[Female Narrator] A double murder
leaves a family shattered.
The oldest child told me that he woke up to screaming,
and two big men came in to rob Daddy.
There was blood all over the place.
I would describe it as overkill.
[Narrator] As investigators dig,
they learn that this family's bond
is hard to break.
This is a family that isn't gonna take crap from you.
[Narrator] And each family member covers for the next.
[George] The statements were inconsistent.
Someone was lying to the police.
She was trying to push the blame outside the family.
[Narrator] At the center of it all,
investigators find a woman
willing to leverage loyalty for her own twisted desire.
Ultimately, she wanted to run around and have fun.
I never would've thought that
she was capable of allowing that to happen
to the magnitude that it did.
[music]
[Narrator] Almost an hour from popular Myrtle Beach
sits the much quieter community of Green Sea, South Carolina.
Green Sea is in Horry County,
which is not, maybe 20, 30 minutes from North Myrtle Beach.
[George] It's always been kinda rural, agricultural.
You see corn fields and tobacco fields,
and, and people out there
farming and working hard for a living.
[music]
[Narrator] It's just before 11:00 PM on June 21, 2000,
when a cryptic 911 call comes into
the Horry County Police Department.
[Narrator] Officers race to the scene,
unsure of what they'll find.
As they approach the address,
they are met by 55-year-old Johnny Nealy
and his daughter, Connie Brown.
[Jamie] Johnny Nealy advised the responding officers that
two men had just broken into
his daughter's residence on Olive Drive
and attacked and assaulted her husband,
Billy Ray Brown.
Johnny's trailer is next door to their trailer.
[Narrator] Connie tells officers that Billy Ray's friend,
Ronnie McDowell,
had been crashing on their couch for the night.
Concerned that the attackers may still be inside,
officers cautiously approach Connie's trailer.
What they saw when they went in was a very bloody crime scene.
There was blood all over the place.
There were trails of blood throughout the house.
So they knew something was terribly wrong.
[Narrator] As they make their way toward the master bedroom,
officers spot a male body
who they believe to be Connie's husband,
46-year-old Billy Ray Brown.
He was on the floor next to the bed.
You could visibly see a lot of blood and trauma to his body.
[Narrator] The officers continue their sweep
when they stumble upon a second body
in the hallway bathroom.
[music]
[Jamie] Once the responding officers
have the crime scene secured,
that's when they made contact with dispatch to go ahead
and have crime scene and violent crimes respond.
[Narrator] While officers wait
for homicide detectives to arrive,
they head over to Johnny's home
to break the news to Connie and her young children.
[George] Connie and Billy Ray had three children.
Two young men, and then a baby in arms.
Billy Ray, he didn't have much of a record, if any.
He was just a hard-working guy.
Certainly we'd had no reason to believe
that someone out there wanted to kill him.
[music]
[Narrator] Billy Ray Brown was born on May 25, 1954,
and raised in Green Sea, South Carolina.
Billy was a hard worker, and he was a really good friend.
[Narrator] Billy could often be found
helping out at a local bar owned by his aunt and uncle.
It was just this little ole country store kinda place
that they had made a bar.
I wanna say he was like the flower of the family,
'cause he took care of all of 'em.
I know he helped, helped 'em out a lot,
especially around the bar,
'cause that was the family business for them.
He drove cement mixers as well with my dad.
They worked for the same company.
[Narrator] In the spring of 1991,
Billy Ray was already once divorced
when Johnny Nealy introduced him to his daughter, Connie.
There was about 22 or 23 years age difference
between Connie and Billy.
I remember sayin' to myself, God, he's old.
He was, he was about 38, I think, when they met.
And her being 16 made me think, wow, what are you doin' here?
But they got along good, and I liked that.
He respected Connie a lot.
It wasn't very long after they met, they got together.
[Narrator] Born on April 9, 1975,
Connie was the second of Melba and Johnny Nealy's
five children.
[Jamie] Growing up with four younger siblings,
it was a challenge,
but it wasn't anything that we didn't do together.
We had some really good times, but we had rough times, too.
