The brother of Michelle Min, wife of fashion executive Bryan Walker, said her husband carried out a murder-suicide after a series of high-risk financial decisions left him facing devastating losses.
Paul Min, 58, told The California Post exclusively that the “extremely wealthy” couple had appeared to have a strong marriage before Oakland police found them dead Friday on a turf terrace outside their home in the hills near UC Berkeley.
Walker, who had largely stepped back while Michelle managed their shared business and women’s fashion label, Bryn Walker, had endured severe mental anguish in the months leading up to their deaths, Paul said.
According to Paul, Walker secretly borrowed against family properties, made risky options trades and leveraged investments, and accumulated enormous debts without any clear explanation. Although Walker had not worked for some time, the couple had agreed that he could “play” with a portion of their wealth.
But, Paul said, his financial bets quickly spiraled beyond control.
By the time the situation became clear in mid-September, Walker believed he had lost “well over $100 million,” Paul said.
The losses sent Walker into a deep psychological decline as he became consumed by fears about his family’s future. He eventually became mentally incapacitated, and relatives feared he might take his own life, Paul recalled.
“He just curled up into a ball, and he was just sobbing like a baby for weeks on end. He was just completely useless,” Paul said.
Michelle’s family said she remained determined to stabilize the situation and protect her husband.
“Imagine that happening to you? You would collapse. Your spouse lied to you and lost over $100 million and you might be out on the streets,” Paul said. “You might go from being one of the wealthiest people in the country to being homeless because your husband lied to you and wagered everything on crazy bets.”
Michelle stayed by Walker’s side, Paul said, feeding him, comforting him and embracing him in an effort to pull him back from the brink.
She also hired a “hotshot” accountant in Chicago, who reportedly told the couple their finances were not as dire as they had feared. By then, however, Michelle’s family said Walker had “basically gone insane.”
After repeated attempts to restore Walker’s mental health failed, Min’s family began arranging for him to be institutionalized. On Friday morning, the day that plan was set to happen, a friend who lived nearby received a text message.
“Call 911,” Walker wrote, according to Paul.
The friend rushed to the home, fearing an emergency, but the fatal shots were fired before he arrived. Walker had allegedly shot Michelle and then himself, Paul said.
Michelle’s family had taken precautions by hiding the firearms in the home. However, Paul said Walker apparently managed to retrieve one, concealed it in a downstairs bedroom and loaded it while Michelle went onto the turf patio to let out the couple’s small dog, Pip.
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Paul believed Walker then went upstairs and shot Michelle.
Surveillance footage reviewed by CBS, which the network deemed too disturbing to broadcast, offered clues about the shooting. The first gunshot was heard at approximately 10:43 a.m. Friday, followed by a man crying and screaming in what CBS described as a “very dramatic” scene.
A second gunshot followed shortly afterward, after which “it was dead quiet,” CBS reported.
Paul said police discovered what appeared to be a suicide note at the scene containing the passcodes to Walker’s and Michelle’s phones. The note indicated that Walker may have planned the attack in advance and left the codes to help the family manage their affairs.
Paul believes Walker shot his wife because he learned he was going to be institutionalized, and he previously resisted most mental help efforts.
Walker and Michelle’s marriage lasted more than 30 years before the fashion CEO allegedly killed his wife, and then himself, Paul said.
Michelle’s family is still enduring the “complete mess” left by the horrific alleged crime. She leaves behind her brother, Paul, and sister Alexandra, 60.
Paul said he’s going to run their fashion company, and the family is trying to reorganize Walker’s financial mess.
“My sister was utterly devoted to Brian to the very end, and he shot her,” Paul said. “She didn’t say anything harsh to him. She just said, ‘Brian, you’ve been sick. It’s my fault, I should have known better. I should have known you were in a crisis.’”
“She blamed herself. That’s the kind of person she was.”
No one knows, including Paul, exactly why Walker allegedly decided to shoot his wife and then himself.
“I think he was just too weak to go by himself,” Paul said. “I used to think of him as a strong person, but I’d never seen him tested. When he lost his money, I kept trying to tell him, like, ‘It’s just money.’”
“Why take our beautiful sister?” he asked. “Why not just kill yourself?”
The Oakland Police Department is leading the investigation into the shooting and has not ruled out a murder-suicide.
Police recovered one firearm at the couple’s home.
