John Henry Browne

John Henry Browne.

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Introduction: In my early stages of blogging about Ted Bundy I worried that I would eventually run out of things to write about (I figured there were only so many things to delve into). Where at the time I didn’t know a fraction of what I do now, I just assumed I would max out and my blog would eventually just… end. But, thankfully, I didn’t really have anything to worry about: between Ted, his confirmed victims, his unconfirmed victims, his family/lawyers/girlfriends/employment history/vehicles/residences (and so on)… I don’t think I’ll run out of writing material anytime soon.

Background: John Henry Browne was born on August 11, 1946 to Harry and Helen Browne in Oak Ridge, TN. Harry L. Browne Jr. was born on October 12, 1919 in Staten Island and Helen Margaret Brightsen was born on June 16, 1919 in New York. Upon returning home from the Army during WWII (he enlisted on January 1, 1939) the high school sweethearts got married on January 24, 1942 in NYC, and the couple went on to have two children together: Bonita (or Bonnie, b. June 1944) and John. While his wife was still in the hospital recovering from giving birth to their daughter, Harry got a call from Colonel James C. Marshall, who was the military lead on a new governmentally funded engineering program: he wanted the new father to come work for him on a new project. Harry said yes, and the young family packed up their home in New York and moved to Oak Ridge, TN.

Parents: An engineering graduate of Manhattan College in New York City, Harry L. Browne was smart… but according to those that knew them, his wife was smarter: a national merit scholar that read multiple newspapers every day, Helen could ‘understand any math equation, no matter how complex.’  According to John, his father was ‘always in motion:’ he was a member of the NYS Corps of Engineers and was involved in ‘secret government contracting’ that helped lead to the development of the atomic bomb. Additionally, Harry once worked as a nuclear engineer for the Atomic Energy Commission, and eventually retired in Palo Alto, CA as a vice president for the Bechtel Corporation (which is a premier American engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company founded in 1898).

Education: After John graduated from Palo Alto High School in 1964 he went on to attend The University of Colorado at Denver, where he worked majored in philosophy and worked several jobs to get by. After he learned how to play the bass, he became involved in the local music scene and joined a band with some buddies and was even friends with Ron McKernan (of The Grateful Dead) and Jimi Hendrix. According to Browne, his band was in the process of attempting to sign a deal with Elektra Records, but after he was arrested and (briefly) jailed on a ‘bad check’ he pivoted from music to a career in law (the charges were dropped after investigators discovered that the check only bounced because he had moved his account to a different bank by the time it was cashed). According to reports, he was bailed out by his one-time girlfriend Deborah Beeler (more on her later), and by the time he was allowed to contact her he had already spent seventeen hours in police custody. While in jail he spent time with men that has been there ‘for a week,’ but still didn’t have legal representation, and by the time he was released had decided to become a criminal defense attorney.

Accolades: Browne stands at an impressive 6’7″ tall, and has brown eyes; (in his youth) he thick brown hair, and when he let it grow long and had he occasionally would be mistaken for Yanni, the New Age musician (his ‘thick black mustache’ didn’t help). In 1968 John relocated to Washington DC to attended American University’s School of Law, and upon graduating in 1971 he got a Fellowship at Northwestern University’s School of Law; he was also an Oxford Fellow in 1999. From 1971 to his retirement in 2025 he tried over 250 criminal cases and was a member of the Washington State Bar Association; he was also voted one of Washington state’s ‘Super Lawyers on multiple occasions (from 2003-2006 then again in 2008) and had the distinction of being one of ‘The Best Lawyers in American from 2001 to 2002.’ JHB also established the Criminal Trial Practice program at Seattle University’s Law School and taught ‘Criminal Trial Practice’ at the school for five years; he also taught Criminal Law and Procedure’ for four years at the University of Washington.

The ‘Spiro T. Agnew Incident’: while attending law school in the fall of 1969, Browne got a part-time job as a page at ABC News, with some of his duties including escorting guests to where they needed to be as well as keeping them occupied. On one occasion he was responsible for entertaining Spiro T. Agnew, the 39th vice president of the United States, who served from 1969 until his resignation in 1973. Agnew has the distinction of being the only VP in US history to resign due to criminal charges, and was widely known for his aggressive, alliterative rhetoric against the media and anti-war protesters.

For what I feel are fairly obvious reasons, the promising young law student strongly disliked Agnew, and while preparing a cocktail for the VP in the studios greenroom it suddenly dawned on Browne that he had a vial of LSD in his pocket … and maybe it would be a good idea to dose him with it before he went on live television. He ultimately decided against it and while discussing the event in ‘The Devil’s Defender’ he called it ‘a moment of youthful radicalism’ that could have ‘drastically altered my life as well as the course of political history.’

Deborah Beeler: In the late 1960’s, Browne met Deborah Wharton Beeler through a mutual friend when they were both spending time in California, and they fell in love thanks to their shared views on politics, prisoner rights, and the Vietnam War. The twenty-three-year-old teacher, graduate student, and political activist was a transplant from Philadelphia, and sadly not long into their relationship on February 25, 1970, she was found murdered in her cottage in Oakland. The case remains unsolved to this day and Brown has often cited Beeler’s murder as a ‘canon event’ that helped steer the trajectory of his career and perspective on the criminal justice system.

Vietnam: the US officially joined the Vietnam War during Browne’s time at the University of Colorado on March 8, 1965; he was an active opponent of the conflict and felt it was his anti-authoritarian nature combined with his opposition to the system that naturally led him to his career as a criminal defense attorney. While he was in college in Denver, Browne became politically active and formed a chapter of the Students for a Democratic Society to protest the US’s involvement in the Vietnam War. During the conflict, he was able to avoid the draft until he graduated from law school in 1971 (thanks to a 2-S classification), and when his number was called upon graduating, he refused to go, citing military regulations and that individuals over 6 feet 6 inches tall were disqualified from serving. He consulted with pacifist Quakers and doctors and even performed stretching exercises to ensure he met the requirement. When facing recruiters, he was measured at well over 6’6″ and was deemed unfit for service. through a combination of physical height and advocacy he was able to avoid it completely until it ended on January 27, 1973.

Substance Abuse: Browne has admitted to drinking heavily and abusing cocaine while in his 30’s (but did specify in his memoir that he never actively used while handling major cases), and noted that his drug use coincided with a period of his life where his ego was ‘out of control’ and he was heavily focused on the publicity surrounding his work. He said he abused drugs and alcohol in an attempt to ‘change his reality’ and cope with the stress of his career, and one evening while celebrating after winning a death penalty case he had fallen into a ‘puddle of rainwater and cat shit;’ after this wake up call, he attended an intensive workshop in Death Valley and has since then has utilized meditation, yoga, and a focus on spirituality to maintain his sobriety and manage the stress of his high profile legal career.

In 1972 Browne was hired as an assistant attorney general for Washington under then-Attorney General Slade Gorton, despite swearing he didn’t have an interest ‘in being on the government’s side’ (he said he only took the position because it involved prison reform). One time while on the job John (while posing as a prison inmate), spent a few days in the maximum-security wing at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton, and after some time there rewrote some of the rules on punishment within the institution; additionally, he also got the ‘go-ahead’ for Native American prisoners to conduct religious sweat lodges, a practice that continues to this day.

Early Career: according to Browne’s 2016 book, ‘The Devil’s Defender,’ in December 1975 he was appointment to ‘The Board of Prosecutor Training Standards and Education’ by Washington state Governor Daniel J. Evans (the same one that Bundy campaigned for). He joined the King County Public Defender’s Office earlier that same year, where he moved up the ranks quickly and became chief trial attorney… 1975 was a busy year for the young attorney: that October is when he was first introduced to Ted Bundy (more on him later).

Famous Cases: Browne’s impressive fifty-four year long legal career is defined by his defense of ‘unwinnable’ cases, ones that focus on humanizing his clients in an attempt to avoid the death penalty.

Ted Bundy: Browne first became acquainted with Ted Bundy in October of 1975 after his Utah arrest earlier that August; according to John, he was ‘immediately struck’ by his clients appearance: ‘he wore a turtleneck sweater under a corduroy jacket, khakis, and Bass Weejun loafers. The look seemed to be an attempt to telegraph ‘Ivy League law student,’ but it was a caricature of an Ivy League law student.’ Browne said he referred to his SLC charges as ‘this little stupid case in Utah,’ a fact that he corrected Ted on, stressing that it was a ‘much bigger problem’ (as by that point, Seattle’s newspapers had been running headlines such as ‘is the Utah Ted the Seattle Ted?’); in response, Ted scoffed and said, ‘if they haven’t put it together by now, they never will.’ In the earlier stages of the investigation JHB claimed that Bob Keppel of the King County Sheriff’s Department approached him and said in a case of this magnitude ‘attorney/client privilege shouldn’t apply;’ in response to this, the lawyer laughed and told him to read ‘The Bill of Rights.’ At one point during Browne’s time representing Bundy he arranged for his client to take a lie detector test, something Ted swore he would pass because of his ‘personality type,’ which he was confident would ‘fool the machine’ saying it was ‘just a game’ (it’s worth noting that he failed).

