True Crime Stories Volume 7: 12 Shocking True Crime Murder Cases (True Crime Anthology) by Jack Rosewood

Author:Jack Rosewood [Rosewood, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2017-07-11T00:00:00+00:00

Guilty Plea and Prison for Rambo

The tragedy of the Britton family was quickly spotlighted by local and national media outlets. The survivalist angle was played up; even police chief Stanley G. Still Junior got into the act when he exclaimed at a press conference, ''I don't want to say Rambo did this, but it surely played an important role here, absolutely.”

As mentioned earlier, a boy Britton’s age had just killed his entire family a month earlier in Minnesota, which added to the media hysteria.

The public was desperate to know why a boy would do such a thing to his own family, and when no answers were forthcoming, they wanted revenge.

Newspapers editorials opined about the virtues of the death penalty and how the State of New York should bring back “Old Sparky.” Death penalty proponents argued that cases like the Britton massacre were made for the death penalty, and that anyone who committed such a crime, no matter their age, should not be allowed to live.

Others argued that a lack of resources, the deterioration of family values, and the school system, are what drove David Brom and Brian Britton to annihilate their families.

While the causes of the Britton family massacre were being argued in the media, Brian’s lawyers were working on a plea bargain that would give him the possibility to be released from prison one day.

It appeared that Britton’s lawyers had very little leverage to get their client a favorable plea bargain, but they actually had a couple of cards that they could play.

The fact that Brian was a juvenile, and more than a year away from his eighteenth birthday, played a significant role in his legal negotiations. Even when a criminal offender is adjudicated as an adult in the United States, the sentencing judge usually takes the person’s age into consideration, with the result often being a lighter sentence.

Then there were problems with the evidence.

Although Britton gave a detailed confession to the police, prosecutors always like to have corroborating physical and circumstantial evidence in order to secure a conviction. There was plenty of circumstantial evidence tying Brian to the murder, but the most important piece of physical evidence turned up missing. The shotgun that Brian used to ruthlessly dispatch his entire family mysteriously disappeared from the police evidence locker. The prosecutors believed that they had more than enough to convict Brian Britton of first-degree murder, but the missing gun could prove problematic at a jury trial.

The final aspect of the case the prosecutors considered, was calling the massacre’s lone survivor to testify. It took Sherry several months to recover physically from the attack, but the emotional wounds will most likely never heal. In a matter of minutes, she lost everyone in her family, including Brian.

“She lost her whole family in one morning. As the only survivor, she would have to come in and testify at a trial,” said the assistant district attorney. “We would like to spare her that if possible.”

Due to all of these factors, the district attorney

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