Taney County Prosecuting Attorney, Jeff Merrell, announced today that THOMAS P. BROWN, DOB: 4/05/1944, of Palm Springs, California, entered a guilty plea Friday afternoon, December 11, 2015, to two (2) felonies, in the Taney County Circuit Court. Brown pleaded guilty to one (1) count of murder in the second degree, one (1) count of armed criminal action, pursuant to a plea agreement with the Taney County Prosecutor’s Office. In exchange for Brown’s guilty plea, the charge of murder in the first degree was amended to murder in the second degree. Special Circuit Court Judge Gayle Crane accepted Brown’s guilty plea, and sentenced Brown to life in prison for murder in the second degree and thirty (30) years in prison for armed criminal action.

The maximum sentence for murder in the second degree is life in prison – with the possibility of parole. There is no statutory maximum sentence for the crimes of armed criminal action. Pursuant to the plea agreement, Brown’s sentences are to run concurrently.

Thomas Brown was charged by the Taney County Prosecutor’s Office for the murder of his wife, Marilyn Brown, at a motel in Branson, on February 21, 2013. The evidence uncovered by the Branson Police Department was that Brown shot his wife in the head two (2) times with his handgun, then left the victim at the motel to be discovered. Brown returned to Branson on February 27th where he was arrested early on February 28, 2013. Although he refused to be formally interviewed by detectives, Brown made incriminating statements to Branson Police once he was taken into custody.