JHB said Ted would use his law office library to research search and seizure laws, and that he became an ‘expert’ on the fallibility of eyewitness identification; he also said that during these visits Browne could see him ‘trying to get closer and closer to me. He knew I was only four months older than he was, and the similarity in our ages seemed like a big deal to him. He started asking where I purchased my clothing and what books, movies, and television shows I enjoyed. If I told him I’d bought, say, my penny loafers at The Bon Marche, the next time I saw him, swear to God, he’d be wearing the same penny loafers. I embarrassed him once when he arrived with actual pennies tucked into the shoes creases, I laughed and said, ‘Ted, that hasn’t been a thing since the early 1960’s.’’

John said at one time during his time representing Ted he shared with him that he wanted ‘to be a good person, but I’m just not,’ and that he had fallen to the floor crying while he made that confession; he has also said on repeated occasions that he didn’t believe people could be born evil, until he met Ted.

When JHB was 29 he sat in Teds Florida Jail cell while he ‘confessed things to me he said he’d never tell anyone else,’ and told him that he had ‘one more confession’: the reason he consulted him as a lawyer was because they were ‘so much alike.’  Browne said he recalls ‘returning to my cheap motel room, lighting a cigarette, and looking at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. I felty sick to my stomach.’

In 1978 after Ted’s second escape Browne flew to Florida and helped negotiate a plea bargain that would have saved him from the death penalty. The deal (that covered multiple jurisdictions across multiple states) would have required Bundy to plead guilty to his crimes… but at the last-minute the killer rejected the deal, a decision that ultimately sealed his fate.

Cynthia Marler: on August 11, 1980, Cynthia Marler was arrested and charged with the murder of Wanda Touchstone, a Polish immigrant that had recently separated from her husband. She hired Browne to defended her against charges that she was a ‘cold blooded killer that hired someone to kill Lou Touchstone’s wife,’ and during her trial it was argued that she was a hired ‘assassin’ that traveled from Bay Area (where she lived) to kill Touchistone; in response to this, JHB argued that it was actually the victim’s husband who had the real motive and ‘he held a great hammer over her head.’ She was ultimately convicted of the murder but appealed her conviction in 1982; the original ruling was upheld.

Duke Fergerson: A former Seattle Seahawk, Duke Fergerson was charged with raping two young women at an apartment complex, and he was arrested on October 23, 1979; Browne represented him in court, and by late 1980 he acquitted of all charges. The case gained additional attention after Jodi Zimbelman, a Seahawks ticket office employee who had previously dated Fergerson, filed a discrimination lawsuit against the team claiming she had been fired because of her interracial relationship with the football player; the team maintained Zimbelman was fired for violating a rule against dating other employees.

Ivy Kelly & Claudia Thacker: Ivy Gail Kelly and Claudia Thacker are the first two women in the US to successfully use the ‘battered woman syndrome’ defense in relation to charges they faced in connection to their husbands’ deaths. Kelly was charged with her spouse’s death after she shot and killed him on August 30, 1980 in their Snohomish County residence. Ms. Kelly’s defense was that her husband (who had been drunk at the time he was killed) had been angry with her and had been try to block the only way out of their house; at the time she believed he wanted to kill her, so she pulled out a pistol and pointed it at him… and even though Kelly claimed she only ‘intended to scare him,’ the weapon discharged, killing him. 

Ivy was found guilty of second-degree murder by a jury of her peers and was sentenced to a maximum term of twenty years in prison; she appealed the verdict, claiming she lived through ‘years of ‘extensive previous physical abuse at the hands of her husband,’ and during the proceedings was represented by John Henry Browne. The attorney presented arguments for self-defense based on his client’s history of being an abused spouse and called in a recognized expert in the field of battered women, who testified the incident ‘fit the classic behavioral model of a batterer’ and that Kelly was ‘a victim of the battered woman syndrome.’ The jury eventually acquitted her.

On September 5, 1977 Claudia Thacker ended a twenty-year living nightmare in her Port Orchard, Washington home after she shot and killed her husband, Kenneth after he attacked her during a drunken rage. She was convicted of second-degree murder (which carries a mandatory 5-to-20-year sentence), but in June 1979 was freed on her own recognizance pending the outcome of her appeal with the Washington State Court of Appeals. Claudia claimed she was only defending herself and their young child, and that during the original trial the jury heard very little about her husband’s ‘violent habits.’ On September 11, 1980 Claudia Thacker was officially acquitted of her second-degree murder charge, four years and two trials after she fatally shot her husband in the back.

George Freeman: from 1977 to 1985 Minister George Freeman operated ‘The Monastery,’ an organization in Seattle that simultaneously acted as a gay church, a nightclub, an LGBTQ community center, and a homeless shelter for queer youth all wrapped up in one. For example: on a typical day, Freeman would host DJ’s playing dance music in the early evening, then at 2 AM would stop everything to deliver a sermon. In April 1978 he got busted serving alcohol without a license to an undercover officer, who paid $7 for what the establishment called ‘a tithe’ (they also said he didn’t have the appropriate banquet permit either). During the proceedings, it was noted that The Monastery was registered as a religious organization with the Universal Life Church, and the prosecutor argued that the activities occurring at the Monastery were not religious in nature. For these charges, Freeman was represented by John H. Browne, and in the end the Seattle courts fined him $150.

Benjamin Ng: John Henry Browne also represented Benjamin Ng, who was a part of the 1983 Wah Mee Massacre, which (as of April 2026) is classified as the deadliest mass shooting in Washington state history. On February 18, 1983 three men bound and robbed fourteen people at the Wah Mee Club (an illegal gambling den located in Seattle’s Chinatown district), then opened fire on them, killing thirteen of them; one victim (Wai Chin) survived and testified against them. In addition to Ng two other men were charged for the brutal crime: Kwan Fai ‘Willie’ Mak and Wai-Chiu’ ‘Tony’ Ng.

While acting as Ng’s attorney, Browne admitted that his client participated in the robbery and ‘hog-tying’ of the victims, but denied he actually shot anyone: he portrayed Willie Mak as the sole mastermind and leader who planned to ‘eliminate all witnesses,’ and argued that Mak said he’d ‘kill the victims himself if his partners refused.’ During the sentencing phase, JHB presented evidence that his client suffered from extreme brain damage caused by being repeatedly beaten with wood as a child in Hong Kong. Browne was successful in helping Ng avoid the death penalty and on August 25, 1983 he was convicted on thirteen counts of aggravated first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole; Willie Mak was originally sentenced to death but his sentence was overturned in 1988, and Tony Ng received a 30-year sentence (he served twenty-eight-years of it before he was released and deported to his native Hong Kong in 2014).

Tony Dictado: in 1982 John Henry Browne represented Tony Dictado after he was charged for arranging the execution styled first-degree murders of two Filipino American cannery-union reformers, Gene Viernes and Silme Domingo. Prosecutors identified Dictado as the leader of a Filipino gang called Tulisan, and argued in June 1981 he ordered the hits because the men blocked the gang’s efforts to establish high-stakes gambling in Alaska canneries. In March 1982, a jury found Dictado guilty of two counts of aggravated first-degree murder after only ten hours of deliberation and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole; Browne expressed disappointment with the quick verdict, suggesting it had not been ‘thought out.’ He also handled Dictado‘s appeal, arguing the court erred by allowing conspiracy evidence without an appropriate charge and challenging the constitutionality of the mandatory life sentence. As of April 2026, Dictado remains in prison in Washington state.

Martin Pang: in 1995 JHB represented Martin Pang after four members of the Seattle Fire Department died battling the fire he set to his parents’ Seattle frozen foods warehouse in order to collect the insurance payout. Browne came to Pangs defense after he fled to Brazil in response to these charges, and successfully argued before the Brazilian Supreme Court that his client should not face murder charges because the countries laws prohibited his extradition if he faced murder charges; the courts ruled in Pangs favor and because of this King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng was forced to drop the four counts of first-degree murder and the death penalty. Browne negotiated a plea agreement where Pang pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree manslaughter and in 1998, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison; after serving roughly twenty-three years, Pang was released from custody on September 27, 2018.

Christopher Scott Wilson: on February 9, 2010 seventeen-year-old Mackenzie Nicole Cowell was last seen at The Academy of Hair Design in Wenatchee, WA where she was a student; her remains were discovered four days later on the banks of the Columbia River. A post-mortem exam determined she had been strangled, stabbed in the neck, and had suffered blunt force trauma to the head, and it wasn’t long before detectives zeroed in on Christopher Scott Wilson, a twenty-nine-year-old classmate of Cowell’s.

DNA found on duct tape close to where Cowell’s body was discovered linked Wilson to the murder, and according to investigators, he left the beauty school shortly after Mackenzie did on the day she disappeared. A search of his apartment revealed the presence of blood which matched Cowell’s DNA and in December 2010, the task force assigned with solving the murder made a second arrest: Wilson’s friend Tessa Schuyleman, who was accused of (but was never charged with) helping him cover up the crime and was instead charged with obstruction of justice for an unrelated case. In a plea agreement, Wilson pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to just over fourteen years in prison; he was freed from Monroe Correctional Center on December 11, 2023.

