It has been nearly 30 years since Zandera “Peter” Sullivan was killed. But the Massachusetts Parole Board said Patrick Brown, who was convicted of second-degree murder in 2011, has yet to confront key aspects of himself tied to the crime.
On May 29, 1995, Tracey Jones, Brown’s former girlfriend and mother of his 10-month-old baby, returned to her apartment in Roxbury to find photos of Jones and Brown propped up on both her and her daughter’s bed. Officials said Brown did not have a key to the apartment because he had been physically abusive while Jones was pregnant.
Fearing for her safety, Jones invited her boyfriend, Sullivan, to her apartment.
Brown began calling Jones demanding he be allowed to visit his daughter. Jones told him it was too late and to wait until the following day.
Brown continued calling until Jones unplugged the phone. About 15 minutes later, there was a knock on the front door but Jones did not open it.
Suddenly, there was a loud boom at the back door and Brown appeared beside the bed that Jones and Sullivan were in.
Officials said Brown pulled out a hunting knife from the waistband of his pants and yelled at Sullivan, “You are busted. I seen you two here together.”
Sullivan ran out of the bedroom and left the apartment through the back door with Brown running after him.
Jones found Sullivan lying on the ground with a pool of blood near his upper body and his arm shaking. A resident on the first floor called police but Sullivan died at the scene due to his carotid artery and jugular vein being severed.
Police were unable to find Brown after the murder.
In 2009, a tip led officials to Costa Rica. Brown had been living there under a fake name.
On Feb. 6, 2010, Mr. Brown was captured in Belize and extradited back to Boston. A year later, Brown pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Suffolk Superior Court.
He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. He also received 2 years of probation, to run concurrently with the life sentence, for home invasion.
On Dec. 5, 2024, Brown appeared before the parole board for an initial hearing.
Two members of Brown’s family and a family friend spoke in support of his parole, while Suffolk County assistance district attorney Charles Marshall and two members of Sullivan’s family spoke in opposition.
The board decided Brown was not ready for parole.
Brown has done a number of programs, including violence reduction, men’s work, criminal thinking, restorative justice and correctional recovery academy. But “he has yet to address the causative factors directly related to this offense.”
“Mr. Brown’s version of offense contradicts known facts,” the parole board wrote.
Instead of parole, the board encouraged Brown to engage in domestic violence programming and enhance his insight into victim impact.
