A24961900

Brand murdered his estranged wife, Darlene Gilbert. On June 9, 1991, around 4:30 in the afternoon, Brand broke into his estranged wife, Darlene Gilbert’s apartment by climbing a fire escape and entering through a window. He then confronted her in the back bedroom. It is believed the two began to argue when Brand beat her to death with his fists, knocking her to floor and then stripping her of her clothing and jewelry. After murdering Darlene, Brand left with the stolen jewelry and went to his girlfriend’s apartment.



Darlene’s children were not home when this happened as they were staying with their aunt. The next day, however, Darlene’s 13-year-old daughter went home, found the door locked, and entered through the fire escape. She then found her mother’s naked body lying in a pool of blood. She fled the apartment and ended up at a neighborhood store, where police were called.

It was revealed that Darlene died as a result of blunt trauma to her head and neck. She also had six broken ribs. There was a ligature mark on her neck, and a severe laceration behind her right ear.

At the time Brand murdered Darlene, he had a pending domestic violence case, in which Darlene was the victim. Fearing for her safety, Darlene had obtained a protection order less than a month before Brand murdered her.

Following a 2020 full board hearing, the Board should have in its possession photos related to this murder. Those photos show that Darlene’s death wasn’t the result of a momentary burst of anger, but by a deliberate and drawn out attack that took place throughout her home.

Given the brutality of this murder, combined with the callous action of leaving Darlene’s corpse in a pool of her own blood for a 13-year-old child to find, Brand has earned every day of his life sentence. The Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office, therefore, opposes granting Brand any type of early release.

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