Who killed Anne Dunlap? She “reportedly” left the house to shop for shoes at 2:30 on a Saturday afternoon, December 30, 1995. Going shopping or to the mall is a pretty typical activity for many women on a Saturday afternoon. What was not typical about that day was that Anne was murdered in broad daylight within an hour of leaving her residence. Her body was found a couple days later in her car’s trunk in a Kmart parking lot in a somewhat “bad” part of town (still within 3 miles of their current residence). The medical examiner estimated her time of death (although it is not an exact science) as less than an hour later (between 3:00-3:15). The only reported person of interest was her husband, Brad Dunlap. There were no other suspects or other persons of interest. The police, the media, and popular opinion back in 1996 was that Brad had killed her. Isn’t it always the spouse?
None of Anne’s friends or family suspected Brad… I mean none. At least as far as the public knows via what the police and media presented. I can honestly say that if the question was ever posed to me regarding an acquaintance of mine possibly murdering their spouse/partner, I would give pause…at the very least (sorry acquaintances). How can the thought not at least be entertained? Back in 1996, we did not have C.S.I. or ID TV, making us all into armchair investigators, but what if Brad was the killer? I imagine Anne looking down and thinking, “Really? I’m gone forever and he gets to just go live his life?!…”
If that scenario is plausible, I ask, can a “normal” man snap, kill his wife, and then live out a seemingly normal life after? If Brad is guilty, he did just that. He moved to Arizona, remarried, and had a couple kids. Squeaky clean reputation before and squeaky clean 20+ years after Anne’s murder. In fact, her parents are such strong supporters of Brad’s innocence that they have stayed in touch, visiting him in Arizona. According to Anne’s parents, Anne and Brad were a very loving couple who rarely argued. They also mentioned Anne’s death as being “doubly hard” because they were also losing Brad…because he had to leave after Anne was murdered. Really? Could all Anne’s family and friends have been wrong? I wonder if any of them have doubts today…
Think about Anne… Talk about her… Shine the light back on her murder investigation… Someone knows something…
11 Comments
SkyWatcher · 09.11.18 at 10:36 am
I must have missed this post when it first appeared. I have tried to keep an open mind about this case. The site author has most of the time, but I must point out in this post, the author calls out Brad Dunlap as the likely killer more than in any of the others.
If anyone is serious about influencing public opinion toward Brad Dunlap, the one thing that would help the most is releasing the recording of his police interrogation, or short of that, the transcript. I have seen where it says that interrogation lasted five hours. That’s a long time. Someone would have to talk a lot in that amount of time. That’s a whole week of a talk show, without commercial interruptions.
Brad Dunlap probably didn’t make a confession, or he would have been arrested.
But Brad Dunlap might have said things that wouldn’t make sense to people who know. If his friends, Anne’s friends, Anne’s family, coworkers and shirttail acquaintances were to read that transcript, they might go “hey, that doesn’t sound right” or “I know that isn’t true” or “now why would he say that?” Even if he didn’t say anything incriminating, he might have said things that would lead all those people who swear he didn’t do it to think that maybe he could have. Or maybe even his tone would seem suspicious. Maybe even the words he used would make people think, “Well, I wouldn’t have answered that way.”
And if the interview tape doesn’t do that to people, then maybe he’s innocent.
If those people who have defended Bradley Dunlap now for going on 23 years had second thoughts, maybe they would tell some things to the police or the media that they hadn’t reported before. The case was reopened in 2013 based on something Brad Dunlap had said to a coworker years before the murder. But he had to be just kidding, right? That’s why the coworker waited 17 years to say anything.
Maybe the case could benefit from being made known in the Phoenix-Scottsdale area. I would bet you that Brad Dunlap’s neighbors in Scottsdale and the people who work for him at The Best IRS don’t know anything about this case. Same with his clients. They don’t have any idea that their friend and neighbor and merchant is the prime suspect in the murder of his wife. Has he said anything — where he was just kidding, of course — around those people? I would guess if this became a big story in Minneapolis again, because of the release of that transcript, that it would be easier to stir up interest in the case in Phoenix.
