KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City, Missouri, woman is accused of killing a man with a hammer, letting his body lie for days and setting a fire to erase the evidence.
Dianna Brown, 45, is charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, second-degree arson, and tampering with physical evidence in felony prosecution.
Just before 1 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 19, firefighters were called to the 4400 block of Independence Avenue.
When crews arrived, they saw smoke and fire coming from the southeast corner of the second floor of a two-story brick apartment building.
Firefighters entered the blazing unit and discovered a dead man who had severe burns, apparent head trauma and signs of decomposition, per a court document.
The KCPD Homicide Unit was then called to the scene to investigate.
Detectives located two smoke detectors without batteries, an open/used bottle of lighter fluid, mail addressed to Brown, medication prescribed to Brown, and a medical identification bracelet for Brown inside the unit where the deceased man was located, the court document stated.
Additionally, detectives noted the apartment door across the hall was open, but the property manager said it was vacant, so nobody should have been living inside.
Later that day, detectives were notified of a person with information. The person told investigators he spoke with a woman who was invited into Brown’s apartment on Sept. 17.
Inside, the witness said she saw a dead man who appeared to have “suffered a gunshot wound to the face.” The informant also claimed the woman said Brown took responsibility for the death of the victim, 44-year-old Robert Hill.
The Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Hill’s cause of death as blunt force head trauma and manner of death homicide on Sept. 20.
A week later, on Sept. 27, Brown called police to turn herself in.
During her interview with police, she said she had known Hill for about 20 years and was his friend.
Brown claimed that he made sexual advances the evening of Sept. 14, but she declined because he had “not showered recently.”
She said he was persistent and forced her back onto the couch when she tried to get up. The two argued for a time before Hill went to sleep.
Brown said she wasn't sure how long Hill had been asleep before she “snapped” and began striking him with a hammer.
“I swung with all my might,” Brown told detectives.
Hill allegedly attempted to fight back, but his “movements were weak.”
Even after Brown could tell he was dead, she said she “couldn’t stop hitting him.”
Ultimately, she said Hill “didn’t deserve” what she did to him.
After she killed him, she cleaned off the hammer and placed it in the vacant apartment across the hall, per the court document. Brown also continued to sleep in the apartment with his body every night until she set the fire.
Brown admitted Hill started to smell “so bad” just before she attempted to torch the apartment.
“I wanted to cover up everything, everything that I did, him, the clothes I wore, and anything that would identify me,” Brown told detectives.
Brown is being held in the Jackson County Detention Center on a $500,000 cash-only bond.
A bond review hearing for Brown is set for Tuesday, Oct. 7.
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If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.
Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
