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Joseph Green Brown, N.C. man once on death row, charged in wife's slaying

Joseph Green Brown Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department

(CBS/AP) CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A man freed from death row after his conviction was reversed in 1986 is back in jail, this time facing first-degree murder charges in the death of the woman he married 20 years ago, Mamie Caldwell Brown of Charlotte.

Joseph Green Brown, 62, was in a Mecklenburg County courtroom Monday for a preliminary hearing. The judge ordered he held without bond until a Sept. 26 hearing.

Mamie Brown, 71, was found dead in her apartment last Thursday after police were asked to check on her. Joseph Brown was arrested late Friday at a hotel in Charleston, S.C.

Joseph Brown was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1973 rape and murder of Earlene Treva Barksdale, the owner of a Florida clothing store. His conviction was reversed in 1986 because of false testimony from a co-defendant.

Mamie Brown's family said Brown never hid that he was on death row. In fact, they said, he embraced.

"He went around talking to groups about it," Sherry Williams, Mamie Brown's aunt said. "He even talked to my church about it. He told people what they had to do to stay out of trouble. He was a good motivational speaker. That's how he made a living."

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are still investigating Thursday's slaying. District Attorney Bill Stetzer said prosecutors would present the case soon to a grand jury.

After his sentence was overturned, Brown took the name Shabaka and frequently spoke out against the injustice and finality of the death penalty, including to a U.S. House Judicary subcommittee in 1993.

Brown went to the Washington D.C. area where he met his future wife. They got married about 20 years ago and moved to Charlotte about five years ago, family members said.

"We thought they were happy," said Marcus Williams, who is Mamie Brown's cousin.

He said the family didn't worry about Brown's past.

"He didn't seem like a threat. He was upfront about everything. He was always smiling and trying to help people. He was a motivational speaker. He liked to warn people what could happen in the legal system," he said.

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