Local News

COCKEYSVILLE, Md. (WJZ/AP) ― The Browning family will be remembered in a candlelight vigil Tuesday organized by the Cockeysville Rec Council.

John Browning and his children were active in recreational sports in Baltimore County.

Mary Bubala reports Nicholas Browning walked into the small cinderblock room Monday, sat down on a plastic chair and folded his hands in front of him, an ordinary suburban teenager, except for the orange prison jumpsuit.

When District Judge Barbara Jung asked via a closed-circuit video link between the Baltimore County courthouse and the detention center if he understood the charges he was facing for the deaths of his father, mother and two brothers, Browning answered "Yes, I do," and "Yes, Ma'am" in a strong, clear voice.

Not much else is well understood about the killings of four members of what seemed to be a normal, well-to-do suburban family.

Browning had good grades, played golf and lacrosse and was close to becoming an Eagle Scout.
 
"I don't even think he's even been suspended from school," attorney Steven Silverman said after bail was denied Monday. "Quite frankly, it's really quite shocking."

John Browning, his father, was a partner with Royston, Mueller, McLean & Reid, a scoutmaster and a leader in his church.

Police said the shootings, with a gun owned by John Browning, followed a dispute, but provided few details.

The family's pastor, the Rev. Bill Brown of Epworth United Methodist Church, said members of the congregation and the community were struggling with the "why questions."

"We don't always know why," he answered.

Baltimore County Circuit Judge John Turnbull said John Browning had clerked for him and had kept in touch, noting he last saw Browning two or three months ago and everything "seemed completely normal."

Cynthia and Mark Warnecki of Sterling, Va., were appointed guardians later Monday for Browning, and had arranged for other attorneys, said Silverman, who added he was removing himself from the case.

Browning had hired Silverman from jail Sunday, the attorney said, adding he did not know how the teenager learned of his firm.

Brown said he visited Browning on Sunday in jail but declined to discuss their meeting further. He said he hoped to see Browning again.

The family was involved in every aspect of the church's life for more than a decade: John Browning had been on the board of trustees, the building committee and the education committee and was always available for a legal consultation on church business; Tamara Browning had taken part in Sunday school, vacation Bible school and mission work, and her sons, Nicholas, 15, Gregory, 14, and Benjamin, 11, "grew up in our Sunday school," Brown said.

"They had a strong sense of faith, community and family," that inspired their involvement, Brown said.

Nicholas Browning, who turns 16 on Saturday, organized a project that built a prayer garden at the church last fall. The small square, bordered with concrete blocks, sits at the far end of the church property. Three benches provide a place to sit and pray, with a view of a cross design laid in the pebbles covering the ground.

"He was excited about doing the project here to offer a place for times of prayerful meditation," Brown said, adding all three sons were involved in scouting and the family "did so much together."

Brown said church leaders were working with relatives, who were coming to Maryland from out of state, on funeral plans.

Browning told police he spent Friday night with friends and called 911 after he was brought home Saturday night. Officers found the four bodies inside the house. The father was found downstairs, the others upstairs, all dead from gunshot wounds, police said.

A handgun owned by the father was later found in bushes nearby.

He confessed early Sunday to police and was charged as an adult with four counts of first-degree murder, police said.

Silverman asked people not to jump to conclusions about his client, noting he had repeatedly denied killing his family during hours of police interrogation before the alleged confession. During the hearing, Silverman reminded the court that a study by the Innocence Project found that about 25 percent of exonerated individuals had made confessions later found to be false.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)