The impossible escape of the Brownlee killers

The impossible escape of the Brownlee killers: The serial murder case in Richmond, Virginia Six death row inmates escaped from Virginia's most secure prison on May 31, 1984, disguised as riot guards, using a stretcher with a covered television as a bomb decoy. No one stopped them. How did a family mowing their neighbors' lawns become one of Virginia's bloodiest crime gangs, with eleven confirmed murders in seven months? In this episode, we explore how the turquoise ring stolen from a broadcaster connected Linwood Brownlee to a massacre that seemed unsolved, how the police radio found in his vehicle revealed months of systematic evasion, and why the only internal witness needed a deal with the prosecution to reveal the true extent of the horror that the criminal minds of these brothers had unleashed. Victim: Multiple (11 confirmed) Date: 1971-1985 Location: Richmond, Virginia Status: Executed and sentenced to life in prison - Linwood Brownlee shot a neighbor from the rooftop with a low-caliber gun at 16 years old and served only one year in a juvenile center. - Johnny Gallagher's turquoise ring appeared on Linwood's finger during interrogation, linking him to the murder on September 14, 1979. - The Wilkerson family was executed on October 19, 1979: father, mother eight months pregnant raped, and five-year-old son. - James Brownlee's father slept with the door to his room locked for fear of his own sons. Linwood Brownlee, James Brownlee, Richmond Virginia, serial murder, 1979, homicide, forensic, killers, mystery, investigation, imperfect crimes, justice, true crime SpanishTo listen ad-free and access premium episodes, start your 30-day free trial at obomedia.comOBOMEDIA presents true crime storiesa true crime podcast built on real cases.Every true crime story in our crime files follows the crime investigation from the missing person report to the trial: investigators and police building a murder case, a police investigation gone cold, justice for the victim and those who survived.We open the unsolved murder, the cold case reopened decades later, the mysterious death, the disappearance, the serial killer, the family murder, the murder mystery; the missing persons  a missing woman, a missing girl, a missing man found dead and the missing and murdered.From the infamous case to the unsolved case, from classic true crime to dark true crime and disturbing true crime: true crime reports, real crime stories, real murder cases, true murder stories and unsolved mysteries one true crime case at a time, from the OBOMEDIA true crime vault.© 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text and related materials) are the property of their respective creator and are distributed under the OBOMEDIA name on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing and business inquirie