Colorado Man Charged in 1981 Murder of Flight Attendant
A 79-year-old man from Colorado has been charged with the strangulation death of a flight attendant in Texas back in 1981. This development follows DNA evidence found in a trash can that matched blood discovered on the victim’s clothing.
Larry Dean Brown was taken into custody on June 8 and was indicted on murder charges by a grand jury from Tarrant County shortly thereafter. He was subsequently extradited to North Texas, where he was booked into jail.
Brown is facing accusations of killing 35-year-old Braniff Airlines flight attendant, Beverly “Casey” Bruneau, who was found deceased in her Grapevine apartment on February 13, 1981.
According to an affidavit related to the arrest, Bruneau’s boyfriend found her unresponsive on the living room floor after she failed to answer his calls. An electrical cord was reported to be wrapped around her neck, and she had visible injuries on her face and nightgown. It appears from the evidence that Bruneau had fought with her assailant.
The coroner declared that Bruneau had been strangled earlier that morning.
Interestingly, on the day of the murder, Brown’s name came up as he went to speak with Bruneau’s wife, who happened to be his best friend and former roommate. Both women worked for Braniff Airlines and jointly owned a home in Dallas.
While he was talking to detectives—since Brown’s wife was on an international flight at the time—investigators noted that he seemed evasive, giving the same responses repeatedly. They also noticed a fresh wound under his right thumbnail that raised some eyebrows.
Brown later claimed that he hurt his thumb at work, but detectives were skeptical about this explanation fitting the injury.
As the investigation continued, it was revealed that Brown had a financial dispute involving a mansion owned by Bruneau and his wife. This property had been damaged in a fire just months before the murder, which some believed might have been arson.
Initially, the case went cold for decades. In 2010, investigators renewed efforts by testing Bruneau’s bloodstained nightgown and other evidence at a laboratory, which revealed an unidentified DNA profile. But when this profile was entered into the National DNA Index System, there were no matches.
Fast forward to 2026, and the Grapevine police revisited the investigation. They sought help from the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado to collect what they termed a “secret DNA sample” from Brown.
Investigators found two discarded soda bottles near his home and sent swabs from them to a lab for analysis. Just recently, results indicated that Brown could not be excluded as the contributor to the male blood found on Bruneau’s nightgown, prompting further forensic testing, which is still under evaluation.
