Deadly Obsession

In the months since the murders of Michelle Jones and Teri Brandt, family and friends have struggled to accept their deaths.

"We have to face every day without our daughter and that is horrible," says Michelle's mother, Mary Lou.

"We lost two people who were very dear to us," says Bill, her father.

They have struggled in part because of the way they died, say Michelle's parents.

"Michelle was totally destroyed and that is devastating," Mary Lou explains.

Time only has increased the Joneses' fury toward Herbert and Angela Brandt for protecting Charlie.

"This man may have been able to have been stopped," says Bill. "He may never have been cured, but he could have been stopped."

Asked if he holds Herbert and Angela responsible for the murders, Bill says, "Well, I do, because they should have gotten the man help. And they knew he needed help."

Mary Lou says Angela told her right after the murder that she had been terrified of Charlie for years.

"Angela said that she was glad that Charlie had committed suicide because now she could sleep at night," says Mary Lou. "For 20-some years, she would not allow the air conditioner to run, the windows to be open and unlocked in her home because she was afraid. She was afraid Charlie would come back to kill her."

Despite what Jim Graves says, the Joneses still find it hard to believe that Teri knew anything about her husband's past.

"It's just very hard for me to conceptualize my sister could know something about a person who could do what Charlie did," says Mary Lou. "If she knew that, could she have stayed with him? I don't know. I don't think so. In my heart I don't believe so."

Records from Charlie's brief stay in the psychiatric hospital might shed more light on his past, but the Brandt family refuses to allow the state to release them.

"They had a family secret," says Mary Lou. "The tragedy is that they're going to try and preserve the family secret."

"I'd love to see the medical records and find out what type of treatment he had. If any. And how they handled him," says Hemmert, who is left with a host of unresolved questions as well. "What triggered him back in '71 to kill his mother? What actually was the breaking point for him? I don't know."

Asked what he would want to ask Charlie if he had the opportunity, Hemmert says, "Why? What was going through your mind at that specific point in time that caused you to do what you did? And why was it so different than how you took the life of Michelle Jones versus your wife Teri?"

Mary Lou has her own theory of why Charlie did what he did. "I believe he had a covert, evil nature, and I believe he was able to control it and cover it," she says. "He was an invisible criminal walking around."

An invisible criminal whose total number of victims is unlikely ever to be known, despite law enforcement's best efforts.

"A lot of these cases are cold cases. They're old. They may not have the physical evidence," Hemmert explains. "They require an enormous amount of time and legwork. And the resources are limited everywhere. But we're not going to give up."

Nor will the Joneses, who want new laws to ensure that the outrage of Charlie Brandt never be repeated. They are pushing for a public database, much like that for sex offenders, including anyone of any age who ever has killed another person, regardless of the circumstances.

"If we can do something to help somebody else to prevent them from facing what we did, then Michelle's life will have meaning. Teri's life will have more meaning. There should not be Charlies on the street," says Mary Lou.

Charlie Brandt is gone, but for Hemmert this case is, in many ways, not closed.

"I still think about it every day what happened here," he says. "Michelle and Teri and how evil Charlie was."

In July, 2006, an Indiana judge released Charlie Brandt's mental health records to investigator Rob Hemmert. They were not released to the public.

Hemmert says the records have been helpful in understanding the motive for Charlie Brandt's crimes.

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[pacht22]

Teri was a very dear friend of mine from college. I met Charlie, and he seemed harmless to us all. He showed so much love to Teri, we were jealous. This crime is still not comprehensible, but it is PREVENTABLE. Please help us spread the word and visit... https://www.facebook.com/#!/Michellelynnslaw WE NEED YOU HELP! Thanks in advance ~ Pat

[Monalisastyle]

I hope that the father or the sister will give consent to analyze his stay in mental health so that we can at least learn what factored into an average child to grow up to become such an evil and grotesque serial killer. If they really want to feel better, it's time to do what you can to help authorities because what is learned from the stay at the mental asylum can be used to predict and profile other offenders and possibly protect anyone else's loved ones to be put through such horrific memories of their loved ones deaths. I really hope he is able to get a hold of those medical records. Please God, help them.

[IIDoves]

This story is such ********. If this was any other nationality, no matter the age, they would have served years in prison or a mental hospital, but 99% out of 100 it would have been in jail and the kid deemed 'Evil' I'm so sick and tired of Evil white people finding excuses for other Evil white people. But when it comes to a Black, Spanish, Indian, Muslim etc. etc.They immediately lock them up and throw away the key. Their own are always mentally ill or damaged as children so they get away with murder. This story is disgusting and the murder's father should be shot along with the rest of the ******** who allowed this maniac to walk free.