Newly surfaced text messages paint a troubling picture of a Minnesota marriage unraveling in the moments before a husband fatally attacked his wife and young daughter, then died by suicide in a horrific murder-suicide on Wednesday.
Authorities say Nathan Brown, 41, killed his wife, Kristen Brown, also 41, and their 7-year-old daughter, Evie, with a screwdriver inside the family’s Hopkins home, where Kristen operated an in-home daycare. A parent arriving to drop off a child witnessed the brutal attack, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Around 8:45 a.m. that morning, Kristen reportedly sent a friend a message saying things in her marriage “were crazy” and explaining that she planned to close her Brown Bear Childcare business on Aug. 27, the Daily Mail reported.
The childcare program was run from the Browns’ residence, a home owned by Nathan, as Kristen was preparing to leave the relationship in the near future.
Roughly 20 minutes after Kristen described her husband’s alarming behavior in that text exchange, a daycare parent arrived at the house and walked into a devastating scene, Hopkins Police Chief Brent Johnson said.
Kristen’s sister, Kelly Jo Simons, confirmed the identities of Nathan Brown and the two victims to the Star Tribune.
Police said the parent heard children screaming, entered the home and saw Nathan attacking Kristen and Evie.
The witness immediately gathered his own children along with two other children from the daycare and got them out safely before calling 911.
By the time police arrived, Nathan Brown had killed himself — he was found on the upper floor of the house from a gunshot wound to the head.
Six other children present in the daycare were removed and reunited with their families, the outlet reported.
Three hours after the gruesome attack, a relative alerted police that Alice Brown, 78, had been stabbed to death in her Burnsville home by Nathan Brown, according to the Star Tribune.
It was believed that Nathan was living with his mother at the time of the murders.
Johnson said he hopes to find evidence that points to a specific motive for the murder spree “but right now we don’t have that.”
“This is an extremely tragic event for Hopkins and for any community,” he said at a press conference.
“The victims are all valued members of the Hopkins community. Any event involving the loss of life is a difficult process, but when children are involved, it’s especially devastating.”
Kristen Brown reportedly loved working with children and knew she wanted to work in childcare after having a daughter of her own, according to the Daily Mail.
“I plan to take all the skills that I have learned in my journey and use them help my daughter and those children (who will hopefully become life-long friends) blossom into happy, intelligent, caring individuals,” she wrote on Facebook in 2019.
