‘I loved him like a brother’: Berkeley fashion brand founders discovered dead at home

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The co-founders of a luxury women’s fashion brand, Bryn Walker, were found dead outside their Oakland Hills home Friday morning.

The Oakland Police, the lead investigators on the incident, have not ruled out murder-suicide or determined who pulled the trigger, but the investigation is ongoing. Police have said they recovered a firearm at the scene.

Paul Min, 58, the brother of Michelle Min, 63, who was found dead at the home, believes his sister was killed by her husband, Bryan Walker, 61, before he took his own life.

The married couple were co-owners of the Bryn Walker brand.

According to the Berkeley and Oakland police departments, responders arrived at the home Friday morning, soon after receiving reports of gunshots heard in the affluent neighborhood near the UC Berkeley campus. The home sits in an area that straddles both cities.

According to video surveillance reviewed by CBS, a gunshot was heard at 10:43 a.m. Immediately after, the sound of a man crying and screaming is audible. A second gunshot is then heard, before becoming “dead quiet,” CBS reported.

According to Min, who lives in Carmel, the couple had been married for more than 30 years.

Min said he is filled with rage toward his brother-in-law, Walker, for allegedly killing his sister. But he also said he is in disbelief; he loved Walker like a brother, describing him as “the most honest, responsible, hardworking guy you have ever known.”

He is struggling to reconcile the man who he believes killed his sister with the man he has known and loved for nearly 40 years. He said that Walker had lost millions of dollars in recent months through a series of risky financial moves. The financial loss left Walker depressed, anguished and possibly suicidal.

He said Walker recently suggested the three of them — Paul Min, Michelle Min and Walker — “end things.”

Min said he and his sister were alarmed at the suggestion, but not for their own well-being. He said the idea that Walker would or could harm them was absurd to the two of them. Min said Walker had always been kind and devoted his life to the Min family.

But the siblings worried about Walker’s mental health, and agreed he needed to be institutionalized.

He said the plan had been to take him that very day. He does not know if or when Walker was alerted to that possibility, or if that was the reason for the killings.

“I have found a note that lists a couple of facilities,” said Min. “I speculate he saw that note or somehow figured out she was going to institutionalize him, but I have no idea.”

He said that while Walker was despondent about the change in their finances, his sister hadn’t seemed too demoralized. For years she’d wanted to live more simply. She’d expressed a desire to leave the Bay Area.

The couple owned a miniature Australian Shepherd named Pip. Min said that Pip was present at their deaths and is now being cared for by a friend.

The Mins and their sister, Alexandra, immigrated to the United States in 1977 from Korea with their parents. They moved to Kansas and lived outside of Kansas City.

Min said Michelle Min, who was five years older, was like a mother to him. He said their parents had little money, and worked several jobs to keep the family afloat. He said they were gone in the morning when he woke up, and often didn’t come home until he was asleep.

His oldest sister stepped in, made his meals and went to school and doctor appointments with him.

He said both of his parents died in the past ten years — his dad had Alzheimer’s disease and his mother had liver failure. He said Min and Walker took care of them, spending time in the hospital and at their homes tending to their needs.

When Min came down with Stage 4 colorectal cancer a few years ago, his sister and brother-in-law were a constant presence at his side.

He said the couple met in Kansas City in the 1980s. Walker was from Iowa and attended Iowa State University to study philosophy. Michelle Min was a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis where she studied fine arts.

The couple followed Min’s parents to California and settled in Berkeley.

The couple opened a small clothing store where they sold a mixture of stuff from other vendors, said Min. Michelle Min began designing her own clothing and accessories, “and eventually the entire inventory became her stuff, and that’s where it all started.”

He said they opened a store on Fourth Street and Telegraph in Berkeley, then opened another, “then they opened a factory and started selling wholesale, and the business just took off.”

According to the Bryn Walker web page, the brand operates six company-owned stores “and wholesales to around a thousand boutiques nationwide.”

Min said after the police left the shooting scene, they left the house open. He said images of the house and the house’s address soon appeared on news sites. Although he is not certain, Min thinks some items may have been removed.

He is now staying at the house, and said people have tried to break in since his arrival.

The Oakland Police department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Suicide prevention and crisis counseling resources

If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, seek help from a professional or call 988. The nationwide three-digit mental health crisis hotline will connect callers with trained mental health counselors. Or text “HOME” to 741741 in the U.S. and Canada to reach the Crisis Text Line.

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Susanne Rust is an award-winning investigative reporter specializing in environmental issues. She is based in the Bay Area.

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