, teachers, and LE, do we know of who owned a .25 cal handgun? Again, it's not a common caliber, and it is a small town.

While I understand that no evidence of a gunshot wound was found during the autopsy, was a gunshot wound ruled out / excluded?

In the absence of any other proposed (or evidence-suggested) weapon, one could argue that the presence of the .25 cal casing strongly suggests that a .25 cal handgun was the very weapon that was used that night - by either Tom or a perp. Who's gun was it? And who used it?

Did anyone recognize the "small caliber handgun" holster that was reportedly found during one of the searches? What brand was the holster? Where was it purchased? What manufacturer's .25 cal handgun (if any) would fit that particular holster? Were there prints or DNA found on the holster? Where is that holster now?

Again, the only weapon suggested by the evidence in this case is a .25 cal handgun. Find it, and I think you may solve the mystery of what happened to Tom Brown. Jmo.

Im going to tread very lightly on who could have had the handgun. Yes, Canadian is a small town, but in this area of Texas, more guns than not are not ever registered. So there is no telling who's gun it was. One character in this story was a licensed FFL retailer, though. But on the other hand, any joe blow could have had one and no one know if it wasn't registered.

No, they could not exclude any gunshot wounds because all of Thomas wasn't found.

 

[jellybean96]

Credit card - not debit card?
How many 17 year old high school kids have their own credit card?

I have kids Toms age, and by 17, both had a credit card, tied to mine. Had a low credit limit, but enough that they could use in an 'emergency' if needed. So I dont think its weird. All of my kids friends also had one, attached to their parents. It also helps boost the kids credit score so they could get apartments in college as well.

 

[Rush4087]

So as a matter of public record, Nathan R Lewis was (and is, at least until 06/21) a licensed FFL dealer (as Gun Barrel Sports) in the State of Texas

 

[Meligator]

I just finished listening to the podcast. A woman calls Klein because she overheard a conversation she shouldn’t have, which leads to a search, which leads to finding Toms cell phone within 6 minutes of the start of the search. This woman is the key to the story—and suicide seems an implausible coincidence given the way the cell phone was found.

 

[MimosaMornings]

I have kids Toms age, and by 17, both had a credit card, tied to mine. Had a low credit limit, but enough that they could use in an 'emergency' if needed. So I dont think its weird. All of my kids friends also had one, attached to their parents. It also helps boost the kids credit score so they could get apartments in college as well.

Ah, didn’t think of it being tied to the parent’s account. Mine had debit cards, they got credit cards later, one got hers on move in day at college, they were doing promos!

 

[OutWest]

I keep going thinking back to the Luminol "controversy". Some posts on another site (of which I don't participate in) go on, and on, and on debating whether the Klein's luminol tests detected blood or paint residue. It is a mystery to me that there is any controversy over the Luminol. Let me explain: Luminol is a presumptive test because it will react to certain substances other than blood, including some paints. If luminol "lights up" then investigators follow up with other tests such as another presumptive test involving phenolphthalein (simple field test) to further narrow the possibilities. If the possible presence of blood is still indicated, samples are (or should be) sent to a forensic lab for conclusive tests. If those lab results are conclusive for blood, DNA can possibly be extracted to determine who's blood it is.
1. This is not Philip Klein's first rodeo. He is experienced and knows full well that subsequent tests are required to prove that the material is blood. Klein stated that he sent photos to some organization (I don't recall the name) for review but he did not state that actual samples were conclusively analyzed in a forensic lab. Maybe they were, I don't know. However he had that opportunity to clarify how he knew the samples were blood when he recently joined the luminol debate on another social site, but he didn't.
2. This is not the OAG investigators first rodeo. They are experienced and know full well that subsequent tests are required to prove that the material is blood. As experienced investigators, they most surely followed up with their own proper forensic lab tests after Klein reported his luminol findings (?). They don't normally discuss an ongoing investigation but during the meeting with family in Pampa, TX they indicated "paint". However they did not clearly state that paint (not blood) was the finding of their subsequent forensic lab tests. They seemed to indicate by "hearsay" that paint had been tracked inside the car during an activity involving students that painted yellow paw prints on the road leading to the football stadium.
3. Skip Hollandsworth has investigated and written crime stories for 31 years for TM. As far as we know he did not ask Klein what subsequent forensic tests were conducted (of course OAG understandably would not have commented to Skip about an ongoing investigation).

Bottom line: Although the luminol controversy continues within some parts of the public domain, the truth of the matter is that, at this point, it really only matters what the OAG investigators know; they will be the ones who will affect the outcome of the case.

 

[Rush4087]

If the luminol testing was "presumptive only" - and/or if it did not lead to additional testing that proved conclusive for the presence of blood in the carpet, then it seems unlikely that any person was ever wounded or killed (by firearm) while sitting inside the Durango. So, there may not be much to Klein's scenario where somebody "sneaks up beside the driver's side door in the school parking lot". Yet that is about the time that the phone was turned off...

Back to the .25 cal casing though. An absence of blood in the carpet would not necessarily mean that a .25 acp could not have been fired from inside the car toward a target outside. Maybe in a self defense situation, or some other kind of altercation? But if either of those scenarios did happen, who would've been involved?

There are just ZERO reasons that I can think of for the .25 cal casing to have been in TB's car. It drives me crazy!

Tom was not outdoorsy. Supposedly nobody in his family owned a .25 acp. I don't think the kind of kids he was hanging out with (in a town like Canadian) were the kind of kids that were typically packing heat when they cruised around town. I just think it's highly unlikely (though not impossible) that Tom could've had a .25 acp

Could the casing have been there from the car's previous owner (if it was purchased used)? Where was the casing found, on the floorboard, or in a hard-to-see/hard-to-find crevice under a seat? Was the casing dusted for prints and tested for DNA?

If the casing was (was) from a handgun that TB had somehow managed to obtain (possibly borrowed or purchased?), where/who would he have gotten it from? If TB had purchased a .25 acp from a local gun dealer, surely that info would've been made public by now (even if "registration" is not actually required to own a gun). If he bought a gun, maybe he did so at a local gun show? But you're back to why? if TB did somehow obtain a .25 acp, why would he have wanted or felt he needed to do so?

And almost nobody would buy a .25 acp - the equivalent of a pea shooter - for self defense; and even fewer I think would choose that sized weapon for self harm. Seems there'd be a risk / fear that you might somehow survive the wound. Again, I just don't think Tom had a .25 acp.

I assume the owner of Gun Barrel Sports (NL, I believe) would have had access to a .25 acp. Could one or two of TB's friends also have had indirect access to a .25 acp, either via gun dealer (SP), or a gun owned by a family member (MC)? There was more than one character in the story who was either in - or related to - somebody who was in the gun business

And is it true that JC used a .25 acp two weeks after Tom's remain were found? I read this in a March 7, 2019 article on KATP 101.9's thebullamarillo.com site. If so, that makes three possibly sources for a .25 acp handgun back in November 2016.

Or could the casing have been planted by somebody? If so, who might've had both a reason and opportunity to do that?

There are many clues, unanswered questions, and other facets of this case (besides the gun casing) that, if solved, could help us learn the truth about what happened to Tom that night: the 2015 encounter with then-Deputy Nathan Lewis outside the Palace Theater; the various sightings of the SUV that November night; and the timing, location, and condition of the three key items found over the next year and a half (after the Durango was found): the backpack, the cell phone, and Tom's remains.

Sorry nothing but a lot of questions. I guess that's an admission that I lack the required sleuthing skills to be able to answer many of my own questions.. It's a very frustrating case. I hope that eventually there is justice for Tom and his family.

Jmo