There was a bad alcohol problem my mom and dad developed,
over the years.
[Narrator] Connie was often left to mother her younger siblings.
Connie took it personally to a degree
because she kind of felt like,
why am I not good enough for Mom and Dad to not drink?
I am the one who called social services,
Connie and myself.
We couldn't do anymore.
We ended up in a children's home,
in foster care,
for two years,
and that's where they split us all up.
[Narrator] Losing the kids eventually inspired
Johnny and Melba to get their act together.
Two years later, the family reunited.
The reuniting of us coming back home to Mom and Dad,
all being a family again was great.
But truth is, it didn't last long enough,
because I had to leave and go to the military
and Connie ultimately met Billy and moved out from home.
[Narrator] At first, Connie's family balked at
the 22-year-age difference.
As far as the family bein' protective of one another,
it was solid as steel.
You couldn't get through.
It was obvious that Connie was over the mom life
that she led early in her teens,
helpin' me with the other kids.
'Cause when she met Billy, she changed completely.
Billy was a great provider. She fell in love.
No one else mattered. It was all about him.
Billy Ray was takin' care of not only Connie,
but Johnny and her brother, Andy, as well.
Billy Ray and Andy were close.
They would go fishing together and just hang out,
you know, as boys do.
[Narrator] Billy Ray's family embraced Connie,
even offering the teenager shifts at the family business.
[Jamie] She was bartending for them.
At such a young age, too.
It was allowed because it was just this little
ole country store.
And it's not like the authorities were there watching.
When they spoke of marriage, her at 16,
my dad kinda stepped out of it.
Because he thought it was just Mom's decision.
But that's ultimately what it ended up bein',
was Mama's decision.
[Narrator] In the end,
Connie's mother signed off on the marriage.
They lived in an old trailer
that, that Billy Ray had bought and fixed up.
[Narrator] Over the next nine years,
the couple had three kids:
Billy Ray Jr., Tanner, and Matthew.
[Rhonda] She was a wonderful mother.
She didn't go anywhere without her boys.
Billy Ray was a very hard worker.
He provided for his family.
[Narrator] In 1999, Connie's parents,
Melba and Johnny split up.
He had started partying again, and she had had it.
When they separated,
Dad went and lived in a mobile home that was on
the same property as Connie and Billy's property,
so they were living really close.
When I'd go to visit, it was a happy life.
Kids were happy, playin' with their toys on the floor.
It was just a normal life, it seemed.
[music]
[Narrator] Until the night of June 21, 2000,
when a violent attack inside the family's trailer
leaves Billy Ray and his good friend,
Ronnie McDowell, dead.
There were two blood trails.
One that led from the door to the back bedroom,
where we found Billy Ray Brown.
There's a second trail that started at the door
and went to the bathroom, that's where we found Ronnie.
This was a stabbing, and stabbings are bloody.
And there were bruises consistent with
being hit by a stick.
[Narrator] The two men were beaten, stabbed,
and their throats were cut.
A little before 1:00 AM,
detectives head to Johnny Nealy's home,
where officers are waiting with the family.
Before talking to Connie,
investigators check on her three young sons.
7-year-old Billy Ray Jr.
tells them he was asleep in the living room
when the attack began.
He told me that he woke up to screaming.
Billy said his mama told him that two men had come in.
Billy said that he didn't see the men.
[Narrator] 5-year-old Tanner adds to the story.
He stated that his mama told him
that two big men came in to rob Daddy.
He also said that Mama told him they had knives.
[Narrator] Both boys are physically unharmed,
but investigators aren't sold on their stories just yet.
[Jamie] It was a little odd that both children were telling me
information that their mother had told them.
[Narrator] Detectives have to wonder,
did Connie coach her kids about what to tell police?
[Jamie] The oldest had blood on his foot.
And the middle child, Tanner, had blood on his hands and feet.
Which tells me they were in close proximity
when this occurred,
if not right there when it occurred.
[Narrator] Coming up. An entire town on edge.
When somebody comes out of the blue from nowhere
and kills someone,
that causes fear in the community.
[Narrator] And investigators look for answers close to home.
