COUSHATTA, La. — Years ago, Vicki Woods felt comfortable leaving her young son and daughter with Robert Charles Browne. He baby-sat for them, taught them to fish and held festive parties. Then he suddenly vanished.
More than two decades later, Woods finally learned what became of him: Already serving a life sentence in Colorado for killing a teenager, Browne claims he killed an additional 48 people across the country, including three in Coushatta. "I am so confused. I have no idea what’s going on, except that I feel like I have lost a friend," Woods said.
Woods and others in this close-knit farming village in northern Louisiana where Browne grew up were stunned to learn of his confessions. If true, he would be one of the most prolific killers in U.S. history.
Browne said he shot some of his victims and strangled others, in one case with a pair of leather shoelaces. He knocked out one woman with ether, then used an ice pick on her. He put a rag soaked in ant killer over another victim’s face and stabbed her nearly 30 times with a screwdriver.
Colorado authorities said Browne, 53, claimed to have committed the killings between 1970 and his arrest in 1995. Investigators so far have been able to corroborate Browne’s claims in six slayings — three in Louisiana, two in Texas and one in Arkansas. Court papers paint a picture of a predator who loathed women and thought he was justified in killing them because they were cheating on their husbands and boyfriends — in many cases, with him.
Browne, who has been married six times, said he has been disappointed with women his whole life. "Women are unfaithful, they screw around a lot, they cheat and they are not of the highest moral value," he told investigators. Browne apparently had at least one close female friend in Woods, now 50. Woods said she never saw a violent side in Browne, who lived around the corner from her in the 1980s.
Woods said she remembered Browne as funny and caring, but with one strange habit: without warning, he would look deep into her eyes, and declare, "You’re my friend." "He always said it that way. It was so weird," Woods said.
More than two decades later, Woods finally learned what became of him: Already serving a life sentence in Colorado for killing a teenager, Browne claims he killed an additional 48 people across the country, including three in Coushatta. "I am so confused. I have no idea what’s going on, except that I feel like I have lost a friend," Woods said.
Woods and others in this close-knit farming village in northern Louisiana where Browne grew up were stunned to learn of his confessions. If true, he would be one of the most prolific killers in U.S. history.
Browne said he shot some of his victims and strangled others, in one case with a pair of leather shoelaces. He knocked out one woman with ether, then used an ice pick on her. He put a rag soaked in ant killer over another victim’s face and stabbed her nearly 30 times with a screwdriver.
Colorado authorities said Browne, 53, claimed to have committed the killings between 1970 and his arrest in 1995. Investigators so far have been able to corroborate Browne’s claims in six slayings — three in Louisiana, two in Texas and one in Arkansas. Court papers paint a picture of a predator who loathed women and thought he was justified in killing them because they were cheating on their husbands and boyfriends — in many cases, with him.
Browne, who has been married six times, said he has been disappointed with women his whole life. "Women are unfaithful, they screw around a lot, they cheat and they are not of the highest moral value," he told investigators. Browne apparently had at least one close female friend in Woods, now 50. Woods said she never saw a violent side in Browne, who lived around the corner from her in the 1980s.
Woods said she remembered Browne as funny and caring, but with one strange habit: without warning, he would look deep into her eyes, and declare, "You’re my friend." "He always said it that way. It was so weird," Woods said.
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