On November 16, 1980, Antoinette Brown, a 75-year-old African American woman and widow living alone in Oakland, California, was found murdered in her apartment. Her neighbor, Wayne Anderson, last saw her that afternoon when she brought him homemade cookies and he invited her to Thanksgiving dinner. Concerned after noticing her newspapers remained uncollected, Anderson contacted Brown's sister, who had a key to the apartment. Together, they discovered Brown's body face down in the bedroom. She had been strangled with a knotted silk undergarment and showed signs of having been beaten. Her clothing was disheveled, and personal items, including rings and her purse, were missing.
During the investigation, another neighbor, Paula White, reported seeing a young male stranger leaving the building around 4 p.m. When presented with a photo lineup, she identified the suspect as David Edwin Mason. Mason, who had a history of violent crimes, was arrested and charged with Brown's murder. He initially denied involvement, claiming he was elsewhere at the time, but inconsistencies in his alibi and detailed knowledge of the crime scene led to his conviction. Mason was later executed in 1993 for multiple murders, including that of Antoinette Brown.