She did say that he had his face covered,
but she knew who he was.
[music]
[Narrator] June 22, 2000.
At 12:50 AM, Horry County homicide detectives
are questioning the family of Connie and Billy Ray Brown
after Billy Ray and his friend, Ronnie McDowell, are found dead.
[Jamie] Connie advised that
she had went to bed around 10:15 PM that night.
About 10:30, she heard a knock at the back door.
And a commotion.
And that's when she came out to see what was going on.
She said two people came in and assaulted her husband,
and that she didn't realize who was coming in.
One was striking Billy with a stick.
He was wearing all dark colors and a face covering.
She said with the commotion going on,
Ronnie McDowell, at that point in time, tries to intervene.
And that's when she gathered up her three children
and went to her dad, Johnny's house next door.
Johnny Nealy didn't have a residential phone,
so he went down the road to call 911.
[music]
[Narrator] When investigators ask if Connie knows the men
who attacked Billy Ray and Ronnie,
they are stunned by her response.
Connie had said that Andy Nealy was striking
Billy with a stick.
Andy Nealy was Connie Brown's brother.
Connie also said that there was a black male with Andy,
that she believed was a friend of Andy's.
[George] When Andy was in the trailer attacking Billy Ray,
she asked him what he was doing,
and he said that was none of her concern.
[music]
[Narrator] Connie's revelation is shocking,
but for detectives, her story isn't quite adding up.
She told the first officer the same version
she told her father.
she said nothing about Andy being involved.
But then told a different version
when she was interviewed by the detectives.
Sometimes, you never know with people.
That they don't want their kids to know
that their uncle is involved in something like that.
A crime against their dad.
[George] They also question why he had his face covered.
She knew who he was.
Certainly, Connie would have recognized her brother
even with a mask on.
The only reason I can think of
that they would have hidden their faces
was just in case one of the children woke up
or somebody saw them from the outside.
[Narrator] While Connie's interview
raises a lot of questions,
it does give detectives their first lead.
When somebody comes out of the blue from nowhere
and kills someone,
that causes fear in the community.
But it wasn't a random event. This was a family affair.
[Jamie] It did strike me as odd,
because Connie had indicated that Andy and Billy Ray
were the best of friends.
[Narrator] Finding Andy becomes investigators' top priority.
[Jamie] I spoke to Johnny Nealy,
he advised that he hadn't seen Andy Nealy,
his son, since 8:30 PM.
In speaking with Johnny,
it did not appear that he had any knowledge
of what had occurred at his daughter's trailer next door.
[Narrator] Johnny tells them that his son doesn't have
a permanent address.
[Jamie] Johnny said Andy bounced around.
He would stay with Billy and Connie at times.
Johnny said he'd also stay over in Green Acres at times,
at Jodis' home.
Jodis Washington was Melba Nealy's boyfriend.
Johnny said Andy was driving
an '86 burgundy Honda Civic,
four-door with Tennessee tags.
[music]
[Narrator] Police immediately put out a BOLO on the vehicle.
And only a few hours later,
they get a call that Andy's car has been spotted
just over the border in Green Acres, North Carolina.
[Jamie] Columbus County Sheriff's Office
located the vehicle at Jodis' home.
[Jamie] My mom started dating Jodis Washington,
a friend of mine from school.
They dated off and on.
They were on for a good month, heavy dating, living together.
[Narrator] Eager to catch Andy before he takes off again,
investigators rush to the home.
Inside, they find Andy and Jodis
as well as Connie's mother, Melba,
and Connie's sister, Renee.
Andy and Melba voluntarily went with detectives
back to the Loris Magistrate's Office to be interviewed.
I stayed and interviewed Jodis and Renee.
[Narrator] Investigators inform Renee of
Connie's account of the murder.
[Jamie] We told her that Connie had indicated that
Andy was the attacker the previous evening.
but Renee advised that she had been with Andy
since 8:00 the previous evening.
And that she begged Andy also to stay with her,
because she hadn't seen him much lately.
It appears that Renee is trying to
give Andy an alibi.