Colton Harris-Moore: also referred to as ‘the barefoot-bandit,’ Harris-Moore led LE on a two-year long manhunt between 2008 to 2010 across the western part of Washington state all the way to the Caribbean, and he stood accused of stealing boats, breaking into countless homes, and hijacking (three) airplanes. The product of an unsavory home life (his mother was a severe alcoholic), by the age of seven he was already breaking into homes to steal food and other survival supplies, and by fifteen he was living in the woods in an attempt to escape his home life.

In 2011, he was charged with sixty-seven felonies, and in January 2012 Browne persuaded a state judge to give his client the low end of the sentencing range: 6.5 years (78 months) in federal prison. The judge expressed sympathy for his ‘terrible upbringing,’ but stressed the necessity of the sentence. Colton was also ordered to pay $1.4 million in court-ordered restitution, and he sold his life story rights to 20th Century Fox for an equal amount.

Robert Bales: on March 11, 2012 after drinking some whiskey with his Army buddies in his barracks, thirty-eight-year-old US Staff Sergeant Robert Bales performed a ‘solo raid’ on two southern Afghan villages known as the Kandahar massacre, where he allegedly shot, knifed, and (in some cases) burned innocent men, women, and children. Armed with a knife, a nine mm pistol, and M-4 rifle outfitted with a grenade launcher, Bales had been on his fourth deployment in almost as many years and was suffering from an extreme case of PTSD. Officials say the father of two from Lake Tapps walked to two villages and took the lives of four men, four women, two boys and seven girls; he then burned some of their remains.

In addition to having alcohol in his system, Bales was also abusing steroids at the time of the killings that were provided to him by his superior officers, and according to JHB: ‘if Sergeant Bales did it… and I do mean if, we as a nation are to blame. We created this situation.’ …  ‘I think the message for the public in general is that he’s one of our boys and they need to treat him fairly.’ Browne defended his Bales alongside military lawyers, and described him as ‘mild-mannered,’ and claimed that he only acted the way he did because he ‘was upset after seeing a friend’s leg blown off the day before;’ he also clarified that his client had ‘no animosity toward Muslims.’ In an attempt to avoid the death penalty, Bales pleaded guilty to sixteen counts of murder and six counts of assault and attempted murder in a plea deal, and on August 23, 2013, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As of April 2026 he is still incarcerated and is being housed at the US Disciplinary Barracks in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Darrell Cloud: Browne was less successful in representing Darrell Cloud, who was accused of murdering his former middle-school teacher with a firearm in 1994 after years of sexual abuse. He guided his client in rejecting a plea bargain then presented an unsuccessful insanity defense during his jury trial, and Darrell was convicted of first-degree murder; he later (successfully) argued that his attorney had harmed his ability to conduct plea negotiations by making an unreasonable assessment of his chances of success in the trial (which he claimed Browne told him there had been a ‘95% chance’ of a favorable outcome). By blaming JHB’s conduct, Cloud was able to obtain a reduced sentence on a lesser charge.

Marriages: Browne has described himself as a ‘serial monogamist’ and an ‘oft-married individual’ that once told ‘The New York Times’ that his marriages ‘would round up toward double digits’ (realistically, he is on his eighth marriage, and the latest Mrs. Browne seems lovely). He says that his work on behalf of women stems from ‘a place of respect,’ and that ‘the world would be better if it was run by women.’

Despite being married multiple times over the course of his life, Browne resents being called a ‘womanizer,’ and said he is ‘always faithful in his relationships’. He married his first wife Jean Albrecht on February 14, 1973 at the Temple of Justice in Olympia, WA; originally from New York state, Albrecht was employed as a teacher during the couples’ union. They weren’t married for very long and divorced on Halloween in 1978. Browne married his second wife Victoria Lee Czerkies on April 24, 1983 in Seattle, and the couple divorced sometime before he married his third wife Patrice Buttell on June 2, 1984. Patrice was a graduate of Sonoma State College and the time they were together she was a (self-employed) massage and movement therapist; the couple were officially divorced on February 5, 1987.

John married his fourth wife, Lisa Rey Thomas on June 9, 1990 and the couple had a son together named Eli. According to her LinkedIn page, Lisa earned her PhD at Washington State University and is a research scientist for The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute at the University of Washington in Seattle. After the couple divorced on February 2, 1994 Browne went on to marry his fifth wife, Anne Bremner.

Born in McAlester, Oklahoma on June 4, 1958, Bremner graduated with honors from Stanford University in 1980 with a degree in medieval history and went on to attend Seattle University School of Law (she completed her JD in 1982). In recent years, she has been a television commentator for several high-profile legal cases (including the murder of Meredith Kercher in Italy and Amanda Knox) and describes herself as ‘a liberal, an idealist, and a Democrat,’ and like her former husband is opposed to capital punishment.

I was unable to find any (specific) information about wives six and seven, but I did find a record that he was married to a woman named ‘EA Susen,’ and the two divorced on August 29, 2006. Most recently Browne got married to Debra Amore Selland on February 14, 2022; the newest Mrs. Browne is a trained paralegal and worked for her husband on some of his final murder trials before he retired.

2006 Ethics Charges: in 2006, the Washington State Bar Association admonished Browne as part of a settlement of ethics charges stemming from compensation issues, saying that on one occasion he charged a client more than what had been arranged in a written agreement (such an admonition was the lowest form of disciplinary action doled out by the bar). In response to the charges, he said one of his legal assistants had prepared the written agreement and he had not known about it.

Scandal, Karen Koehler: one of the more scandalous cases that Browne was involved in is the murder of Timothy ‘Mac’ McNamara, who married his biological niece Tracy Nessl after moving from Washington state to Belize: the two began a romantic relationship in 2012 and shortly after they relocated to the foreign country (in an attempt to avoid public scrutiny) they tied the knot. On Christmas Day in 2014, Mac was found dead from a gunshot wound to the back of the head at their home: initially his death was reported as a suicide, however forensic investigators later determined the location of the wound made suicide ‘practically uncomfortable.’ Additionally, detectives discovered that Tracy had recently purchased a 9mm pistol, which was the same type of weapon that had been found at the scene.

In a September 2015 lawsuit filed by Seattle attorney Karen Koehler against Tracy on behalf of Tim’s adult children, it was alleged that their stepmom/cousin had seduced their father in an attempt to gain control of his assets before killing him. In March 2022, a jury in Grant County, Washington found McNamara civilly liable for the 2014 death of her husband/uncle after they determined she had committed battery that proximately caused his death; his children, Jennifer Ralston and Caleb McNamara, were awarded approximately $3.327 million in damages. 

In May 2016, a conflict between Browne and Koehler became public after she published excerpts of emails between the two on her blog, ‘The Velvet Hammer,’ claiming he had insulted her physical appearance, used disparaging language towards her, and even called her a ‘whack job.’ In July 2016, Browne sued Koehler and her firm for defamation on behalf of McNamara, claiming her firm had knowingly posted incorrect information and had falsely portrayed her as a ‘murderer’ on their website in an attempt to bias potential jurors.

In November 2016, King County Superior Court Judge James E. Rogers dismissed Browne’s defamation suit and ruled that the defendant’s firm’s online statements were protected under the ‘Fair Report Privilege’ because they recounted information from official legal proceedings. After her victory, Koehler filed a motion seeking sanctions against Browne, alleging he had engaged in an ‘inappropriately intimate relationship’ with his client at the time he represented her, which she claimed clouded his professional judgment and fueled his personal attacks against her; in response, Browne denied the allegations as ‘rumors and gossip,’ and in December 2016 the court denied Koehler’s request (although it is worth nothing that because of their ‘dispute’ the WA state bar association already canceled plans to reprint portions of Browne’s memoirs).

Although authorities in Belize issued a warrant for her arrest on murder charges, McNamara has never been extradited from the US and has never faced a criminal trial for the death of her husband/uncle.

Conclusion: Helen Brightsen-Browne died at the age of sixty-nine after succumbing to a long illness on March 26, 1989. According to her obituary, she was a homemaker and volunteered with the American Red Cross for many years; she was also a member of the First Lutheran Church of Palo Alto. At the time of her death her and Harry had been married for forty-seven years. John’s father Harry L. Browne died on Valentine’s Day in 2015 at the age of ninety-five, and his sister Bonnie passed away at the age of seventy-one on July 24, 2013 in Sacramento, California.

