Clifton Fleming Brown, a 44-year-old associate professor of history at Howard University, was found fatally stabbed in his third-floor apartment on 16th Street NW in Washington, D.C., on the morning of Monday, December 15, 1986. An academic colleague who could not reach him asked Brown’s brother-in-law to check on him; the building’s resident manager entered the apartment shortly before 9:30 a.m. and discovered Brown in the living area with blood splattered on the closet doors. The manager secured the scene and alerted the Metropolitan Police Department.

Investigators reported no signs of forced entry and neighbors said they heard no unusual noises that night or that morning. No motive was established, and despite subsequent inquiries the case went cold: no suspects have been publicly identified and no arrests announced. A reward of up to $25,000 has been offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.