Billy Joe Brown Case: Recantation, Sentence, and Dusty Turner

Billy Joe Brown is a former Navy SEAL trainee convicted in June 1996 of the murder of Jennifer Evans, a 21-year-old Emory University pre-med student from Georgia who was killed outside a Virginia Beach nightclub in the early morning hours of June 19, 1995. A Virginia Beach jury found Brown guilty of first-degree murder, abduction with intent to defile, and attempted rape, and he was sentenced to 72 years in prison and fined $63,000. His co-defendant, fellow SEAL trainee Dustin “Dusty” Turner, was convicted at a separate trial and sentenced to 82 years. Years later, Brown recanted his trial account and said he alone killed Evans, setting off a legal fight over Turner’s conviction that reached the Supreme Court of Virginia.

What Happened Outside the Bayou Nightclub

Jennifer Evans was vacationing in Virginia Beach with two friends, Andria Burdette and Michelle McCammon, in June 1995. On the night of Sunday, June 18, the group went to a club called The Bayou. Brown and Turner, roommates at the barracks who had been drinking heavily throughout the day, arrived around 10:30 p.m. Evans spent much of the evening with Turner. Her friends left at midnight, planning to return for her later. Evans was last seen leaving the club with Turner around 1:35 a.m. on June 19.¹

Fellow SEAL trainee Julio Fitzgibbons later testified that Turner had told him he and Brown were planning a “threesome” with Evans. Another trainee, Todd Ehrlich, testified that the two men had a history of bragging about group sexual encounters, though without prior indication of force.²

Evans ended up in the back seat of Turner’s car in the parking lot. Brown entered the vehicle, and Evans was manually strangled. The two men then drove to a secluded wooded area in Newport News, where they dumped her body. Evans’ friends filed a missing persons report the following day. Her remains were found nine days later, badly decomposed, with her clothing disturbed. The autopsy identified manual strangulation as the likely cause of death, though the condition of the body made a definitive determination difficult.¹

Brown’s Trial and 72-Year Sentence

Both men were arrested on June 28, 1995. Brown, then 23, was tried first in Virginia Beach Circuit Court in June 1996, with Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Humphreys prosecuting.

The jury weighed two conflicting statements Brown had given to police roughly 90 minutes apart on the day of his arrest. In the first, Brown said Evans was “passed out” in Turner’s car when he arrived, and he admitted to holding her hands and sitting on her legs while Turner choked her twice before they disposed of the body. In the second, Brown said he approached the car just as Turner was jumping out, found Evans already unconscious, and heard Turner say, “I think I f—— killed her.” In that version, Brown said he only helped dispose of the body but admitted to fondling Evans’ corpse during the drive.³

Brown’s attorney, Andrew Sacks, argued that Turner was the sole killer and that Brown’s false initial statements to police reflected a misguided military “code of honor” instilled by SEAL training. “This man put the loyalty of friendship ahead of truth,” Sacks told the jury, saying Brown “considered his swim buddy the most important thing in the world.” Prosecutors countered that Brown was an active participant who held Evans down and later bragged about it, allegedly telling someone, “I am going to take care of that bitch that Turner and I tagged last night.”⁴

The jury convicted Brown of first-degree murder, abduction with intent to defile, and attempted rape. The sentence broke down as 42 years for murder, 25 years for abduction, and 5 years for attempted rape, for a total of 72 years. The $63,000 fine, Humphreys said, was meant to prevent Brown from profiting by selling his story.⁵

Turner’s Separate Trial

Dustin Turner was tried in September 1996 before Circuit Judge John K. Moore, who gave the jury two options: first-degree murder, which included the abduction charge and carried up to life in prison, or accessory after the fact, which carried a maximum of 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine. Turner had already been jailed for more than 12 months.⁶

Turner’s attorney, Richard Brydges, argued Brown was the sole killer. Humphreys, prosecuting again, told the jury it did not matter whose hands were on Evans’ throat if the two men had planned the encounter together. “If Billy Joe Brown and Dustin Turner were working together to sexually molest Jennifer Evans against her will and removed her from the parking lot to do so, it doesn’t matter whose hands were on her throat,” Humphreys said.⁶ The jury convicted Turner of first-degree felony murder and abduction with intent to defile, and he was sentenced to 82 years.