[Narrator] Next, authorities turn to Melba Nealy's boyfriend,
29-year-old Jodis Washington.
[Jamie] When I interviewed Jodis Washington,
he said that he was asleep at 9:00 PM the previous evening
until this morning.
And that Andy's car is parked near his window.
So he would have heard it if it moved.
The statements were inconsistent with the statements
that Connie herself made to the police.
Someone was lying to the police.
[music]
[Narrator] Detective DeBari heads back to the station
where Andy and his mother Melba are being questioned.
[Jamie] Melba advised that she was over at her husband's,
Johnny's trailer,
which is next door to Connie's,
from about 1:30 to 3:30 PM,
with Connie and the kids over there.
[Narrator] Melba tells detectives that
Renee and Andy were also there.
And that Connie was very upset.
[Jamie] Renee was with them over at Johnny's trailer,
and Connie was telling her how Billy Ray had been
beating her and throwing the kids around.
[Narrator] Coming up.
Did a loyal brother decide to take the law into his own hands?
There were allegations of domestic violence
and violence against the kids.
[Narrator] Or is there something bigger at play?
This is a family that isn't gonna take crap from you.
They're gonna fight back.
[Narrator] Less than 24 hours have passed since
the brutal murders of Connie Brown's husband,
Billy Ray, and his friend, Ronnie McDowell...
When investigators uncover
a potential motive for the killings.
There had been prior instances of abuse
that Melba was aware of between Billy Ray and Connie.
But when Melba found out that
one of the children was being abused...
She was very upset.
She said it was bad enough that Connie was being abused,
but now you've put an innocent child into it.
[Narrator] But the revelations don't stop there.
Melba says Andy wasn't the only one
who wanted to teach Billy Ray a lesson.
[Jamie] Melba advised that upon learning this information
that Andy and Renee said that,
that Billy Ray needed an ass whipping.
This is a family that isn't gonna take crap from you.
They're gonna fight back.
[Narrator] Melba says the alleged abuse
against his child was the last straw...
And the family decided to pay Billy Ray a visit
that same night.
[music]
[Jamie] Melba advised that when they drove over there,
they parked on the side of the road.
She went and knocked on the door and Connie answered the door.
Billy Ray came out and started cussing her,
and that's when Andy struck Billy Ray with the stick.
[music]
She also told us she saw Jodis cut Billy's throat
when he was on the porch.
Melba helps Connie get the children over
to Johnny's house,
and then she leaves with Jodis, Renee, and Andy in the vehicle
and goes back to Green Acres.
She said that she went to bed around 11:30 PM,
she didn't get up til 9:00 AM.
Renee and Andy had went back to Connie's that morning,
and when they came back
they told her that Billy Ray was dead.
[Narrator] With Melba's statement,
investigators now have three different versions of
what took place the night of the murders.
[Jamie] Renee stated she had been with
Andy the previous evening,
and hand't seen Billy Ray all day.
Connie told us she was in the bedroom asleep,
and that Billy Ray had answered the door.
When, in fact, her mother Melba now states
that Connie answered the door at 10:30 at night.
Detective Merritt and I both believed that Connie had
some type of involvement in this incident.
[Narrator] While Melba is being questioned,
Andy's interview is taking place in another room.
Andy waives his rights and wishes to speak to us.
[George] Andy Nealy was a very kinda laid-back kid.
He didn't have a record of assaulting people
or anything like that.
[Narrator] Andy tells them that after listening to
Connie's tales of abuse earlier in the day,
he went to her trailer with his mom, Jodis, and Renee
around 10:30 that night to deliver a beatdown on Billy Ray.
Andy brought a special weapon along...
One he had made himself.
[George] Andy said that there were two weapons.
There was a large kitchen knife and a stick that was,
I would say, four feet long.
It was carved with Nealy Power.
It's somethin' that Andy had made when he was younger.
[Jamie] Andy advised that when they got there,
that Melba and Renee knocked on the door
while him and Jodis kinda hid in the shadows.
[George] Connie answered.
When Connie called Billy Ray to the door,
the two men jumped out and went after him.
