Why was Brad buried in Michael's grave in GTA 5?

Bradley Snider (or simply Brad) was buried in Michael's grave in GTA 5 following his death in the game's prologue. However, his contribution in Rockstar Games' 2013 release didn't end there. Despite having appeared only in the title's introduction, Brad plays a significant role in the story, especially in the campaign's latter stages, as Michael and Trevor Philips' relationship begins to fall apart.

Some have wondered about why the decision was made to bury him in the grave marked with Michael's name. While it seemingly isn't explained explicitly in the game, the logic behind it seems pretty straightforward. For those interested, here's possibly why Brad was buried in Michael's grave in GTA 5.

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Why did the FIB bury Brad in Michael's grave in GTA 5 story mode?

GTA 5 story mode begins with a bank heist being carried out by Michael De Santa (then Michael Townley), Trevor Philips, and Bradley Snider some time in 2004. Although the group is successful in taking off with quite a bit of cash, they are soon apprehended by the cops.

Moments later, Brad gets shot by an FIB agent named Dave Norton, resulting in his death. Michael also gets shot (non-fatally) in the same cutscene, with only Trevor (who is unaware of Brad's passing) managing to escape the scene.

However, Michael was able to cut a deal with Dave Norton to go into an "informal witness protection program", which he explains to Franklin during a conversation later in the game. He changes his last name from Townley to De Santa and moves to Los Santos with his family.

Per official documents, Brad went to prison and Michael Townley died during the failed bank heist. But in reality, he got buried in Michael's grave in GTA 5 during a fake funeral held for the latter. This was most likely done to easily get rid of Brad's body and also to strengthen the case of Michael's fake death as part of the informal witness protection program.

Dave Norton also continued sending Trevor emails as Brad in GTA 5 to maintain the cover for his and Michael's deal.

When Trevor reunites with Michael years after the failed bank heist, he still believes that Brad is alive and often talks about busting him out of prison.

However, Trevor starts suspecting the story around Brad by the end of the game. He then flies to North Yankton, digs Michael's grave in GTA 5 to find Brad's corpse in it, confirming all his suspicions.

This results in a major conflict between him and Michael, which ends up with the latter getting kidnapped by the Triads.

Luckily, Michael, Trevor, and Franklin are able to sort out their differences and put an end to all their foes in the final GTA 5 story mission - The Third Way.