Works Cited:
Ackley, Andrew. (March 28, 2022). ‘Notorious Legal Saga Ends in Jury Verdict: Tracy Nessl McNamara killed Tim McNamara.’ Taken March 30, 2026 from andrewwackley.com
Browne, John Henry. (2016). ‘The Devils Defender: My Odyssey Through American Criminal Justice from Ted Bundy to the Kandahar Massacre.’
Kamb, Lewis. (December 5, 2016).’Sex with Client? Feuding Lawyers get Personal in Wrongful Death case.’ Taken March 17, 2026 from seattletimes.com
Seven, Richard. (March 22, 1998). ‘For The Defense: Bundy, Ng, Pang And An Eagle Scout: Attorney John Henry Browne Has Defended Them All With His Own Peculiar Style.’ Taken February 9 2026 from seattletimes.com

John Henry Browne’s birth annoucement that was published in The Staten Island Advance on August 22, 1946.
The Browne family in the 1950 US Census.
John Henry Browne’s junior year picture from the 1963 Palo Alto High School yearbook.
John Henry Browne in a group picture for the Junior Class Council of 1962-1963 from the 1963 the Palo Alto High School
yearbook.
John Browne from the 1963 Palo Alto High School yearbook.
John Henry Browne’s senior year picture from the 1964 Palo Alto High School yearbook.
John Henry Browne, picture courtesy of Oxygen.
A picture of John Henry Browne with his client Cynthia Marler that was published in The Santa Cruz Sentinel on March 6, 1981.
A picture of John Henry Browne and his client Cynthia Marler’s that was published in The Daily Herald on March 12, 1981.
A picture of John Henry Browne with his client Benjamin Ng that was published in The Tri-City Herald on August 13, 1983.
John Henry Browne.
John Henry Browne and fellow defense attorney Emma Scanlan walking out of the US Courthouse in Seattle during the Kandahar Massacre trial.
In this picture from December 16, 2011, John Henry Browne (along with his client, Colton Harris-Moore) appeared in Island County Superior Court in Coupeville, Washington.
John with Colton Harris-Moore.
John Henry Browne speaking at a press conference in his office about his role as a civilian defense lawyer for his client Robert Bales on March 15, 2012.
John Henry Browne in a picture related to his law practice.
John Henry Browne.
A cartoon of John Henry Browne.
Another cartoon of John Henry Browne.
A newspaper clipping announcing John and his first wife receiving their marriage license published in The Olympian on February 11, 1973.
John Browne and Jean Albrecht’s Marriage Application from February 1973 filed in Thurston County, WA.
John Henry Browne and Jean Albrecht’s marriage certificate that was filed on February 15, 1973.
John Henry Browne and Jean Albrecht’s Record of Divorce that was filed on November 15, 1979.
John and Victoria Lee Czerkies marriage certificate that was filed on April 24, 1983 in Seattle.
A newspaper clipping announcing the union of John Henry Browne and his third wife, Patrice Louise Buttell that was published in The Peninsula Times Tribune on July 4, 1984.
A picture of John and his third wife Patrice Louise Buttell on their wedding day that was published in The Peninsula Times Tribune on July 4, 1984.
John and his third wife Patrice listed in the Marriage Index on May 26, 1983.
John Henry Browne and Patrice’s divorce certificate that was filed on February 5, 1987.
John Henry Browne and Lisa Ray Thomas’ divorce certificate that was filed on February 2, 1994.
A screen shot of an Instagram post from John Henry Browne’s wife about their wedding.
A recent picture of John and his wife.
John and his wife, Debra.
The accolades of John Henry Browne.
Bass Weejun loafers.
A quick blurb about John Henry Browne’s book on Amazon.
Bundy researcher Kevin Sullivan’s review of John Henry Browne’s 2016 book.
A positive review of John Henry Browne’s 2016 book.
Some of the lower ranked reviews of John Henry Browne’s 2016 book, ‘The Devil’s Defender: My Odyssey Through American Criminal Justice from Ted Bundy to the Kandahar Massacre.’
John Henry Browne’s grandfather’s obituary that mentions his name published in The Peninsula Times Tribune on April 27, 1967.
John’s name in a list of people that passed the WA state bar exam that was published in The Spokesman-Review on October 3, 1972.
A newspaper article about a WA state sterilization law that mentions John Henry Browne that was published in The Kitsap Sun on July 10, 1973.
A clipping mentioning John Henry Browne being appointed to the Board of Prosecutor Training Standards and Education that was published in The Spokane Chronicle on December 11, 1975.
An article about a case John Henry Browne was trying that happened to have an article about Ted Bundy immediately following it that was published in The Spokesman-Review on February 6, 1976.
Part one of a newspaper article about the outcome of the Peter LeGrow case published in The Seattle Gay News on December 1, 1977.
Part two of a newspaper article about the outcome of the Peter LeGrow case published in The Seattle Gay News on December 1, 1977.
A newspaper article about a legal fund hat was set up to help support one-time JHB client Claudia Thacker that was published in The Kitsap Sun on December 22, 1977.
A newspaper article about the sentencing of Peter LeGrow, who was a client of John Henry Browne that was published in The Seattle Gay News on February 17, 1978.
A newspaper article about charges against JHB client Peter LeGrow being dismissed that was published in The Seattle Gay News on March 3, 1978.
A newspaper article about John Henry Browne acting as the defense attorney for George Freeman that was published in The Seattle Gay News on July 7, 1978.
A newspaper article about John Henry Browne acting as the defense attorney for George Freeman that was published in The Seattle Gay News on August 24, 1979.
An article about Duke Ferguson that mentions John Henry Browne that was published in The Columbian on January 14, 1980.
A picture of Duke Ferguson taken from The Columbian on January 14, 1980.
A newspaper clipping about Duke Ferguson published in The Kitsap Sun on March 8, 1980.
An article about Cynthia Marler’s guilty verdict published in The Daily Herald on March 12, 1981.
An article about John Henry Browne’s time trying defendant Benjamin Ng that was published in The Tri-City Herald on August 13, 1983.
Part one of an article about Benjamin Ng’s life being spared from the death penalty that was published in The Daily Herald on August 26, 1983.
Part two of an article about Benjamin Ng’s life being spared from the death penalty that was published in The Daily Herald on August 26, 1983.
Part one of an article about the trial of Ivy Kelly that mentions John Henry Browne that was published in The Daily Herald on July 14, 1984.
Part two of an article about the trial of Ivy Kelly that mentions John Henry Browne that was published in The Daily Herald on July 14, 1984.
An article about the murder of Mackenzie Cowell that mentions John Henry Browne that was published in The News Tribune on November 18, 2012.
Mackenzie Nicole Cowell, who was only seventeen when she was killed by one-time JHB client, Christopher Scott Wilson.
Christopher Scott Wilson.
An article about Colton Harris-Moore that was published in The Springfield News-Sun on July 12, 2010.
An article about Colton Harris-Moore that was published in The Peninsula Daily News on January 27, 2012.
An article about Robert Bales that mentions John Henry Browne that was published in The Tulare Advance-Register on March 17, 2012.
An article about Sergeant Robert Bales that mentions John Henry Browne published in USA Today on March 19, 2012.
An article about John Henry Browne that mentions Ted Bundy published in The Daily Sentinel on March 20, 2012.
Part one of an article about a case John Browne was trying published in the LA Time on March 21, 2012.
Part two of an article about a case John Browne was trying published in the LA Time on March 21, 2012.
An article about Sergeant Robert Bales. that mentions John Henry Browne published in The Olympian on April 9, 2012.
United States Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales. The soldier was sent to Afghanistan in December 2011, where he served with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team before he was assigned to a village stability operation close to where the massacre took place.
Tracy Nessl McNamara and her husband/uncle, Timothy McNamara.
Karen Koehler.
A screenshot from Karen Koehler, The Velvet Hammer: Judge tosses out John Henry Browne’s lawsuit against me published on November 19, 2016.
Karen Koehler’s ‘about me’ section of her website.
An article mentioning Karen Koehler and a client she was representing that was published in The Peninsula Daily News on October 15, 2017.
An article about The Barefoot Bandit published in The Richmond Times-Dispatch on January 27, 2022.
A Redditor going by the handle ‘Ambitious_Year_7730’ offering their opinion on John Henry Browne.
A second Redditor chiming in offering their opinion on John Henry Browne.
Harry Browne’s WWII draft card.
John and Helen listed in the Staten Island Marriage Index in 1941/42.
A newspaper clipping that mentions Johns’ sister Bonnie being hurt on a merry-go-round ride that was published The San Francisco Examiner on January 28, 1946.
A newspaper clipping about Harry Browne that was published in The Staten Island Advance on March 26, 1946.
A newspaper clipping mentioning that Harry Browne had been discharged from the US Army that was published in The Staten Island Advance on April 9, 1946.
A newspaper article about Harry Browne that was published in The Staten Island Advance on June 23, 1947.
A newspaper article Harry and Helen Browne’s high school reunion that mentions them by name that was published in The Staten Island Advance on June 12, 1952.
A newspaper article about Harry Browne that was published in The Staten Island Advance on May 5, 1953.
A newspaper article about a laboratory changing names that mentions Harry Browne that was published in The Peninsula Times Tribune on October 12, 1960.
Bonnie Browne’s freshman year picture taken from the 1958 La Jolla High School yearbook.
A newspaper clipping that mentions Johns sister, mother, and grandmother all being hospitalized at the same time that was published in The Peninsula Times Tribune on August 26, 1966.
A newspaper article about Hazleton Nuclear Science Corp that mentions Harry Browne that was published in The San Francisco Chronicle on April 7, 1967.
A newspaper article about John and Helen Browne’s high school reunion that mentions them by name that was published in The Staten Island Advance on September 27, 1987.
Helen Browne.
Harry L. Browne.
The obituary for Helen Brightsen-Browne published in The Staten Island Advance on March 28, 1989.
The obituary for Helen Brightsen-Browne published in The Peninsula Times Tribune on March 28, 1989.
The obituary for Helen Brightsen-Browne published in The Peninsula Times Tribune on April 4, 1989.
A picture of Eli Browne as a child.
John’s son and his wife.
A picture of John’s son and his wife on their wedding day.
Another picture of John’s son and his wife on their wedding day.
Eli Browne’s ‘about me’ section taken from his LinkedIn Page.
Information taken from Eli Browne’s LinkedIn Page.
Deborah Beeler.
An article about Beeler’s murder published in The Philadelphia Daily News on February 26, 1970.
Browne’s first wife Jean Albrecht from the 1968 Richards High School yearbook.
Victoria Lee Czerkies from the 1965 Holland High School yearbook.
An article mentioning one of John Browne’s ex-wives published in The Press Democrat on April 6, 1979.
Lisa Rey Thomas, who is a Research Scientist at Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute at the University of Washington.
A second picture of John’s fourth wife, Lisa.
A picture of Anne Bremner from the 1974 Olympia High School yearbook.
A newspaper clipping about Anne Bremner getting married to Jay L. Omdahl that was published in The Albuquerque Journal on August 5, 1995
John’s fifth wife, Anne Bremner.
A blurb from an article published in the Seattle Times on January 3, 2003 that mentions John Henry Browne’s sixth marriage.
Some Ancestry notes related to John’s sixth or seventh wife (but my educated guess is its related to wife number seven).