And all that was part of the plan.
Andy advised that he struck Billy Ray in the head
with the large stick that he had.
After Billy Ray dropped to the porch,
Andy advised that Jodis jumped up
and cut Billy Ray's throat.
[Narrator] Andy claims the plan had only been
to beat up Billy Ray,
and Jodis' escalation came as a surprise to everyone,
but investigators aren't buying it.
[George] We don't know when it switched over from
beating him up to killing him.
But the knife, which was a large kitchen knife, very long,
they brought with them.
So it seemed all that was part of the plan.
[music]
[Jamie] What Andy is telling us is matching up
with what Melba said, and the physical evidence.
What we saw based on the blood spatter
and where the blood pooling and all took place.
[Narrator] As for Ronnie McDowell,
Andy says he was just in the wrong place
at the wrong time.
Ronnie McDowell wasn't supposed to be there.
He had just been forced from his own home,
because of a domestic violence investigation.
He couldn't stay there.
So he went to stay with his friend Billy Ray.
[Jamie] With the commotion going on,
Ronnie McDowell awakens from the couch and goes to the door
to see what's going on.
Andy tells him, this doesn't concern you.
And Ronnie tries to intervene.
They had to deal with a witness that they hadn't expected.
[Jamie] An altercation starts to occur.
Ronnie turns around and runs,
and goes to the right down to the bathroom.
Jodis and Andy give chase, and proceed to beat and stab Ronnie.
[music]
[Narrator] Meanwhile, Andy tells them even with his throat cut,
Billy Ray was still alive...
And trying to get a gun he kept in his bedroom.
[Jamie] Billy Ray is able to drag himself
into the living room
where he is bleeding profusely.
Somehow gets to the bedroom.
And Andy alleged him and Jodis
beat and stab Billy Ray in the bedroom.
[music]
[Narrator] Investigators have enough to place
both Andy and his mother Melba under arrest.
And based on their statements,
investigators also obtain arrest warrants for
Renee Young and Jodis Washington.
But when authorities return to Jodis' house,
they find it empty.
Jodis and Renee, they were not at the residence.
They were on the run.
[Narrator] While the search is underway
for Renee and Jodis,
detectives take another look at Connie.
[George] First, she tells Johnny the false story
that was passed onto 911,
and then she told us it was her brother.
She didn't tell us that she answered the door.
She was lookin' like a liar.
[Jamie] We just didn't have enough to charge her.
Because none of them had really stated that Connie was in on it.
[Narrator] Just hours later, investigators get a break.
Renee is located at a house in Tabor city,
and placed under arrest.
Investigators are eager to hear if Renee has changed her tune
in light of her mother and brother's arrests.
[Jamie] Renee was interviewed again
after she was given her Miranda rights,
where she waived her rights and decided to speak with us.
[George] At that point, Renee really wanted to
look at saving herself.
She pretty much gave up the whole plot.
[Narrator] Coming up.
A stark confession leads detectives to
a crude murder weapon.
The Nealy Power stick was thrown out by the side of the road.
[Narrator] And will Connie's dark secrets finally be exposed?
Billy Ray and Connie did have a volatile relationship.
[Narrator] On July 23, 2000,
two days after the vicious attack
that killed Billy Ray Brown and his friend, Ronnie McDowell,
Melba Nealy, her son Andy, and daughter Renee
are in police custody.
Melba's boyfriend Jodis Washington
is still at large.
[George] According to Melba and Andy,
the plan was just to beat him up,
but Jodis Washington got in there and it switched over from
beating him up to killing him.
[Narrator] However, when investigators sit down
with Renee following her arrest,
she changes her story again.
But this time, investigators suspect they're getting
a little closer to the truth.
[Jamie] Renee advised that all four of 'em,
Melba, her, Jodis, and Andy,
all went to the residence
because Billy needed to be killed.
[music]
She said they had a basic plan,
which was they were to go over to the house and kill him there.
We found Renee's story to be the most forthcoming
because you can't help but know that a murder's gonna happen
when one of the people has a knife.
