In January 2018, the Hemphill County Sheriff’s Office requested the assistance of the Office of the Attorney General with the investigation into the death of Thomas Brown of Canadian, Texas. Since that time, investigators with the Special Investigations Group in the Attorney General’s Office, along with other law enforcement agencies, have put thousands of hours of work into this case, interviewed numerous witnesses, and submitted various items of evidence to undergo forensic testing. Additionally, in early 2021, the Attorney General’s Office established a Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit that also reviewed this matter enlisting independent experts to possibly identify any further leads that could be developed.

As of today, this case remains a questionable death investigation without sufficient evidence to conclude that Tom Brown’s death was attributed to a criminal act, an accidental death, or a suicide. It was initially thought that a formal grand jury investigation into this case might produce new evidence or leads but, after careful and thorough deliberation, we do not believe presenting this case to a grand jury at this time would be fruitful or ethical. There is insufficient evidence to establish probable cause.

Further, the legal standard at trial of beyond a reasonable doubt, that Mr. Brown’s death was the result of an intentional, or unintentional, criminal act, is not supported by any evidence collected at this time. It is the longstanding practice of the 31st Judicial District Attorney to not present suspicious deaths to a Grand Jury if evidence shows the death was the result of a suicide.

Because of the amount of public interest in this case, the amount of time that has elapsed, and the amount of erroneous information that has circulated around the investigation, we believe it is necessary to be open and transparent about the facts in this case. While it is not common practice to disclose evidence in a pending investigation, we believe providing a general synopsis of the known facts in the case will dispel conjecture and provide a thorough explanation for the inevitable, but frustrating, conclusion that this investigation has reached an impasse and should be suspended until such time as additional reliable evidence may be discovered.

[SIGNED]

The Honorable Ken Paxton, Attorney

General, State of Texas

The Honorable Franklin McDonough,

31st Judicial District Attorney

EDITOR'S NOTE

The statement (at right) from the Texas Attorney General's Office, and another one below announcing the formation of a new Cold Case and Missing Person's Unit within the Attorney General's Office, was sent out to area news outlets just hours before a press conference and public meeting were scheduled to be held by Philip Klein Investigations & Consulting, the private investigative firm hired by Thomas Brown’s family to determine how he died. The timing was anything but coincidental. The statement was accompanied by a 250-page press packet, summarizing the special investigative team’s findings from February 2018, when the AG’s office took over the Thomas Brown case, to the present. The actions taken by the office were enumerated as such: •Total Number of Items Submitted for Forensic Testing and/or Analysis: 35 •Total Number of Witnesses Contacted or Interviewed: 71 individuals on at least 99 separate occasions •Total Number of Polygraphs Conducted: 9 •Total Number of Formal Searches Conducted: 9 •Total Number of Search Warrants and Subpoenas Issued: 150 •Total Number of Trips to Canadian, Texas: 9 The summary included a timeline of the early hours of Tom’s disappearance on the eve of Thanksgiving 2016; specific items of evidentiary interest collected and examined in the investigation; and detailed information about the blood evidence taken from Brown’s Dodge Durango, which was found abandoned near the municipal wastewater treatment facility on the north edge of Canadian early the next morning. It also includes findings regarding Klein Investigations’ luminol testing of the vehicle, which the report concluded were not properly performed or overseen, and troubling information about Brown’s i-Phone, which seems to suggest that his mother, Penny Meek, may have actually had in her possession following his disappearance. Predictably, this report became the focus of denial, derision, and dismissal by Klein’s team during last night’s (Wednesday, Oct. 20) meeting at Jones Pavilion. Given the intense public interest in Brown’s death, and the absence of any answers as to how he died, and who was involved, we attended those proceedings as our deadline loomed, and intended to report both in this week’s edition. Due to the length of the meeting, the volatility of its subject matter, and the complex nature of the report and the discussion that resulted, we have decided to delay those reports until next week’s edition of The Record, believing our readers would prefer that we get it right, rather than get it first. To view the AG’s press packet, go online to https://bit.ly/3G9F02W.

RECORD EDITOR AND PUBLISHER LAURIE EZZELL BROWN