Correspondence Between John Henry Browne and Ted Bundy (…and the Green River Task Force).

~ Another Bundy Blog. ~ Leave a comment

While reading John Henry Browne’s book ‘The Devil’s Defender’ while helping with my local election I discovered a few letters between Ted and John Henry Browne (and one sent to the Green River Task Force) that I never read before. I decided to include them here.

October 31, 1976:
Dear John,
Thank you for your letter of October 27. I too, wish the circumstances of our first contact since last February were different. I had intended to write to you on several occasions during the past several months to express my appreciation for the moral and processional support you have given me and my girlfriend and others close to me.
Recent developments seem to indicate that I will be desperately in need of such support in the near future. I have had a tendency to be overly analytical about the motivations of the Colorado authorities in filing their case at this time. I suppose my real concern should not be ‘why’ they filed but ‘what,’ they filed. Whatever their reasoning, they have taken the plunge and are now committed to follow through. However, according to their own admission, their affidavit outlines the same case they had eight months ago. It is safe to say that bringing the case at this time was prompted by considerations other than the circumstantial evidence contained in the arrest warrant affidavit.
Whether or not their case is a strong one, and I am convinced it is not, the threat I face is considerable for numerous non-evidentiary reasons. First and foremost is the publicity. Next comes my conviction for kidnapping in Utah. The third strike against me involves the significant potential for official misconduct (i.e. falsifying evidence) on the part of those who, ‘believe’ in my guilt and feel as it is their duty to being about my conviction.
Finally, I am at an extreme disadvantage due to both a lack of funds to hire attorneys, investigators and experts. And to the prosecutors seemingly unlimited investigative resources; resources which can, quote, ‘create’ an image of credibility when no case exists. It is this last point [that] most concerns me. If I could fight them on an equal footing I have no doubt I would be acquitted. One man, an attorney. [name removed] no matter how skilled or competent, is no match to prepare a defense to equal the complex case the prosecution has created. Without more assistance, the consequences to my life could be fatal.
You have no obligation to come to my aid, but I am begging you to do so because my life hangs in the balance. I am asking you to provide whatever services you can offer, because I am immensely impressed by your legal intelligence and more so because I like you and feel comfortable with you. I need your help now more than I ever have needed help before in my life. What more can I say except ‘please’ help me?
Sincerely,
Ted
PS: I will avoid discussing details of the Colorado case in letters. I will only talk about the case directly to my present attorneys. If you should have questions, submit them through my present attorneys, and if you haven’t read Colorado’s affidavit, I will ask my present attorney to send you a copy, should you be in a position to help, that is.

November 1976:
Dear John,
I received your letter of November 10 today and find some encouragement in your news, if only because it indicates your continuing willingness to help. I would like to keep my options open regarding my final choice of counsel. I have no contact with my present attorney and will be unable to make a decision about him until I have talked to him personally and at length. I hope you will understand ,my reservations as it is my belief that I must have complete confidence in someone in whose my life will be placed.; I have written my present attorney asking his opinion on several critical matters, including extradition, and requesting a meeting with him before I go to Colorado.
Of course I would prefer an alliance between my present attorney and you. If I had a choice at this moment between the two of you, I would choose you, but I am not sure I can afford that choice.
I am in complete agreement concerning guaranteed reimbursement for expenses and lost salary should I ask you to handle my case. Is there any way you can give me some general estimate of what this might amount to for Ressler and you? I know how difficult this would be, but if I had an idea, I would be able to determine whether or not I am capable of raising such an amount at all.
I wouldn’t hold you to an estimate in any event, but if you are out of the ballpark, I had better know now.
The question of extradition carries more significance for me than whether by fighting it I can avoid it. I will be extradited too no matter what, but by opposing extradition, are there advantages which outweigh the disadvantages?
In your opinion, in a habeas corpus hearing on the matter, would not it be possible to expose more of the prosecution’s case, if indeed there is more, as well as, quote, ‘freeze’ what they already have? I think there is a positive potential here.
Second, I am convinced that much time will be required to prepare my defense. The prosecution has been investigating and building their case for fourteen months. God knows how many man-hours and how much money has been expended. Positions, such as admitting evidence as a, quote, ‘common scheme and plan,’ involving incidents in other jurisdictions have been thoroughly briefed. I need time, and I would rather spend it in the Utah State Prison than in the Pitkin County Jail, fighting extradition. Fighting extradition will buy some time, don’t you think?
The negative consequences to such a fight would be, as you observed, publicity and inferring my uncooperativeness. This is a difficult issue, which ultimately involves the whole area of pretrial publicity in my case.
The first question is what is the volume and substance of publicity at this point in the Glenwood Springs/Aspen area, and what is it likely to be in the future?
I will ask my attorney to make a study of this, should a motion for postponement on grounds of pretrial publicity be warranted. Will my opposition to extradition do any further harm? I am not convinced that it will, especially since I intend to make it clear the reasons why I am fighting extradition: 1) I was not in Colorado at the time of the commission of the crime; and 2) Need time to overcome great prosecution advantage.
Bad reasons, you know. I just thought the effect of fighting extradition is not nearly as damaging as the impact of losing that fight, which will eventually happen.
Now I have changed my mind a lot. Damn it. I think it is perfectly suicidal to rush into a strange state and be represented by an unknown attorney who has but a few weeks to prepare against a case, which the prosecution has been plotting for over a year. I believe it is literally suicide. What do you recommend?
This is a case which will be won or lost by the ability of the defense to do the following: 1) thoroughly field investigate; and 2) Suppress testimony related to other crimes.
I will elaborate more on that issue later. Can’t fit anymore paper in this envelope. Thanks again for the letter.
Hang in there,
Ted

November 29, 1976:
Dear John,
My issue of the Wednesday, November 24, 1976, Seattle Times contains an article on A4 with a bold heading, quote: ‘FBI Links Hair Samples to Bundy.’ This is just not something I expected from the Times. What are they doing, warming up the cross for my execution?
This is one of the most flagrant examples of prosecution by the press that I have ever seen. The worst thing about this Seattle Times article is that it will be carried by the wire services and broadcast in the Denver and the Aspen area.
Damn it John, I can’t get used to this abuse. The impact of this article is deadly, without the knowledge that hair samples are far from being identification.
He goes on to mention, quote, ‘several’ eyewitnesses, when, as you may know, there was one woman who picks my picture one year after the Colorado disappearance and stated that she had passed a, quote, ‘strange’ man in the hall the night of the disappearance, who looked like me, and observation she neglected to mention to police until a year later.
Note also how the fallacious escape materials, also how the escape material allegations is injected to magnify the inferences of guilt.
The intent of the article is purely malicious and prejudicial. I feel powerless as I watch my conviction firsthand by the media. I see this article as part of a calculated attempt to convince the public of the official belief in my guilt, and to influence the outcome of the Colorado trial.
I had to do something. Enclosed you will find a letter to the editor of the Times. Would you read it and if it seems appropriate, do what you can to have it published? ‘Thanks.’
Best regards,
Ted