[Jamie] That gives us the premeditation involved for
all four to drive all the way over there after that statement
knowing exactly what was going to happen.
[Narrator] The results of forensic testing
at the crime scene roll in,
and they're damning.
We found fingerprints in the getaway vehicle,
that was used for Melba, Renee, Jodis, and Andy
to come to the house.
But the only complete match was Jodis Washington.
[Narrator] Hours after Renee's statement,
Jodis Washington walks into
the Columbus County Sheriff's Station
and turns himself in.
Jodis knew that we had everybody else in the family in custody
and just went ahead and turned himself in.
Jodis invoked his right to remain silent
and never spoke with us.
[music]
[Narrator] The rest of the Nealy clan reels from
news of the arrests.
I was devastated.
I didn't see how that could've came about
or how they're sayin' my brother's responsible for it.
I went and visited each one of 'em.
They were all full of regret.
No matter if I asked,
tell me what happened,
at that point, their state of mind was protecting and
defending one another.
They wouldn't give me any details, or why even.
[music]
[Narrator] Meanwhile, investigators look into
Connie's allegations of abuse.
[George] What we know about Connie and Billy's relationship
we mostly got from Connie.
And for what it's worth,
she said that there was abuse going on there.
The children never complained of anything.
We didn't have independent, no, no bruises,
no police reports or anything like that.
[Narrator] However, friends of the family tell investigators
that Billy Ray and Connie did have a volatile relationship.
[Shannan] Connie's relationship with Billy Ray,
there had been some, like, heavy drinking.
As far as Billy Ray was concerned,
Connie knew that she had children to take care of
and that she had duties,
and that she couldn't completely let herself go.
[Narrator] But no matter how hard they look,
they find nothing to link Connie to the murders.
[Jamie] As far as thinking that Connie has some involvement,
sure, that's what we thought.
But we didn't have any evidence that we could actually use
to prove that or to establish probable cause,
because nobody else had implicated her.
[music]
[Narrator] Seemingly in the clear,
Connie goes about her business.
I didn't believe her participating with it.
Any of it.
The police, they were really pointin' the finger at her
and so, I wanted to protect her.
She had the kids.
When I got my own place,
she moved in with us, her and the boys.
[Narrator] As prosecutors and investigators prepare
for four murder trials,
Renee's attorneys and prosecutors reach a plea deal.
There were only five living adults that knew
what happened that day.
There wasn't enough to prove our case
without statements from at least some of them.
We had to make a deal with someone.
Renee was the most forthcoming.
She was obviously the one that was most cooperative.
[Narrator] Renee also agrees to
help in the hunt for the murder weapon.
At the scene, we never located the stick or any knives.
On July 6th, we had signed Renee out of the detention center.
She advised that she would assist us in locating
the stick that was used in the crime and the knife.
[Narrator] Renee tells investigators
the weapons were disposed of
on the ride home from the crime scene.
The Nealy Power stick was thrown out by the side of the road.
[Jamie] We were able to locate the stick
off the side of the road.
The stick was actually broke in half and you could see,
with the eye, blood spatter on the stick.
[Narrator] They are unable to locate the knife,
but the discovery of the Nealy Stick
will strengthen the prosecution's case
against the four accused.
[George] The plea agreement with Renee was that
she had testify truthfully in all trials arising from
the facts of, of the murder.
[Narrator] On August 7, 2001,
over a year since Billy Ray and Ronnie McDowell's murders,
Renee finally confirms what law enforcement
has suspected all along.
She told us that Connie was the reason that it happened.
That she's the one that asked them to do
something about Billy Ray.
[Narrator] According to Renee,
Connie knew the plan when she opened the door.
The plan was to kill Billy Ray.
The attack was planned for that night.
Renee and Jodis at one point did draw out a map
of, of Billy Ray's house,
more so for planning the attack than for anything else.
Connie knew it was coming.
She was, in fact, a part of it to,
to lure Billy Ray to the door.
[Narrator] Even though Jodis wasn't family,
Renee alleges he was eager to help.
[George] Renee told us that Jodis had said,
I never knifed someone.
I want to know what it's like to knife someone,
so I'm gonna use a knife.
