A well respected prominent attorney, loving wife and three children, seemed to be the American dream until one child decided to destroy everything. This is the story of how a 15 year-old brutally executed his entire family.
Just days before his 16th birthday Nicholas Browning went for a sleepover at a friend's house only to return the next morning to find his entire family executed. Below Nicholas describes the scene as he found it. It is important to note the lack of emotion as he describes what he has just seen.
When detectives arrived on scene they found John Browning (45) lying on the couch motionless with clear signs of bullet wound trauma. Unfortunately it only got worse as the detectives ventured upstairs to find the family's two younger boys, Benjamin (11) and Gregory (13), executed in their beds. Nicholas’s mother, Tamara (44), was also found slain in her bed. There was no sign of forced entry within the house or signs of a struggle which as we know usually hints towards the killer being known to the victims. Further adding to this the gun used was John’s which he kept locked in a safe only accessible to family members.
With Nicholas being the only surviving family member suspicion was immediately cast upon him. However Nicholas claimed he had been at a friend's house all night playing ‘video games’ and had not returned home. One friend actually backs up this story saying they slept in the living room together and Nicholas never left. This story is quickly shut down when two other friends say Nick left around 12:30 am and didn’t return until 5 am. Nick claims he left to pick up ‘his car’ so the boys could drive around in it but fell asleep once he got in and didn’t wake up until Ryan called him at 5 am. Important to note here Nick couldn't actually drive but his parents had brought him a car in preparation. Nick is also adamant that he did not enter the house at any point during this time however his friends overheard something earlier which casts another layer of doubt on the story. As shown below his friends had heard him speaking with his brother on the phone and asking for the basement door to be unlocked.
Nicholas is not aware the police know about this as he openly states if someone was to break in they would ‘take the basement’.
By this point detectives know they have their man but are looking to entice a confession out of Nicholas. Eventually after 3 hours of interrogation Nicholas begins to crack stating ‘it was because of my father’
We hear from the killer himself.
Now we will delve into Nicholas’s reasoning behind the senseless killing which is arguably one of the most fascinating aspects of this case. Firstly we take a look at Nicholas's very first confession, blaming his father as 'the straw' which led to this crime.
Nicholas’s friends stated that he often called his father hitler given he was ‘so hard’ on him. It is unclear exactly how his father treated him given we only have the word of NIcholas however he went as far as claiming John would physically and emotionally abuse him.
Obviously if this is true it is a serious situation and gives us a reason behind why he killed his father. Nicholas goes on to talk about standing over his sleeping father, gun in hand deciding on whether to kill him or not. It’s quite shocking the way a 15 year-old can just stand above his father having these kinds of thoughts.
With his father now dead the reason he gave for killing the rest of his family was that he didn’t want to get caught. This reason however was flawed given that his mother was asleep when she was killed meaning she would not have been a witness. He went on to claim he was ‘out of it’ when he killed his mother and two younger brothers. Here Nicholas shows some emotion however I don’t believe this was remorse given rather just the emotion of finally being caught. His earlier calm and relaxed demeanor further proves this point. Emotion was only shown once he realized the game was up.
A confident teenager expertly lead to confession.
Below we take a quick look at how the detectives broke down a cocky teenager into a damming confession. Here we see Nicholas right at the start of the interrogation laughing and joking with detectives about 'junk food'.
One of my favorite clips from this interview is Nicholas almost taunting the police about the gun saying ‘that is for you to find.’ It is quite interesting how a boy can make such comments when under intense pressure from two officers.
He then goes on to openly insult the officers, hinting they do not have the experience to catch him. It’s obvious Nichlas is overly confident at this point and is showing zero remorse for his crimes. Important to note this comment comes after 3 hours of intense interrogation.
Nicholas continues to stick to his story however by this point detectives already know he is guilty so press for a reason why. To which Nicholas responds with ‘Even with a reason I still go to jail.’ Another example of how laid back he was and was clearly aware of the outcomes of his actions.
Fast forward towards the end of the interrogation and the detectives have upped the pressure after initially allowing Nicholas to become over confident. His demeanor has completely changed and he looks emotional for the first time.
Even his body language has changed from sitting back relaxed and meeting the detective's eye to hunched over and covering his face.
Below is Nicholas at the beginning of the interview, laughing and joking with detectives, compared to the end.
Having watched the full 3 hour interrogation I find the techniques used by officers fascinating as they did not respond to any challenges made by the teen but proceeded in a caring and calm manner.
Overall this is a sad story which ended in an entire family being wiped out with the only surviving member sentenced to 4 life terms in prison. This case highlights the importance of mental health within the younger generation. If the claims of abuse are true it is also important to consider whether more could have been done to prevent this tragedy. Ultimately the actions were that of an impulsive teenager who should never have had access to such weaponry.
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