July 7, 1977:
Dear John,
Good heavens… it has been over three weeks since my early morning call to you upon my return to captivity, and I am just getting around to saying, quote, ‘thank you,’ to you for coming to my aid, coming to aspen, and just generally making mew feel less like a fumbling, stupid idiot I was behaving like.
Aw, but the adventurous chapter is behind me, or so I would like to think at this moment. The ghosts of my escapade will return [in] the form of five counts and a new information. I will behave like the hardened convict I am and say, quote, ‘Fuck it. I have got broad shoulders.’ This is what a hard con would say, isn’t it?
Since my return, I have been in procrastination, in a procrastination inspired slump. (‘I have got plenty of time; the suppression hearing isn’t for two months’).
Instead of working, I have been doing push-ups, pull-ups, jumping rope, and have done my best to emulate Tarzan. I am eating nuts, took vitamins, gagged on nutritional yeast, and in the process have (at least to my own mind) become a superb physical specimen.
Now I am sitting here wondering what makes me want to be so damned healthy.
Today I emerged from both my ‘slump’ and my Fourth of July depression, and decided to entertain myself with the criminal law again. What a shameful attitude. However, working on the case has become both fun and distracting, an attitude which no doubt reinforces the point of view that I shouldn’t be handing this case- bit Christ, if a person can’t enjoy the work, why do it? It is just plain challenging.
It is also just a bit frightening at times, too.
Today, for instance, I decided to research the area of suppression of evidence material and favorable to the defense. Since several re-readings of the documents in question convinces me that they alone might warrant a new trial.
I took the amicus brief that you wrote in the Wright case. I looked up a few cases, the most recent US Supreme Court being US vs. Aggers. What a horrendous case. The Berger Court is very unsound. Agurs [sic], on top of Brady, is like mustard on top of a chocolate cake. It just doesn’t make sense and gives me indigestion. Until… I talked to an attorney (I knew they were good for something); the attorney just happened to mention that aggers came down in June 1976 and that all of the discovery in my case took place between November 1975 and February 1976. Thus, Brady and its progeny, free of the Aggers sliding rule (this is where ethe prosecutor slides everything into the police files and says he never saw the stuff, honest!) would be applied in my case.
Still, this is no guarantee, but I am more confident about receiving a new trial now than ever before.
At this point, however, I think I would lose a new trial in the kidnapping case, but hell, getting there would be half the fun, anyway. So I am fat and healthy, munching on something called, ‘peanuts and caramel log,’ one of many goodies sent to me by my friends. Sounds disgusting, and it is, but I have a munchy mentality and I truly love it.
Thanks again. You have done a great deal for me. I want you to know how I recognize it and appreciate it. Now try to take that to the bank. How much is it worth to you to have me tell you that I can’t imagine a finer defense attorney than yourself? It’s true. I consider myself an expert on the good ones and the bad ones.
Best wishes,
Ted

June 1, 1977:
Dear John,
During the time you stayed in Tallahassee, we had a chance to discuss at length developments in the case. If you feel anything like I do, you are sick and tired of hearing about the Bundy case.
It was great seeing you and talking with you again. There can be little question as to why you are doing so well in your practice’ you are an exceptionally bright and concerned person. You are much more than that, but that way in which you reach out to those whose causes you advocate is extraordinary.
I am fortunate to have you on my side and there is no adequate manner to express my gratitude for the time and expense you took to come help me, except to give you a deeply felt, quote, ‘thank you,’ in every way.
Best regards,
Ted

October 15, 1984*:
Dear John,
Are you still there? I mean, are you still in the Smith Tower? I hope this is forwarded to you if you are not.
How are you? Still Running? It has been a while since we have been in touch. Carole told me that she and out daughter, Rosebud, just paid a visit to you around Christmas time last year.
I have a favor to ask you. Would you mind taking the enclosed letter I have written to someone associated with the Green River Task Force who has some sense and can be trusted to take the right steps to see that the letter both receives proper consideration and remains confidential?
I know firsthand how professional egos and agency rivalries and conventional police close-mindedness can drastically reduce the effectiveness of an organization like the Task Force.
I am pretty sure I can provide them with some valuable information if we can transcend such limitations. So please give it to someone with an open mind and creative outlook on investigating such cases. Does such an animal exist? On October 1, I wrote a letter to the Task Force, which I sent via a superior court judge in Tacoma, a longtime family friend. I asked him to let me know that he had received and forwarded it, but in two weeks I have heard nothing from him or the task force.
Actually, I would have sent the letter through you in the first place, but it just didn’t occur to me until after I mailed the letter.
So what’s do you think of the Task Force? What do you know about it? Is it chasing its tail/ It is disorganized? Does it have competent people? Is it well run? Would the people there resent or reject out-of-hand my offer of information and assistance?
There are a number of reasons why I offer my help to the Task Force at this time (please go ahead and read the letter I have written to them, by the way, and it may give you a better understanding of what I am doing). Basically, through, the case fascinates me and challenges me. I would like to figure out what makes the Green River guy tick, and I figure I have as good a chance of doing that than anyone on the Task Force. And I also think that the time seems right in some inexplicable sort of way, and I dins myself saying, quote, ‘why not put some of your knowledge and unique perspective to use. It could be interesting.’
I don’t fancy myself playing detective, but I will bet I can play the man or men they are looking for better than any of them.
Please let me know you received this and what, if anything, happened when you passed it along.
Thank you for your help. Take care of yourself.
Peace,
Ted
PS: And remember, you can arrange to reach me by phone, if you wish.
*I do want to point out that in Robert Keppels book (and movie), ‘The Riverman,’ the letter was sent directly to Keppel and bypassed John Henry Browne completely.

October 15: 1984:
Dear Task Force Members:
On October 1, 1984, I wrote a letter to you and sent it via a superior court judge in Tacoma. I asked the judge to give me some kind of indication that he would- he had received and forwarded that letter to you.
During the intervening two weeks, I have heard nothing from the judge or you, I don’t know what the problem is, or even if there is a problem, but I thought I had better try another means of contacting you in case, for whatever reason, the first failed.
Therefore, I send this letter to you through John Henry Browne, a Seattle criminal defense attorney, who I know and trust.
I must admit that I am being cautious on approaching you. It would not look good to my fellow prisoners if it became known that I offered to help and provide information for your investigation.
This is one reason I do not want to let it be known that I am writing to you.
Mail passes through many hands before it leaves this place, and there are too many curious minds for me to address a letter to you directly.
As broader concern of mine is that my offer of information and whatever other assistance you determine I can provide not be made known outside the Task Force, especially not to the news media, in part because of the reasons I stated above, and in part because such publicity could hamper your investigation in some way.
Olay, with that in mind, I will tell you, as I told you in my other letter, that I have information which I believe would be useful in your investigation. I have a unique perspective on the Green River case, which, while I may not provide you with anything you haven’t thought of before, may cause you to refocus and read re-examine [sic] things you may have neglected or dismissed for some reason or another.
Let me explain how I came to realize I had something of value to offer you at this late date.
While I gather that the Green River matter has been a source of concern in the Pacific Northwest for a couple of years or so, news of these murders did not begin to filter down to this far corner of the country until maybe a year ago, as far as I can recall. Even then, news accounts here were infrequent and very brief. I am sure the news coverage here was microscopic compared to what has been seen in the Seattle Tacoma area.
Not having access to regular, detailed, and comprehensive news coverage, I did not have an opportunity to gain any kind of feel for the Green River situation. I had no basis for developing any ideas or insights. I had no reason to go out of my way to learn more about the cases. There were other things on my mind.
Then two to three months ago, I began receiving a local newspaper from Tacoma. It was the first time in over five years I have received a daily newspaper from the Northwest. It was about a month ago that I got my first real taste of the local coverage of the Green River investigation when the body of a woman, believed to be linked to the Green River cases, was discovered in a remote area of Pierce County.
The news coverage of that discovery, and subsequent and related articles were something of a revelation. I got a feel for what was happening, albeit tentative, and was based on pitifully few facts. But I know your man in a way that facts alone cannot accomplish.
I do not know his face, but I have some pretty good ideas on where you can look to see him for yourselves. There are many reasons why I want to see if I can be of some help to you. I won’t claim some noble, civic-minded motivation. Basically, the case has really begun to intrigue me. But I am sure it intrigues lots if people. The difference is I have knowledge and a point of view to add to your case investigation like no one else does.
I may simply have reached the point where I realized I have something of value and the chance to use it productively.
I would like your assurance that this letter, and any other communications we may have will be kept strictly confidential, and that no one outside of the Task Force will be made aware of what I have said here or will say should we enter into a dialogue.
If you wish to communicate to me by mail, please do so by sending a letter though my prosecutor, lawyer, or a judge that is clearly marked, ‘legal mail.’ Such mail is opened in my presence and not read. Other mail is opened in the mailroom and may be read.
If you would rather send someone to talk with me, I would welcome the opportunity. Eventually, I think you stand to gain more if you meet with me personally. If you do decide to send someone to Florida, I suggest that you have someone from a local office of the FBI help you gain entrance to the prison without divulging the exact reason for your visit.
Well, there you have it. If have no way of knowing if you need or want anything I have to offer. All I can do is let you know I am willing to help any way I can. The rest is up to you.
Good luck.
Sincerely,
Ted Bundy

Deborah ‘Debbie’ Wharton Beeler.

~ Another Bundy Blog. ~ 2 Comments

Deborah Wharton Beeler was born in Lawrence Memorial Hospital on October 6, 1946 to John and Elizabeth ‘Betty’ (nee Wharton) in New London, Connecticut. John Hall Beeler Sr. was born on August 3, 1918 in Baltimore, Maryland and according to MyHeritage, he graduated from John Hopkins University with a BS in civil engineering in 1938 and went on to serve in the Army during WWII, where he saw battle in Europe; upon his discharge from the military on April 10, 1944 he was employed at the Arundel Corporation and Consolidated Engineering Company’ and went on to become the president of the Precision Tool Company in Edgemont, Pennsylvania. Elizabeth Sergeant Wharton was born on November 15 1922 in Philadelphia, and graduated from the Agnes Irwin School in 1941; she made her debut later that same year. The Beeler’s were married on October 28. 1942 in the Thomas Virgin Islands and had three children together: Deborah, Edward (b. 1956) and John (b. 1944). After getting hitched the family moved around the US, and briefly lived in Stonington, CT and Maryland before eventually settling down in Pennsylvania.

