BELFAST — Glenn Brown, 67, pleaded no contest at a plea hearing March 2 in Waldo County Superior Court. Justice Robert Murray accepted his plea to two counts of intentional or knowing murder in the deaths of his sister Tina Bowden and her husband, Richard Bowden.

The Benton man was accused of murdering the Bowdens in their Waldo home Oct. 5, 2020.

According to police, he shot them both in the head, then reported the shootings to the Belfast Police Department. He told police officers there that he had shot “two exotic birds.”

The 9mm Taurus pistol found in his pickup truck matched empty casings found in the Bowdens’ home, police said. He had withdrawn $14,300 from his bank account before the deaths. There was conflict among Brown, Bowden and other siblings regarding their late stepfather’s estate.

Brown was ordered to undergo a competency and psychological exam before bail could be considered during an initial hearing Oct. 7, 2020. On Oct. 28, 2021, Brown was denied bail.

A no contest plea means the defendant does not admit guilt but states that they will offer no defense. They are then judged as guilty and punished as if they had entered a guilty plea. The plea allows the defendant to retain the option of denying the charge in another legal proceeding.

Murray accepted Brown’s plea and remanded him to the Waldo County Jail without bail until his April 4 sentencing hearing. The charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison with a maximum sentence of life.