Nicholas Browning's house

This is Nicholas Waggoner Browning's former house.

It is located at 10905 Powers Avenue in Cockeysville, Maryland.

On February 1st, 2008, Browning and two teenage boys attended a sleepover at a mutual friend's home.

While Browning was at the sleepover, he called his younger brother, Gregory, and asked him to make sure that the basement door at their house was unlocked.

That night, Browning and his friends had made plans to drive around the neighborhood for a while. Shortly after midnight, he said that he was going back to his place to retrieve his car, which was parked in his driveway.

The 15-year-old honor student walked the 20-minute journey back to his home by himself. Meanwhile, his friends remained at the sleepover, waiting for him to return with the car.

By the time Browning reached Powers Avenue, his father, mother, and two brothers were fast asleep.

After entering via the basement door, he grabbed his father's 9mm handgun and proceeded to go from one room to the next, shooting his family members in the head while they slept. Among the victims were his two younger brothers, one of whom had unlocked the basement door for him.

Following the shootings, Browning threw the murder gun into some nearby bushes.

A few hours later, he returned to the sleepover and claimed that he had accidentally fallen asleep in his car.

The following evening, the boys drove to Browning's house. When they arrived, Browning walked inside and pretended to discover his father's body in one of the ground-floor rooms.

During the investigation, it was noted that John (45), Tamara (44), Gregory (13), and Benjamin (11) had all been killed in their beds without any sign of a struggle. Furthermore, no valuables were missing, and there were no signs of a break-in.

All of this indicated that the crime was an execution, not a robbery gone wrong.

Following intense questioning, Browning eventually broke down and confessed to the crime. Although he claimed that he had killed his father due to physical abuse, this didn't explain why he murdered the rest of his family.

Prosecutors argued that his true motive was to gain access to a substantial inheritance and insurance payout.

In January 2009, the teenager pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to four life terms in prison.

He will be eligible for parole in 2031, at the age of 39.

Photos

Photos of the house and other related images.

Aerial image

This is an aerial image of the property.

On the left, you can see a photograph of Browning with his two brothers, Benjamin and Gregory.

That night, Browning called Gregory and told him to leave the basement door unlocked. Tragically, Gregory trusted his older brother and did as he asked.

Browning's house

The Google Street View image above was captured in August 2022.

David Emory Linthicum

The house became the scene of another violent incident on February 8th, 2023, when the police responded to a report about a "distressed individual."

The individual in question was 24-year-old David Emory Linthicum.

When a family member escorted the officers down to the basement, Linthicum allegedly opened fire and shot one of them. Fortunately, the officer was not seriously injured and was released from the hospital shortly afterwards.

This shooting occurred 15 years after Nicholas Browning murdered his entire family. The gunfire also broke out in the exact same basement that Browning had entered during the early hours of February 1st, 2008.

After opening fire on the officers, Linthicum somehow managed to escape from Powers Avenue. In response, a massive manhunt was launched, and residents in Cockeysville and Fallston were urged to remain indoors.

During the manhunt, Linthicum allegedly shot another detective multiple times in the torso and made off in a police car. However, the vehicle was brought to a halt after the authorities deployed spike strips.

Linthicum was eventually pinned down and arrested in a field near Fallston Mall in the early hours of February 10th, 2023.