Brown’s 2002 Recantation

Six years after his conviction, Brown recorded a 2002 interview recanting his trial testimony and saying he had killed Evans alone. He said he had lied about Turner’s involvement because he was angry that Turner had told police where Evans’ body was. Brown signed a sworn affidavit on February 28, 2003, memorializing the recantation, and later cited his conversion to Christianity as the reason he came forward.¹⁷

At a May 28, 2008 evidentiary hearing ordered by the Virginia Court of Appeals, Brown described entering the vehicle, sitting in the back seat, and suddenly “snapping,” placing his left arm against Evans’ neck in a chokehold. His account shifted in important ways. One version of his affidavit said Evans died instantly. In his hearing testimony and a revised affidavit, he said Evans lost consciousness, revived, and he choked her a second time “until blood came out of her nose.” He also admitted to pulling off her clothing and attempting to have sex with her body in the woods.⁷

The presiding circuit judge, the Honorable Frederick B. Lowe, found Brown’s recantation “credible in his assertion that he acted independently in murdering the victim and that Turner played no role in the murder or in the restraining of the victim.”¹

Why Turner’s Conviction Still Stands

Turner used Brown’s recantation as the basis for a petition for a writ of actual innocence under Virginia Code § 19.2-327.10. A divided panel of the Virginia Court of Appeals initially granted the writ and ordered his conviction modified to accessory after the fact, but the full court agreed to rehear the case en banc.

In 2010, the en banc Court of Appeals reversed and dismissed Turner’s petition. The majority held that even if Brown alone physically strangled Evans, a rational jury could still have convicted Turner of abduction with intent to defile on a theory of “abduction by deception,” pointing to Turner’s request that Brown find another ride home, his stated plan for a “threesome,” his role in disposing of the body, and his initial lies to police.²

The Supreme Court of Virginia unanimously affirmed on September 16, 2011. Justice Donald W. Lemons, writing for the court, said Brown’s recantation was “rife with conflicting statements” and that “the fact that Brown now confesses that he acted alone in restraining and choking Evans does not absolve Turner of his guilt.”⁸

A formal pardon petition was later filed with Governor Bob McDonnell, who in January 2014 declined to act and transferred it to his successor, Terry McAuliffe, asking the state Parole Board to conduct a more thorough review.⁹

Turner’s Parole and Re-Arrest

In January 2026, at his fifth parole hearing, the Virginia Parole Board voted 3-2 to grant Turner parole. He was released on March 5, 2026, after 31 years in prison.¹⁰

On April 21, 2026, less than two months later, Virginia State Police arrested Turner on an alleged parole violation. As a registered sex offender based on his abduction conviction, Turner was required to have anyone with whom he had a “significant relationship” sign a statement acknowledging his criminal history. He allegedly failed to obtain signed statements from two women. His attorney, Steve Northup, said both women were longtime friends and supporters who were fully aware of his convictions, and called the re-incarceration “irrational.”¹¹¹² A Department of Corrections hearing officer found probable cause on April 27, 2026.¹⁰

Turner was released again from the Middle River Regional Jail in Staunton on May 20, 2026, with his parole transferred to Indiana, his home state.¹³

Where Brown Is Now

Brown remains incarcerated. His crimes were committed before Virginia abolished parole for felons convicted after January 1, 1995, so he falls under the older sentencing regime. The available reporting does not indicate any sentence reduction, parole hearing, or appeal of his sentence beyond his 2002 recantation and his 2008 hearing testimony on Turner’s behalf.

1
Virginia Courts. Turner v. Commonwealth, Record No. 1836-07-1
2
FindLaw. Turner v. Commonwealth, Supreme Court of Virginia
3
Virginia Pilot. Report on Billy Joe Brown Trial
4
Virginia Pilot. Report on Brown and Turner Charges
5
Roanoke Times. Report on Brown Sentencing
6
Virginia Pilot. Report on Turner Trial Deliberations
7
FindLaw. Turner v. Commonwealth, Court of Appeals of Virginia
8
Virginia Lawyers Weekly. No Actual Innocence Writ for Navy SEAL Trainee
9
The Virginian-Pilot. McDonnell Won’t Decide on Turner Pardon
10
Herald-Times Online. Dusty Turner Will Stay in Jail Until Parole Board Reviews Case Again
11
Fox 59. Previously Granted Parole, Dustin Turner Back in Prison on Parole Violation
12
Yahoo News. Previously Granted Parole, Dustin Turner Back in Prison on Parole Violation
13
WAVY. Dustin Turner Released From Jail, Heads to Indiana for Parole