Iowa City man pleads to killing his wife before she found out about his risky finances

IOWA CITY — An Iowa City man pleaded guilty to stabbing his wife multiple times in 2019 before she was scheduled to speak to a banking official who would have told her about his risky high-interest loans, falsified accounting records and that he emptied one of her savings accounts.

Roy Carl Browning Jr., 70, of Iowa City, originally charged with first-degree murder, made an Alford plea to second-degree murder. He still faces a life sentence because a second-degree conviction is 50 years in prison. He will have to serve a mandatory 35 years before being eligible for parole.

Under the Alford plea, Browning, who appeared in an orange jumpsuit, didn’t admit guilt but admitted that the prosecution had enough evidence for a likely conviction in the murder of his wife, JoEllen Browning, 65, who died April 5, 2019.

Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness said after the plea that more information about the crime will be released later at a sentencing hearing. Lyness did say she conferred with JoEllen Browning’s family about the plea, and they agreed to it.

None of JoEllen’s family was in the courtroom Wednesday.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Kevin McKeever set sentencing for Dec. 2 in Johnson County District Court.

After Roy Browning’s murder trial was rescheduled several times and then set to begin Nov. 1, he filed a motion to exclude testimony that he declined to be questioned by police or asked for a lawyer; testimony by law enforcement regarding his wife’s activities; their relationship and statements made by others about him; or his wife’s financial information. The motion also wanted the court to exclude “opinion testimony” about any possible motive and of any concealment of funds or how they were used.

The defense also asked that any testimony be excluded alleging Roy Browning was seen with “younger women or beliefs he had one night stands” because it’s irrelevant, according to the motion.

After Roy Browning was arrested six months after the murder in October 2019, investigators said they had determined JoEllen Browning, a University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics budget executive, was going to learn April 5, 2019, about her husband falsifying banking records and his numerous high-interest loans.

Investigators said she had scheduled a meeting with a financial representative that day and would have learned her husband had depleted one of her savings accounts and taken out loans without her knowledge, according to court documents.

During the investigation, law enforcement learned JoEllen Browning had emailed her husband that April 1, asking about the discrepancies in their bank accounts, according to court documents. She told her husband to contact their bank to ensure he could log into their account so the couple could review the accounts that night.

Authorities said about 20 minutes after Roy Browning responded to his wife that he was aware of the April 5, 2019, meeting, he was at a paint supply store buying rubber gloves and towels, which police said they never found.

Investigators did find a text message from JoEllen Browning to her husband that said they were to meet with their financial institution at 8 a.m. that day — an hour after she was found dead in her home, according to a search warrant affidavit.

Roy Browning called 911 at 6:59 a.m. April 5, 2019, reporting his wife was “unresponsive.” Police found her on the bedroom floor with multiple stab wounds to her front and back torso and on her left hand, according to court documents. A forensic pathologist determined the cause of death was “sharp-force injuries” — stab wounds — and her death was ruled a homicide.

During the investigation, authorities learned JoEllen Browning had a retirement account and life insurance policy worth more than $2 million, according to court documents. Her husband had no source of income. According to court documents, Roy Browning is the executor of his wife’s will, which is in probate pending the outcome of the case.

Browning will remain in jail on a $5 million bail pending his sentencing.

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