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WBAL-TV reported today on an inmate pen pal website profile of Nicholas Browning, the Cockeysville teen who in 2005 fatally shot his parents and younger brothers, that provides insight into the teenager's life behind bars.
The page on GoodPrisoner.com, which charges inmates $30 to post their information, includes pictures of an older Browning, who discusses how he remains "upbeat about life despite my bleak surroundings," and that he still "has hope for my future" and has enrolled in college classes.
"Someone from my background generally doesn't end up in prison," Browning writes on the page.
Asked how many brothers and sisters he has, Browning wrote: "None."
Browning received two life terms for the killings, which his attorney at his court hearings attributed to abuse at the hands of his father. Prosecutors dismissed the notion that Browning had a valid motive and said his plan was hatched "with cold and methodical detachment." He's serving his sentence at the Patuxent Institution and could be eligible for parole in his 40s, though that is not likely.
Goodprisoner.com is just one of many sites that help inmates reached out to or date people on the outside. Browning's attorney Joshua Treem told WBAL-TV that Browning's responses, some of which are sexually explicit, are a product of being a teenager in confinement.
"He's been essentially cut off since the day he was arrested. To the extent that this is something he's using to establish some kind of a relationship is a good thing," Treem told the station.