intensified. beyond emotional abuse, was it physical? uh-huh, yes. she had just told me that shawn was was getting violent. he broke into her apartment one night. he came in through the bathroom window, threw her head up against the tile floor. brooke s family didn t know about any of this, the relationship, the alleged violence. it wasn t until after her death that her family finally learned brooke s secret. did that just give you chills when you found that manila envelope? yeah, it was it was horrible. it was britney who discovered it as she went about the grim task of cleaning out brooke s apartment. and we were kind of getting stuff in order to pack i a way and send, and so i went in her kitchen and on top of the refrigerator was a manila folder. britney opened the folder. it was an order of protection brooke had taken out about a year before her murder against her former boss, shawn smoot.