According to an article published in The Times-Herald on February 26, 1970, the Beelers were ‘listed in the Social Register of Pennsylvania’ which is a directory of ‘prominent and elite families’ in the Philadelphia area and other regions of the state that (historically) focused on ‘old money’ and well-connected families (in more recent years they have expanded to include a more ‘diverse’ membership). In early 1970 the family lived in the Chester Hill area of Philadelphia, and Deborah’s brother John was a Captain in the Air Force and was serving in Vietnam, and her younger brother Edward was attending Chester Hills Academy in Philadelphia.

Deborah Beeler seemed to live an incredibly charmed life: described by a loved one as ‘vivacious,’ she was the daughter of a wealthy, high level business executive and graduated from Springside High School in 1964. Springside was an independent college preparatory school in the Chestnut Hill area of Philadelphia, and while there she excelled in academics and participated in drama club, glee club, and wrote for the newspaper. After graduating from high school Beeler went on to attend Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and graduated in 1968; upon completion she relocated to Berkley, where she got a part time intern position teaching three reading classes a day at the Oakland Technical High School, and got her temporary teaching credentials in January 1970 after taking a class in the Golden State.

According to Deb’s boyfriend and Ted Bundy’s one time Seattle lawyer John Henry Browne (who Bundy actually sought out to be his attorney), at the time of her death she was a graduate student in English education at UC Berkeley, and in addition to teaching she volunteered PT at a halfway house that was close to the cottage that she rented (which was located in the front part of 477 Arlington Avenue). According to William H. Miller, the principal of the school Beeler taught at, she was ‘outstanding,’ and seemed to get along very well with her students, and friends of hers said she was in good spirits the week prior to her death and was an ‘outdoorsy’ type and enjoyed hiking and skiing.

Inspector Jack Houston with the Berkley PD also said that Beeler had gone to her teaching job on Friday, February 20, 1970 and that the following Monday was a holiday (Presidents’ Day), however she failed to report to work on Tuesday, February 24th. The Almeida county coroner said that the twenty-three year old had been found later that day in her cottage by her landlord Stanley Gould, who became worried after she didn’t pick up her mail; her autopsy would later determine she had been deceased for roughly 24 hours. Beeler had been dressed in a ‘slip over housecoat’ and a ‘shorty’ night gown, and was found lying face down on her living room floor; she had been strangled with an electric cord from a nearby hot plate (one source said it was from a lamp), which her killer had looped around her neck multiple times. A pair of pliers that may have been used to tighten the cord lay just within arm’s reach from the victim.

At first, Deputy Coroner David Hitchcock speculated that her death may have been a suicide, but this theory was disregarded (detectives thought this because of the pliers). The ME determined that she died of strangulations but had been hit on the side of the head; she had probably been unconscious when she was strangled. According to William H. Miller, the principal of the school Debbie taught at, she was ‘outstanding,’ and seemed to get along very well with her students. Friends of hers said she was in good spirits the week prior to her death and was an ‘outdoorsy” type, and enjoyed hiking and skiing.

At first, Deputy Coroner David Hitchcock speculated that Beeler’s death may have been a suicide, but this theory was quickly disregarded. The ME determined that she died of strangulation but had also been hit on the side of the head and may have been unconscious at the time she was killed. According to Inspector Houston, ‘there were no signs of a forced entry nor a struggle. I don’t think she would have let anyone in whom she didn’t know while she was wearing her nightclothes. I’m sure that whoever did her in was somebody she knew.’ He also said that she more than likely had let the man that took her life into her apartment willingly, and that she hadn’t been sexually assaulted and her residence showed no sign of a struggle. Detectives interviewed all known loved ones and acquaintances of Beeler: current and former boyfriends, friends, colleagues, family members, residents of the halfway house she volunteered at. No one gave them any helpful information.

I think what is most interesting about Deborah Beeler is, at the time of her murder she was in a relationship with John Henry Browne, who would later become Ted Bundy’s lawyer. While working and going to school in DC Browne made frequent trips to San Francisco, and he connected with Debbie through a friend he nicknamed ‘Punky,’ and the two began dating (an exact time wasn’t given or how long they were together, but I’m thinking it was around 1969). There are no good pictures of Deborah that I could find, however Browne described her in his book as ‘pretty, with brown eyes and long brown hair she parted down the middle.’ The night that they met, the two stayed up until 4 AM talking about a broad range of topics, ranging from war (I’m assuming Vietnam was going on during the time), the death penalty (both were ‘vehemently against it’), and prisoners rights.

According to Browne, ‘she lived in Heights-Ashbury, which in 1969 was the red-hot center of the hippie universe. I started to stay at her apartment, and we’d walked up and down the street, taking it all in. I was struck by her kindness towards strangers. If we came across a homeless man, she would stop and engage him in conversation. And if she had spare change, she would hand it over. It was almost alarming how open she was, how trusting. At Christmas she joined me for a holiday party at my parents house I have a photo from that party that my dad took of her sitting on my lap (Browne, 57)’

According to JHB, Beeler ‘was an angel, and so smart,’ and was as passionate about prisoners’ rights as he was. In the fall of 1969, he left his beloved in Berkeley, quit the band he was in and enrolled in law school at American University in Washington, DC. While there the two ‘maintained a long-distance relationship, talking on the phone, occasionally exchanging letters. When Debbie came out east to see her family, we connected in her hometown of Philadelphia. I met her parents, John and Elizabeth, who had a beautiful home in the tony neighborhood of Chestnut Hill. John, like my father, was an engineer, and was president of Precision Tool Company. Debbie and I talked a lot on that trip about what we wanted out of our relationship. We weren’t anywhere near where Audrey and I had been. We weren’t ready to get engaged, but we loved being around each other, even if we had to live on separate coasts. She was excited about the intern program she’d been accepted, teaching English at Oakland Technical High School. And I was excited about a new program I’d just started with my law school pal Allen Ressler in DC (Browne, 56-57).’

Browne said that some nights he would call her and tell her about the work he was doing with Law-Core, which he described as a ‘university-based prisoners’ rights project,’ and he said she ‘was proud of him.’ He also said that she had ‘recently began to volunteer at a nearby halfway house teaching ex-cons how to write and had recently moved into a cottage in the hills above Berkeley. The phone calls kept me tethered to the Bay area (Browne, 60).’ He also said that there were times that he ‘wouldn’t hear from Debbie for a week or more, or I wouldn’t call her. Our lives were both so busy. So I thought nothing of it until late February when I didn’t hear from her for several days (Browne, 60).’

In the early morning hours of February 26, 1970, Browne received a phone call from his dad from California (that he originally hoped was Debbie), who told him his girlfriend was dead and had been murdered: ‘he was home in Palo Alto and was holding that day’s newspaper: ‘Deborah Beeler had been found dead, lying face down on the living room floor of her Berkeley cottage.’ My whole body went cold, ‘Police said an electrical cord was looped several times around her neck,’ my dad had read to me from The Oakland Tribune: ‘Death was caused by strangulation, but there were indications she was struck on the side of the head. She had been dead for at least 24-hours.’’

After the murder Browne was thrown into a deep depression, and: ‘it really sent me through a loop. I withdrew a lot. I think I was really clinically depressed but didn’t know it.’ … ‘I fell into a deep depression. I didn’t leave my apartment. Didn’t eat. Didn’t answer the phone. I missed classes. I was confused and heartbroken (Browne, 62). He also said that where he had always been passionately against the death penalty he wanted Debbie’s killer to be executed if he was ever caught.

In the first page of Browne’s epilogue, he said that people often ask him if he thinks Bundy killed his one-time girlfriend, and to this he said, ‘the short answer is no. Aside from a few coincidences- both she and her manner of death fit the Bundy profile- there is no direct evidence that Ted was active in the Bay area in early 1970. But the question itself brings up all kinds of complicated thoughts. I’ve never been able to shake the knowledge that Ted knew about my loss before he sought me out as his counsel- and that he kept this secret from me for years. More complicated still is the fact that I defended Ted knowing he had killed countless of women just like Debbie. It was the ultimate test: how committed was I to this life of defending the rights and lives of others, even the most heinous, no matter how much their crimes personally impacted me (Browne, 215).’

In an interview with Washington reporter CR Brown with KCPQ-TV, Browne said that and Bundy had signed a document releasing him from attorney-client privilege and that he could disclose anything he wanted about his time as his lawyer: ‘Ted told me things that he’s never told anyone before… he told me his first victim was a man, and that he had killed over one-hundred people.’ … ‘And I was talking to people who kind of introduced me to Ted, and got me involved with Ted, and I now believe that Ted actually ‘chose me,’ and I found out that he had researched me. He knew where I lived, he knew what kind of clothes I had, what kind of cars I had…. and the women I was dating, they were the same kind of women that he was murdering. I kind of put this together recently, and that kind of creeps me out a lot. Because I had also lost a woman friend to a murderer: my girlfriend when I was in law school was murdered in Berkeley, and I was in DC. And so, he knew that.’ When asked if he thought Bundy had anything to do with his girlfriend’s death, he responded, ‘I pray to God that he didn’t, and I never even thought about that until recently because they reopened some of those cases in California.’ … ‘But it wasn’t in the area where he told me he had killed people.’