There are too many unsolved murders nowadays. To get this case off the back burner, some information is going to have to be put out that will get people who might know something to think, to question their assumptions, to question what they know. I can’t imagine anything would be better than that police interview.
patty · 07.28.19 at 3:55 pm
This story still haunts me. My husband insists it’s a perfect murder as far as getting away with it. But what bothers me was Brad’s crying interviews on the news. They seemed so forced….so….fake for lack of a better term. That never set well with me and I tried to find them online to no avail. I wish we could see those videos again and see what other people think. I’d also love to hear what the coworker had to say. I’ve read enough true crime books to know that her parents supporting him means nothing. Anyone can be fooled under the right conditions.
triciafiske · 09.30.19 at 3:18 am
Hi Patty,
I don’t remember Brad crying in those interviews. However, it appears the segment from Ch 5 was updated with more of the old clips. I will repost it soon.
Tricia
MN Native · 01.01.20 at 8:35 pm
I am from the Twin Cities, now living in AZ. I found this recent report which contains video of Brad “crying” from
KARE 11post.
https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/anne-dunlaps-parents-still-waiting-for-justice-after-24-years/89-0d2283d3-a0f2-4cd0-bcf3-4ebc8f2a6e52
triciafiske · 01.02.20 at 6:18 pm
Julie
Thank you for the link! I didn’t remember that he “cried” 😉 I know her parents want justice for their daughter, but is it only if it isn’t Brad? Maybe the thought of that is just too horrific to bear.
Erin · 08.04.19 at 5:54 pm
I worked with Bad when we were in college. I was his manager at a fast food restaurant in Stadium Village. He was a very slimy character. The people who worked night shifts with him, and I, couldn’t believe how brazenly he stole from the till every shift.I reported his thefts to the owner and his son, who was the general manager above me in charge of all of the family’s restaurants. The owner refused to believe that the charming, humble, all-American Brad would ever do such a thing. He had him completely conned. He just played dumb and robbed him blind. When this story broke, I was not surprised in the least. And here he is getting away with murder.
Minnesota Man · 08.11.19 at 9:06 pm
Erin: Your post is not credible. If you had said he stole money occasionally, I might have believed you, but he obviously didn’t steal brazenly “from the till every shift.” That would have created a pattern that management would have detected. Did you report this to the police when the murder happened?
Larry · 08.09.19 at 12:05 am
Erin: Were you a manager at Arby’s? I had no idea Brad worked there in those years. I used to eat there quite often. Now you’re making me wonder if he and I ever crossed paths.
Why don’t you report what you know to the police? Maybe there’s a way that could figure into their investigation. I think that restaurant is gone now but perhaps the owners have some documentation of what they suspected their theft losses were in those days.
Why didn’t you say something about this at the time the murder happened, when the allegations of theft were only about 10 years old, as opposed to now when they’re close to 35 years old?
I once dated a girl named Naomi Kindfeth who worked at that Arby’s but I haven’t been in contact with her in decades.
Tom Joanne · 12.19.19 at 1:25 am
Brad “scumbag” Dunlap is Guilty, Guilty, Guilty. I remember watching the news footage back then and there was no doubt his actions, reactions and crying were all rehearsed. There was only one person with a motive and it was him. Sad the cops couldn’t nail him and see Anne’s parents stand by this worthless piece of s..t It was clear to anyone with any criminal common sense this loser is a murderer. Can only hope someday he meets his maker and goes straight to hell.
Otto j Schulze · 03.01.20 at 12:37 pm
We all know brad killed his wife.Its sad to see her parents have the blinders on and cant see the truth.
Video Watcher · 03.16.20 at 11:50 pm
The unedited video of Brad at the Kmart on New Year’s Day 1996 is now available online. https://youtu.be/QCLoFLNKg34
Does he really cry? A couple of times he kind of lets out wails, kind of like that presidential candidate who screamed during a speech. (What was his name??)
As an earlier poster pointed out, Brad Dunlap now lives in Scottsdale AZ and runs a company called TheBest (formerly TheBestIRS).