User:Queen of Hearts/Drafts/David Brame murder–suicide

Queen of Hearts/Drafts/David Brame murder–suicide
Location	Gig Harbor, Washington
Date	April 26, 2003 (2003-04-26)
Target	Crystal Brame
Attack type	Murder–suicide uxoricide
Weapon	Department-issued handgun
Deaths	2 (including the perpetrator)
Perpetrator	David Brame

On April 26, 2003, David Allen Brame, the chief of the Tacoma Police Department, shot his estranged wife, Crystal DeEtte Brame (née Judson), in a parking lot in Gig Harbor, Washington, before shooting himself.

Background

David Brame

David Brame
Chief of the Tacoma Police Department
In office Whenever – April 26, 2003
Preceded by	Someone
Succeeded by	Catherine Woodward (acting)
Personal details
Born	David Allen Brame 1958 (1958)
Died	April 26, 2003 (aged 0) Gig Harbor, Washington
Spouses	Unknown ​ ​ (divorced)​ Crystal Judson ​ (m. 1991)​
Children	2
Education	Tacoma Community College University of Puget Sound
Police career
Department	Tacoma Police Department

David Allen Brame was born in 1958. His father, Gene, was a Tacoma Police Department (TPD) detective; his mother, Beverly, was a housewife. He was raised in eastern Tacoma, Washington, alongside older brothers Gene and Dan and older sister Jane. Gene and Dan later joined the TPD alongside David; Jane became a secretary at a children's psychiatric hospital. Brame's parents described him as quiet and a sports fan; in high school, Brame played basketball and baseball. He was considered the favored child by his family.

Prohibited by his parents from dating until the age of 16, Brame married a fellow student at Tacoma Community College when he was 19; they moved to Spanaway. He graduated from the University of Puget Sound, where he was taught by future mayor of Tacoma Bill Baarsma, and joined the TPD. Gene claims David didn't wish for a police career but he saw the TPD was hiring and thought it was a good job to raise a family. According to Brame and his family, his first wife was often depressed and suspected of cheating. They divorced after eight years when Brame caught her cheating with a fellow police officer and his neighbor.

Brame remained in his Spanaway home after the divorce. Paul LaRosa described Brame after the divorce as "obviously [...] lonely and uncomfortable around women despite his good looks and solid job", citing an incident where he asked out a waitress at a restaurant he was visiting with fellow officers and left the restaurant out of embarrassment after being rejected.

Crystal Judson

Crystal DeEtte Judson was born in 1967 or 1968. Her father, Lane, was a member of the United States Navy from 1952 to 1957 and worked for Boeing, beginning as a machinist and retiring as a supervisor. Her mother, Patty "P. J.", was a stay-at-home mother. She had a two-year-older sister, Julie, and was raised near the Tacoma Mall. As a child, she was a ballerina and ice skater – as a nine-year-old, she won an ice skating competition against future Olympic ice skater Tonya Harding. Like Brame, she was the favored child in her family. She attended the University of Washington Tacoma alongside her sister and graduated with a degree in criminal justice. She became an intern with the TPD to pose as a prostitute in sting operations.

Relationship and marriage

The 29-year-old Brame met the 20-year-old Judson during a sting operation in the Hilltop neighborhood. Brame commented on Judson's looks, describing her as "really something" and "really good-looking", but did not engage with her. Judson later asked Brame for a ride home, where he asked her out, which she accepted.

While the officer Brame was with when he met Judson congratulated Brame on his new relationship, he became more critical as he knew Judson more:

We went out a couple of times with Dave and Crystal, me and my wife. They were in different places in their lives. He was a veteran cop and she was just out of school. She was spontaneous and wanted to go out and have fun and David was like, 'Well, maybe a week from Tuesday we could go to a movie.' They were totally different. So I said to him, 'Is this what you really want?' And he said yes and what could I say? My friend was happy.

11 hours before their marriage, Brame divulged to his parents that he considered canceling the marriage after an argument with Judson, but ultimately decided to do it after Judson expressed remorse. On August 3, 1991, Brame and Judson married with an audience of 175 people. Crystal moved into David's Spanaway home, where Crystal claimed to her parents she found lists by Brame's first wife detailing every expense she made.

David and Crystal had two children – Haley (born 1994) and David Jr. (born November 1997). After the birth of Haley, Crystal became a stay-at-home mother.

According to Crystal's family

Crystal's sister Julie was cynical of Brame, believing he was too controlling but not wanting to interfere in her sister's life. Crystal claimed to Julie that Brame asked her to seek woman-only jobs, which made Julie suspicious:

I didn't feel [Brame] was quite right but that was [Crystal's] decision. He was having a big say in where she could apply for jobs because he didn't want her working around or with men. That was something that bothered me because, at that point, they weren't married and I felt it was my sister's decision on where to apply for work.

— Julie Judson on Brame's nature

References

Works cited

Academic sources

Books

• LaRosa, Paul (2006). Tacoma Confidential: A True Story of Murder, Suicide, and a Police Chief's Secret Life. Signet Books. ISBN 978-0-451-21726-4. OCLC 62768031.
• Rule, Ann (2007). Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder: And Other True Cases. Pocket Books. ISBN 978-1-4165-4160-8. OCLC 148740910.

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