Browne said that to this day, he’s not entirely sure why he was willing to defend Bundy in court, but he said Deborah was always on his mind: ‘part of the reason involves my relationship with Debbie and her commitment to being anti-death penalty and her being active in anti-death penalty programs. After she was murdered, I became kind of a believer in the death penalty for a while. But then I had this very powerful dream. Debbie came to me and said, ‘don’t honor me by doing things I didn’t agree with.’ And so, I thought it was a good reminder. If she was around, she would want me to continue fighting against the death penalty. That’s why I’ve been doing this for 40 years now.’

According to his Wikipedia page, John Henry Browne was born on August 11, 1946 and he is a criminal defense attorney practicing in Seattle that is known for his ‘zeal’ in defending his clients, his flair for garnering media attention, and his habit to ‘plead guilty to avoid the death penalty.’ In addition to Bundy, he has represented a number of high-profile defendants, including Colton Harris-Moore (also known as The Barefoot Bandit, he was only a teenager when he was charged with the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars in property), Benjamin Ng (who was partly responsible for The Wah Mee massacre, which was a multiple homicide that took place on February 18, 1983, in which Ng and two others gunned down fourteen people in the Wah Mee gambling club on Maynard Alley S. in Seattle’s Chinatown), and Martin Pang (an arsonist that served twenty-three years in a Walla Walla prison for the deaths of four Seattle firefighters). Browne has tried over 350 criminal cases and is particularly known for getting sympathetic treatment for his clients by shifting the focus away from the crimes they committed by arguing for consideration of their background, and the circumstances in which the events took place.

At the time Beeler was murdered Ted Bundy was in the early stages of his romance with his long-term girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer, and was residing at the Rogers Rooming House on 12th Avenue Northeast in Seattle. He was employed as a ‘messenger and process server’ for an Attorney’s office, and was there from September 1969 to May 1970 and was fired for ‘unjustifiable absences’ after claiming he had been babysitting Liz’s daughter.’ According to the ‘1992 TB FBI Multi agency Team Report,’ he wasn’t a student at that time and didn’t enroll at The University of Washington until June 1970, however he did spend some time in California when he attended Stanford University in 1967; the following year he quit school completely and started traveling around the US, and briefly spent some time in San Francisco.

Mrs. Beeler died at the age of ninety-eight on January 3, 2021, and her husband wasn’t too far behind her: John Hall Beeler Sr. died after having a stroke on April 13, 2001 in Hershey’s Mill, PA. According to John’s obituary, the couple had three grandchildren (two boys and a girl) and were residing at Dunwoody Village in Newtown Square before their death (which is a retirement community that provides nursing care, residential apartments, and wellness care to the elderly). In addition to working with Arundel Corp. and The Precision Tool Company, in his younger years Mr. Beeler was president of JM Schmidt Company in West Chester and retired in 1984 after twenty years of service; before working for Schmidt he oversaw the ‘finished products division’ of the former Dodge Steel Casting Company in the Tacony Section of Philadelphia, and was also there for twenty years. He enjoyed golf and at one time played with a ‘five-stroke handicap.’ At the time of Mrs. Beeler’s death the couple had been married for fifty-eight years, and they are buried next to one another and their daughter in Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Cemetery in Ludwigs Corner, PA. As of September 2025, Deborah’s case remains unsolved and open.

Deborah’s brother Ted attended the University of Utah for his undergraduate degree and went onto graduate school at the University of Michigan; he got married in August 1976. According to familysearch.org, John Beeler Jr. is deceased and passed away sometime in 2023.

Works Cited:
Browne, John Henry. ‘The Devil’s Defender: My Odyssey through American Criminal Justice from Ted Bundy to the Kandahar Massacre.’ (2016).
Gardner, James Ross. (July 18, 2012). ‘The Law and John Henry !*@#ing Browne.’ Taken August 28, 2025 from SeattleMet.com

The Beeler family in the 1950 census.
A picture of Beeler from her school’s newspaper taken from the 1962 Springside High School yearbook (she is in the back row in the middle).
A picture of Beeler from The Glee Club taken from the 1962 Springside High School yearbook (she is on the left side on the bottom).
A picture of Beeler from drama club taken from the 1962 Springside High School yearbook (she’s directly in the center).
A photo of Debbie Beeler, courtesy of Smith College.
The back of Debbie’s photo from Smith College.
Deborah Beeler.
Deborah Beeler listed in the obituaries in the April 1970 edition of Smith Alumnae Quarterly.
The final resting place of the Beelers.
An article about Beeler’s murder published in The San Francisco Examiner on February 25, 1970.
Part one of an article about Beeler’s murder published in The Oakland Tribune on February 25, 1970.
Part two of an article about Beeler’s murder published in The Oakland Tribune on February 25, 1970.
An article about Beeler’s murder published in The Independent on February 25, 1970.
An article about Beeler’s murder published in The News Register on February 26, 1970.
An article about Beeler’s murder published in The Philadelphia Daily News on February 26, 1970.
An newspaper clipping about Beeler’s murder published in The Times-Herald on February 26, 1970.
An article about Beeler’s murder published in The Berkeley Gazette on February 26, 1970.
An article about Beeler’s murder published in The Nevada State Journal on February 26, 1970.
An article about Beeler’s murder published in The Tulare Advance-Register on February 26, 1970.
An article about the murder of Deborah Beeler published in The Philadelphia Daily News on February 26, 1970.
An article about Beeler’s murder published in The Daily Independent Journal on February 26, 1970.
An article about Beeler’s murder published in The Republican and Herald on February 26, 1970.
An article about Beeler’s murder published in The Los Angeles Times on February 27, 1970.
An article about Beeler’s murder published in The Danville News on February 27, 1970.
Part one of an article about murders in California that mentions Deborah Beeler published in The Berkeley Gazette on February 27, 1970.
Part two of an article about murders in California that mentions Deborah Beeler published in The Berkeley Gazette on February 27, 1970.
An article about Beeler’s murder published in The Peninsula Times Tribune on February 27, 1970.
A newspaper clipping mentioning Beeler’s funeral service published in The Philadelphia Inquirer on February 28, 1970 ·
Part one of an article about murders in California published in The Berkeley Gazette on November 12, 1970.
Part two of an article about murders in California published in The Berkeley Gazette on November 12, 1970.
A picture of John Hall Beeler Sr. from the 1938 John Hopkins yearbook.
John H. Beeler’s name in the list of graduates from the 1920 John Hopkins University commencement ceremony.
Mr. Beelers WWII draft card.
A clipping announcing Debbie’s parent’s engagement published in The Baltimore Sun on June 28, 1942.
A newspaper article that mentions Debbie’s parent’s engagement published in The Philadelphia Inquirer on September 17, 1942.
A newspaper article that mentions Debbie’s mother published in The Courier-Post on October 12, 1942.
John and Elizabeth’s wedding announcement published in The Baltimore Sun on November 8, 1942.
A newspaper clipping that mentions John Beeler’s time in the Army published in The Day on September 27, 1948.
Deborah Beeler’s birth announcement published in The Day on October 7, 1946.
A newspaper clipping that mentions Deborah Beeler having dinner with a friend that was published in The Philadelphia Inquirer on February 2, 1964.
The first part of a newspaper clipping that mentions Debbie coming out party.
The second part of a newspaper clipping that mentions Debbie coming out party.
A picture of John Hall Beeler Jr’s senior year picture from the 1962 St. Andrew´s High School
yearbook.
A newspaper clipping about Debbie’s brother John published in The News and Advance on April 6, 1969.
Ted Beeler from the 1970 Chestnut Hill Academy yearbook.
Ted Beeler’s marriage announcement published in The Fort Lauderdale News on February 1, 1976.
John Beeler’s obituary published in The Philadelphia Inquirer on April 17, 2001.
John Hall Beeler Sr.’s obituary published in The Philadelphia Inquirer on April 19, 2001.
Mr. and Mrs. Beeler.
The Beeler family: in the back row, Jack and Ted Beeler; in the middle row is Jack’s son Benji and Ted’s daughter Katie and his son, Josh. In the front row is Ted’s wife Pam, John’s wife Bessie, and to the far right is Margy Hoadly.
According to
Bundy’s whereabouts in early 1970 according to the 1992 FBI TB Multiagency Team Report.
Bundy’s route from his residence at the Roger’s Rooming House in Seattle to 477 Arlington Avenue in Berkeley California where Beeler was killed.
Some questions John Henry Browne answered related to the murder of Deborah Beeler, screen shot courtesy of DailyJournal.com
A comment about Beeler’s murder on a Websleuth’s post about her.
A blurb from an article published in the Seattle Times on January 3, 2003 that mentions John Henry Browne’s sixth marriage.
A screen shot of an Instagram post from John Henry Browne’s wife about their wedding.
John Henry Browne.
The accolades of John Henry Browne.