Man charged with deaths in Stockton, Oakland was isolated and quiet, says neighbor
A man prosecutors allege carried out six homicides in Stockton and Oakland over about 18 months "kept to himself" and "seemed like he (had) changed" after returning to Stockton in recent years, a former neighbor said.
Wesley Brownlee, 43, was charged with three counts of murder in San Joaquin County court on Tuesday, Oct. 18. Prosecutors claim Brownlee fatally shot six men — one in Oakland and five in Stockton — in isolated areas after dark, and wounded a woman in the seventh shooting in Stockton.
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Authorities have shared little additional information about evidence in the case against Brownlee, who is represented by public defender Allison Nobert. A police spokesman said Monday he could not comment on whether other suspects had been investigated.
The neighbor, who lives in the same apartment complex as Brownlee's mother in north Stockton, said Brownlee periodically stayed with his mother in recent years. "He kept to himself" and rarely spoke, the neighbor said. The neighbor also recalled seeing Brownlee bring groceries to the apartment.
Brownlee was born in San Francisco but grew up in Oakland, in an apartment six blocks from where the Oakland victim was killed, the East Bay Times reported citing court records.
The paper cited court records detailing Brownlee's arrest in May 1994 along with two other boys on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Brownlee denied involvement in the sexual assault.
In October 1995, Brownlee was 16, when his older brother Dale Brownlee, 17, was shot and killed on the 5700 block of East 16th Street in what police called a “drug-related” killing, the paper reported.
After his brother's death, Brownlee became depressed and “very distressed” and his mother sought therapy for him, the paper reported. He was diagnosed with a learning disability in elementary school and dropped out of high school as a junior.
From the early 1990s through 2014, Brownlee was arrested and charged three times for possessing and selling drugs, and spent time twice in jail and prison, the East Bay Times reported.
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In the late 1990s, Brownlee's mother moved to Stockton. His parents lived together off and on for 16 years, but split up when Brownlee was in his early teens, the paper reported.
In 2017, Brownlee was a defendant in a felony case in San Joaquin County, court records show. What the charges were, and how Brownlee pleaded, is not clear from available records.
A San Joaquin County judge granted a restraining order against Brownlee and another defendant in 2010 after a Mary L. Brownlee sued them for alleged harassment, court records show. The restraining order was dissolved and the case dismissed about a month later, the records show.
Investigators have said ballistics tests and video evidence link the shootings. Brownlee was taken into custody at about 2 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, near Village Green Drive and Winslow Way, Stockton. A police surveillance team followed Brownlee, who police said was in a car and wearing dark clothing with a dark mask around his neck.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Record reporter Aaron Leathley covers public safety. She can be reached at aleathley@recordnet.com or on Twitter @LeathleyAaron. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Neighbor says man in Stockton slayings 'kept to himself'
