Co-founders of luxury women’s fashion brand found shot dead at their California home
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The co-founders of a luxury women’s fashion brand, Bryn Walker, were found fatally shot outside their California home in a potential murder-suicide.
Michelle Min, 63, and her husband, Bryan Walker, 61, were found dead with gunshot wounds outside their Oakland Hills home Friday morning, police said.
Oakland police, who are leading the investigation, have not ruled out murder-suicide or determined who pulled the trigger. Police said they recovered a firearm at the scene.
However, Paul Min, 58, told the Los Angeles Times that he believes his sister was killed by her husband of over 30 years before he took his own life.
Authorities arrived at the home just before 11 a.m. Friday, after receiving reports of gunshots. Surveillance footage reviewed by CBS revealed a gun was fired at 10:43 a.m., followed by the sound of a man crying and screaming.
A second gunshot could be heard moments later, before becoming “dead quiet,” per CBS.
Paul Min said his brother-in-law had recently lost millions of dollars through a series of poor financial decisions — which left him struggling mentally and possibly suicidal.
Those risky financial moves apparently lost the couple “well over $100 million,” Paul Min told the New York Post.
He said that Walker recently suggested the three of them “end things.” Paul Min said he and his sister were alarmed, but did not fear for their lives.
However, the brother said he and his sister were discussing institutionalizing Walker — and that they had planned to bring him to a facility the day the couple was found dead.
“I have found a note that lists a couple of facilities,” Paul Min said. “I speculate he saw that note or somehow figured out she was going to institutionalize him, but I have no idea.”
A woman at the scene who identified herself as Michelle Min’s sister also told KTVU that her brother-in-law had been experiencing mental health challenges for some time.
Paul Min told the Post that authorities found a suicide note that included the passcodes to Walker’s and Michelle’s phones.
The devastated brother said he was going to run their fashion company while the family tries to reorganize Walker’s financial situation.
“My sister was utterly devoted to Bryan to the very end, and he shot her,” Paul Min said. “She didn’t say anything harsh to him. She just said, ‘Bryan, you’ve been sick. It’s my fault, I should have known better. I should have known you were in a crisis.'”
“She blamed herself. That’s the kind of person she was.”
According to the Bryn Walker website, the brand operates six company-owned stores “and wholesales to around a thousand boutiques nationwide.”
The company was founded in Berkeley in 1992 and is based in the San Francisco area.
The Independent has contacted the Oakland Police Department for more information.
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.If you are in the UK or the Republic of Ireland and are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.