[music]
[Narrator] Renee confirms that killing Ronnie McDowell
was never part of the plan.
Ronnie McDowell was at the wrong place
at the wrong time.
[George] Connie didn't do anything to say,
stop, no, this isn't a good night.
There's somebody else here.
She let it go on, knowing that Ronnie was there
and would probably have to be disposed of as well.
[Jamie] I think Renee had remorse and probably also, well,
why am I paying for this?
He was your husband. You wanted this done.
[Narrator] With Renee's statement,
investigators finally have enough to obtain
a warrant for Connie's arrest.
The next day, on August 8th,
investigators inform Connie that she must turn herself in.
[Jamie] Her and the boys, they were all living with me,
and we signed notarized statements, giving me custody
to take the babies to the hospital for emergencies,
and everything like that.
And get 'em in school.
Then I drove her there,
and I remember the arresting officer telling her
that they were chargin' her with double homicide.
[Narrator] Coming up.
A family's once united front splinters in the courtroom.
Renee Nealy is the star witness.
[Narrator] And Connie fights back.
She wouldn't have done this in her own home
with her children there.
[Narrator] Almost a year after the murders of Billy Ray Brown
and his friend Ronnie McDowell,
Billy Ray's wife, Connie Brown, is taken into custody.
[George] Because she was present at the scene and
aiding and abetting her family in doing it,
she was charged as a principal in murder.
[Narrator] In October 2001,
Connie's brother, Andy Nealy, appears before a judge.
[George] When it came right down to it,
Andy did not want to testify against his family.
He wasn't willing to cooperate.
He ultimately pled guilty and received a life sentence.
[Narrator] A month later, Melba and Jodis go on trial.
[Jamie] Renee Nealy is the star witness
testifying against both Jodis and Melba.
The jury found Melba guilty and sentenced her to 35 years.
Jodis Washington was found not guilty by the jury and released.
How they came to that conclusion,
but all their attorney kept yelling about,
his fingerprint was there before, it was there before.
He doesn't know anything about it. He was asleep.
[George] His attorney basically said that Renee was lying.
Renee was the primary way we had to prove Jodis' involvement
other than showing that they were associates.
Because they never recovered the knife,
he convinced the jury that
Renee had lied about him being present.
she was tryin' to push the blame outside the family.
[Narrator] In the eyes of the law,
Jodis is completely innocent of these crimes.
Almost a year later, on June 18, 2002,
27-year-old Connie Brown finally stands trial for murder.
[George] We wanted the jury to know that
Connie was in on this from the beginning,
that she helped plan it.
She was the driving force behind it.
And that came from, from Renee, her sister's testimony.
[Narrator] Throughout the trial, Connie maintains her innocence.
[George] Connie Brown's defense tried to argue
she wouldn't have done this in her own home
with her children there.
But our argument was the plan at the beginning was
that it was gonna happen on the porch,
and the children were inside asleep.
I don't think it was ever meant to come back into the house
like it did.
She opened the door and got Billy Ray to come to the door
for the attack to take place.
So she was part of the planning and part of the execution.
Our theory of the case was that
Connie just wanted to be rid of Billy Ray.
It seems mostly this was a crime to, to get rid of
an inconvenient husband.
[Narrator] On September 19, 2002,
the jury convenes.
That same day, they reach a verdict.
On September 2002, Connie Brown is found guilty
and sentenced to life in prison for her involvement
in the deaths of her husband, Billy Ray Brown,
and his friend Ronnie McDowell.
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I think it's important for people to know that
this family was not your typical family.
They are extremely close-knit.
They truly thought that they could help Connie
in this situation.
They thought they were doing her a favor.
[Narrator] Instead, they left
a wave of destruction in their wake.
It destroyed that family.
There was a mother and a father and three children,
and the father was dead
and the mother went off to prison.
[Jamie] Ronnie, poor fella, was in the wrong place
at the wrong time.
I never would've thought that Connie was capable
of guiding them or even allowing that to happen
to the magnitude that it did.
It could've been prevented, just by her leavin' Billy.
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