The Albuquerque Police Department has officially filed charges and secured an arrest warrant for a suspect in the November 1983 murder of 71-year-old Agnes Tybo. Advanced DNA technology and decades of persistence by generations of investigators have culminated in a first-degree murder charge against 73-year-old Charlie Brown Jr. of Champaign, Illinois.
Charlie Brown Jr. of Champaign, Illinois was arrested in the 100 block of N. First Street in Champaign, Illinois officials with the Champaign Police Department confirmed. He was transported to the Champaign County Satellite Jail, and will be held there until he can be extradited to New Mexico.
On November 11, 1983, APD officers responded to Room 252 of the Sundowner Motel, located at 6101 Central Ave N.E., after a motel employee discovered Tybo deceased on the floor. Investigators found the room in complete disarray. The Office of the Medical Investigator later determined the cause of death to be strangulation and the manner of death a homicide.
Tybo, a resident of Owyhee, Nevada, had traveled to Albuquerque with her brother to meet family and attend the Indian National Finals Rodeo at Tingley Coliseum.
During the initial sweep of the area, detectives recovered Tybo’s missing purse discarded inside the bed of a large dump truck parked in the motel lot. A white cotton towel was discovered alongside her personal belongings. Though witnesses at the time reported seeing a suspect attempting to enter motel rooms and a composite sketch was distributed to the public and tribal agencies, the case eventually went cold as leads were exhausted.
The investigation was revitalized in October 2021, when an APD civilian investigator conducted a comprehensive review of the historical file and submitted original evidence for advanced forensic testing.
In July 2022, the National DNA Index System (NDIS) notified APD of a state-to-state database match between the crime scene evidence and an Illinois offender profile belonging to Charlie Brown. APD detectives traveled to Champaign, Illinois, to locate Brown, executing a search warrant to collect a direct DNA standard.
Subsequent laboratory testing conclusively demonstrated that Brown could not be excluded as a contributor to the male DNA profile extracted from underneath Tybo’s fingernails. Additionally, sophisticated probabilistic genotyping software linked Brown’s DNA to the white cotton towel found with the victim’s stolen purse.
On June 8, 2026, a formal criminal complaint and arrest warrant were filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court charging Brown with First-Degree Murder (Open Count).
“This case highlights our department’s unyielding commitment to victims and their families, no matter how many years pass,” said Chief Cecily Barker. “Generations of detectives protected this evidence so that modern science could eventually bring the truth to light. We hope this arrest provides long-overdue closure to the Tybo family and the Indigenous community.”
Brown will face extradition proceedings to return to New Mexico to answer to these charges. At the time of publication, Brown Jr. had not been extradited to Albuquerque.
Discover more from ABQ RAW
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.