Navy Veteran Francis Patrick Fleming Found Stabbed to Death; Brenda Nicholas & Charles Jungbluth Received Prison Sentences (December 8, 2011)

Francis Patrick Fleming, U.S. Navy Veteran

Navy veteran Francis Patrick Fleming, 70, was found stabbed to death in his elderly apartment complex at the Four Freedoms in Seattle, Washington on December 8, 2011. Patrick’s girlfriend Rosemary Garnett found him after she was not able to reach him by phone. Patrick had been stabbed and his throat was cut in what looked like a struggle for his life. Patrick’s apartment had been ransacked and his valuable coin collection was gone. A witness saw three women much too young to live at the complex in the building that night but did not know who they were. They appeared to be in costume and were wearing wigs. Rosemary told detectives that she planned to marry Patrick and the only other person close to him was another resident by the name of Sylvia Sutton who had moved out of the apartment complex in a hurry a few months earlier. Rosemary shared that she became uneasy when she observed that Patrick was showing off both his war medals (including two Purple Hearts) and his coin collection valued at $60,000 in this part of town. Rosemary was suspicious of Sylvia because of how much time they spent together and some of the people Sylvia introduced him to.

When detectives caught up with Sylvia Sutton, they learned she was a victim of crime too. She had been swindled of her million dollar life savings by a woman named Monica Marks but the name was an alias for Brenda Nicholas. Sylvia positively identified her. Brenda had a prior conviction for drugging an elderly male. She would offer to take him out for a milkshake, put drugs in his milkshake, and then go to the ATM machine. Brenda was also connected to a robbery case, had an extensive criminal record, and a connection to a Gypsy crime ring that started with sweetheart scams and escalated to murder and violence. After Brenda Nicholas’ home was searched, police discovered a brief case with a piece of paper bearing Patrick Fleming’s name. A second blood sample belonging to an unknown male was found at the scene of the crime so police needed to connect this sample to people who associated with Brenda. Archie Marks was identified as a person of interest because of his relationship with Brenda Nicholas but he was not a match. Sylvia’s driver, Charles Jungbluth, was also interviewed and tested despite having no criminal history. Jungbluth gave detectives nothing to work with in the interview but his DNA was compared to DNA found at the crime scene and it was a match.

Jungbluth admitted that he targeted Patrick Fleming with Brenda Nicholas and Gilda Ramirez. He shared that they dressed in disguises and used a ruse to enter the apartment. When Patrick didn’t fall for it, Brenda pushed them all in the door. They immediately started stabbing Patrick. In the course of the murder, Brenda stabbed Charles because he wasn’t stabbing Patrick hard enough. As a result, Charles left behind blood that sealed their fate. Detectives suspect that they most likely killed Patrick to eliminate a living witness. On July 2, 2012, Brenda Nicholas was arrested and charged with over 50 crimes in relation to Sylvia Sutton. After Jungbluth’s confession, Nicholas was charged with murder too. On November 8, 2012, Brenda Nicholas’ murder trial began. Brenda tried to blame her upbringing in the gypsy community for her wicked ways but the jury wasn’t buying it. Brenda Nicholas was found guilty and sentenced to 34 years in prison for murder. Charles Jungbluth was found guilty and sentenced to 22 years in prison. And Gilda Ramirez got six years in prison because she did not stab Patrick. Francis Patrick Fleming rests with full honors at the Tahoma National Cemetery in Washington. Rosemary shared that Patrick made her feel complete.

Source: Senseless in Seattle, Killer Instinct with Chris Hansen, Investigation Discovery

Investigation Discovery:

Navy veteran, Patrick Fleming was found brutally stabbed to death in a Seattle elderly home. Detectives are lead to a con-artists named Monica, but DNA from the scene belongs to a man. Soon a call from the lab helps solve this bizarre whodunnit. -Misfortune Teller, Dead of Night (S2,E8)

When an elderly Vietnam vet is stabbed to death, Seattle detectives expose a crime ring led by a Gypsy con woman and killer. Finally she’s exposed for defrauding millions from her victims and murdering those who’ve stood in her way. -Senseless in Seattle, Killer Instinct with Chris Hansen (S1,E5)

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Navy Veteran Francis Patrick Fleming Found Stabbed to Death; Brenda Nicholas & Charles Jungbluth Received Prison Sentences (December 8, 2011)

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