Arrest made in decades-old Grapevine cold case murder involving Braniff flight attendant

Grapevine Police say a significant development led to an arrest in connection to a 1981 homicide.

A 79-year-old man has been arrested and accused of murder in the nearly 50-year-old unsolved strangulation of a Braniff flight attendant following a financial dispute.

Officials with the Grapevine Police Department announced Thursday that detectives arrested a suspect in a 1981 homicide investigation. Police said that no further details were available, citing the ongoing investigation and additional pending forensic DNA testing.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by NBC 5, 79-year-old Larry Dean Brown was arrested on a murder warrant in Larimer County, Colorado, for the 1981 murder of 35-year-old Beverly Bruneau.

Bruneau, according to the document, was strangled to death with an electrical cord in her Grapevine apartment on Feb. 10, 1981. Her body was found in the living room by her boyfriend when he returned home from work at Braniff Airlines.

Bruneau told police he thought his girlfriend had been raped and murdered, but a subsequent report from the medical examiner determined the woman had not been sexually assaulted. Detectives investigating the murder said there were obvious signs of a struggle in the residence and that blood was found on the woman's clothing and near the kitchen sink.

Investigators went to talk with the victim's best friend, Thelma Brown, who also worked at Braniff and lived in Grapevine, but she was away on an international trip. Detectives spoke with Brown's husband, Larry, who told police that Thelma and Beverly co-owned a residence where they had previously lived and that the residence had recently been damaged by a fire. Detectives noted a fresh wound on Larry's right thumb.

It's unclear when the case went cold, but it was reopened in 2025. Investigators learned there was a financial motive related to the residence co-owned by the women, related to an agreement where if either married or left the residence, they would make alternative arrangements to cover expenses. After that agreement, investigators said Thelma married Larry, who had been laid off at Braniff and was feeling financial strain from a home purchased in Grapevine and continuing to meet Thelma's financial obligation on the co-owned residence.

According to the affidavit, Beverly refused to sell the property, take on a new roommate or release Thelma from her obligations. Investigators said on Nov. 3, 1980, while Beverly was away on a flight, the residence caught fire. After the first fire was put out, Larry Brown reported a second fire at the home that same night. In the affidavit, it's noted that over the years, different investigators have indicated the fire was the result of arson.

After the fire, Beverly moved in with her boyfriend and investigators said Larry began working with insurance on the damaged property on behalf of his wife. Repair estimates for the property "substantially exceeded" the insurance company's appraisals, leading to a dispute when the insurer refused to pay the requested amount. Beverly's family said Larry proposed inflating repair costs to get a larger payout and got into a heated argument with Beverly, who refused to participate in insurance fraud. After the murder, it was learned that Thelma forged Beverly's signature on the insurance paperwork.

During an interview with detectives after the murder, Larry Brown told investigators he was at his home in Grapevine on the day of the murder and had met with contractors at the damaged property between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. before he went to a job that afternoon. When asked about his injured thumb, investigators said he was reluctant to answer but later said he'd injured it on the job.

Investigators said Larry was initially cooperative in the investigation and was interviewed multiple times, but eventually refused direct questions, fingerprinting and polygraphs or to have injuries photographed.

In February 2026, Grapevine Police detectives contacted the Larimer County Sheriff's Office for assistance in their investigation. Sheriff's deputies were able to collect Larry's trash, from which two cola bottles were used to obtain a sample of his DNA. Investigators said the DNA obtained from the cola bottles matched the DNA collected from blood on the victim's nightgown.

Brown was arrested with help from the Larimer County Sheriff's Office in Colorado and was booked into the Tarrant County Jail on July 14. He is being held on a bond of $100,000 and it's unclear if he's obtained an attorney to speak on his behalf.