In a Stockton courtroom, testimony continued Friday in the competency trial of Wesley Brownlee that has so far focused on tape recordings that prosecutors hope will show the accused serial killer can talk and appears to understand what’s being said to him.

The recordings have consisted mostly of phone calls in which Brownlee converses about his case, shows he was able to memorize phone numbers and chats about sports and family events. They span from his 2022 arrest to as recently as April. They stand in contrast to his attorneys’ contentions that he is mentally unfit to stand trial and has stopped talking to them and medical professionals, hindering their ability to mount a solid defense.

Brownlee, 47, was arrested after Stockton police connected him to a series of killings over more than a year. At first, he was accused of killing three unhoused men. But later the charges were expanded to include a total of six counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, and multiple felony firearm-related enhancements.

In late 2024, Brownlee’s defense attorneys, Allison Nobert and John Philipsborn, filed a declaration of doubt questioning his mental state and ability to face trial. They say Brownlee has stopped talking to them, limiting their ability to properly represent him.

A jury will decide.

‘Detailed conversations’ between brothers 

To prove that Brownlee is competent to stand trial, Deputy District Attorney Elton Grau played the tapes from San Joaquin County Jail of telephone and in-person conversations between Brownlee and his younger brother, Kevin Rowel, who was on the witness stand to respond.

Prosecutors believe the calls establish their argument, laid out in opening statements last Friday, that Brownlee is choosing not to cooperate with his attorneys.  

The calls — lasting at times more than 20 minutes — were what Grau described as “detailed conversations” where the brothers would talk about sports, chuckled over childhood memories and family birthday parties. 

“Good ol’ days, man,” Brownlee told his brother during a 2023 New Year’s Day call as they recalled a time as kids. 

Almost every call began and ended the same way. At the start, Brownlee greeted his brother with an upbeat, “What it do, man!” Minutes later, Rowell would make a regular ask: whether his brother had enough money in his account. 

Then at the end of each call came an exchange of “love yous” between the two. 

During the playing of Thursday’s recordings, jurors heard Rowell repeatedly give Brownlee phone numbers. Grau asked whether Brownlee kept up with the numbers by “memorizing them.” Rowel said he did.

The brothers also talked about the case.

“They added four more murder charges,” Rowell told his brother during the New Year’s Day call, weeks after prosecutors filed the amended complaint. 

“Wow,” Brownlee replied after hearing about the new charges. Rowel later told his brother that their mother, Ruby Brownlee, was “worried.”

A recording from Jan. 19, 2023 captured Rowel asking his brother why he hadn’t called sooner. Brownlee replied that he didn’t want to stress his family. 

The last recordings played were calls from April, just four months ago. The last phone call ended with Brownlee asking his brother to tell one of his sons that he loved him and that he wanted him to stay focused on school.  

Brownlee laid his head on the defense table for much of his brother’s testimony. At other times, he would look toward the ceiling, rub his hands together or bounce his foot. 

Just before Rowel left the stand, Grau asked him one more question about Brownlee’s level of communication. 

“In any of these conversations, he never told you that he didn’t know what his attorneys were saying” Grau asked, or whether Brownlee heard voices or couldn’t speak. 

Rowell said Brownlee had not. 

Defense revisits family’s descriptions of Brownlee 

Previously, Rowel testified about his brother having become “rail thin” and withdrawn during his roughly four years in the county jail.  And they stopped talking during much of 2024 and 2025. When Brownlee had called him in April, Rowel said it was “surprising.”

They haven’t communicated since, Rowell said.

Brownlee’s attorney Nobert also asked Rowell whether his brother had shown any interest in how well he was being defended, whether he had asked for new attorneys or talked about media coverage of the case.

“No,” Rowel said to each query.

Brownlee’s mother, Ruby Brownlee, was the first witness to take the stand when the trial began last week, describing his childhood as a quiet boy and recalling a teacher who once raised concerns that he had a learning disability, the Stockton Record reported.

At 29, Ruby said, her son was hallucinating. He would hear knocks at the door when no one was there and believed someone was after him. Around that time, Ruby described her son’s understanding as “less than zero” in a Social Security disability application she completed on his behalf. 

Psychologist describes competency evaluations

Clinical and forensic psychologist Christy Trombley testified she had received an almost 200-page file from the defense containing records related to Brownlee’s case, including arrest videos and police reports. The file had also included school performance records and reports from family members. 

Trombley was still testifying when court adjourned Thursday. The defense said she would return to finish at a later hearing.