An 80-year-old man charged with murder in a 1981 Grapevine cold case has been released from jail after a Tarrant County judge reduced his bond.
Larry Brown posted a $100,000 bond and was released from the Tarrant County Jail, Fox 4 KDFW reported. His bond had initially been set at $2 million before the judge lowered it.
Under the conditions of his release, Brown must remain on house arrest and wear a GPS ankle monitor at all times.
Brown was arrested on July 16 in Colorado on a murder charge tied to the February 1981 killing of 35-year-old Beverly Bruneau, a Braniff Airlines flight attendant, The Dallas Express reported. Bruneau was found dead in an apartment on February 13, 1981, and an arrest affidavit states she had been strangled following a struggle.
According to the affidavit, investigators reopened the case in 2025 and learned that Bruneau and Thelma Brown, Larry Brown’s wife, jointly owned a Dallas residence. The two had an agreement requiring both owners to continue making mortgage payments on it even after one married or moved out.
The affidavit states that after the Browns married and purchased a house in Grapevine, Larry Brown pressured Bruneau to find another roommate to cover his wife’s share of the rent, citing the couple’s financial strain. Bruneau declined.
Following two fires at the residence, Brown attempted to persuade Bruneau to take part in insurance fraud by inflating claim amounts, having a company he co-owned handle repairs, and splitting the remaining money as profit, the affidavit states.
Three days before her death, Bruneau told her mother she and Brown had argued over the insurance claim and that she was frightened by his behavior, according to the affidavit.
In February 2026, the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado, where Brown was then living, covertly obtained a DNA sample from his trash. That sample matched DNA taken from Bruneau’s nightgown on the night of the killing, evidence that had not produced a match during a 2010 DNA test, the affidavit states.
Provided by Dallas Express
