Cockeysville Teen Who Killed Family Appears on Pen Pal Website

A Cockeysville teenager who pleaded guilty to the 2008 slaying of his parents and two brothers now has a profile on GoodPrisoner.com, a website soliciting pen pals for inmates.

Nicholas Browning, a 19-year-old serving two consecutive life sentences with the possibility of parole at the Patuxent Institute, a correctional mental health center in Jessup, writes in his profile that "I have a long road ahead of me, and I would love to have someone to talk to through this ******-up journey of mine."

The profile further lists that Nicholas Browning, who was a former student, is afraid of "dying in prison" and wishes he could "make something of my life." News of the pen pal account was first reported by WBAL-TV.

Early in the morning, on Feb. 2, 2008, the Cockeysville teenager, then 15, returned to his house in the 10900-block of Powers Avenue after visiting a friend, went to an unfinished work area and grabbed a pistol, according to court documents. He then shot and killed his father John Browning, a 45-year-old Towson attorney, who was asleep on a sofa in the family room. Nicholas Browning later went upstairs and killed his mother Tamara Browning, 44, and his brothers Gregory, 14, and Benjamin, 11. They were all sleeping in their bedrooms.

A statement from Nicholas Browning's defense team alleged that the murders were a result of years of abuse by John Browning. They cited a letter from a family friend recounting that Nicholas Browning would "cringe" when near his father, whom they claim was an alcoholic. 

Judge Ann Brobst, who was a state's attorney representing the prosecution at the time, said the gruesome crime still reverbetates four years later.

"I can't imagine anything more tragic, to this day," Brobst said in an interview with Cockeysville Patch. "It had a ripple effect throughout the community."

In a 2008 letter to Judge Thomas Bollinger, who presided over the case, family members Mark and Cindy Warnecki asked for leniency for Nicholas Browning.

"We want Nick to accept responsibility for what he has done, receive treatment to deal with the previous abuse he has suffered and teach him new coping mechanisms that will help him successfully rejoin society and our family," the couple wrote in the joint letter.

Sally Browning, John Browning's sister, wasn't as forgiving in her letter to Judge Bollinger, which was also sent in 2008.

"Did he actually think he was going to be charged as a juvenile, and would walk away from his crimes?" she wrote. "I will never understand why we are all living this hellish nightmare, but I pray for peace for all of us. We all got a life sentence."

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to include more information about Nicholas Browing's prison sentence.