| Brady Thompson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Vital Statistics | |
| Gender | Male |
| Status | Deceased |
| Spouse(s) | Valerie Thompson (wife) |
| Children | Jarod Thompson (son) |
| Other family | Sally Niedermeyer (aunt) |
| Character Information | |
| Appearances | "Kill the Messenger" |
| Portrayed by | Unknown actor (photo only) |
Brady Thompson is the unfortunate soul whose 'life insurance policy' fails to protect him at the outset of "Kill the Messenger".
Brady is serving a life sentence for the murder of Olivia Debiasse, a crime to which he confessed, and for which he was arrested by then-Detective Roy Montgomery. He left a package, however, before he went to prison, with his favorite aunt, Sally Niedermeyer, and on the morning of his death called her and asked her to have it messengered over to Montgomery. This is where Beckett and her cohorts enter the picture, since the bike messenger, Caleb Shimansky, was plowed down by a car and the package stolen from his satchel.
When Beckett and Castle discover the existence of the package, they set about trying to track down Brady's wife, Valerie, and his son, Jared, something Ryan manages to do by discovering that the son's respiratory condition requires weekly visits to a specialist. Given that the Thompsons have no income to speak of, this seems like an odd and vital clue.
When they bring Valerie in, the tale begins to unfold: Brady confessed to the murder as the only way to pay for the life-saving treatment Jared needed. Valerie received $7,000 cash per month in the mail whilst Brady was in jail. The wife asked, but was told she was safer not knowing anything more, with the only real evidence being the package lodged with Aunt Sally.
In the end, digging into the family history of the Wellesley clan shows that Olivia was, in fact, the illegitimate daughter of Blake Wellesley, an embarrassment that Lenanne Wellesley instructed Frank Davis to "take care of", which he did, then used his street connections to find someone (Brady) desperate enough to take the fall for a payment. When Lenanne began to lose her faculties, Blake obtained power of attorney and Davis couldn't come up with the money to meet the monthly quota, so he decided to stop and let Brady disappear. However, Brady realized what was going on and decided to expose him. Desperate, Davis stole Lenanne's ring and hocked it to bribe a guard to monitor Brady's calls for mention of a package, and to pay a lifer in the prison to kill him.
One small upside to emerge from the sordid mess is that Blake, in the Wellesley name, is making a $20 million contribution to a children's charity, who will take care of Jared in a positive sense.
Brady is seen only in a still photo on the murder board.