Police baffled by motive for Clear Lake deaths(but more details/background is coming out)

Neighbors who first entered the Clear Lake home initially thought the man and woman on the couch were watching TV.

Then they saw the holes in their heads and a profuse amount of blood. The victims were still sitting up, with their heads bowed as if they were asleep. Except for the blare of the TV, the house was eerily silent.

On the living room floor in front of the TV was the body of a young woman, face down in a pool of blood; behind the couch was the body of a young man. All four had been shot multiple times and two of them had suffered blunt trauma to the head.

The grisly scene was discovered about 6:30 p.m. Friday in the well-tended Brook Forest subdivision off El Dorado Boulevard by friends who had stopped by the home, then ran outside, screaming frantically that people had been shot.

The victims were identified Saturday as Tiffany Nichole Rowell and her best friend, Rachael Ann Koloroutis, both 18; Rowell's boyfriend, Marcus Ray Precella, 19; and Precella's cousin, Adelbert Nicholas Sanchez, 21. Three of them -- Rowell, Koloroutis and Precella -- were former Clear Lake High School students. The women had graduated in May.

Police said they don't know the motive for the slayings. There were no signs of forced entry, and police could not tell if anything had been stolen. No arrests had been made by late Saturday.

Angel Amador, one of the neighbors who discovered the bodies, said the living room was strewn with beer cans, pizza boxes and trash.

"It looked like they had a hell of a party, and they just hadn't cleaned up," he said.

Rowell lived at the home in the 3700 block of Millbridge -- a quiet, tree-shaded cul de sac -- and her boyfriend frequently stayed there. Her mother died several years ago of cancer, and her father, Chester Rowell, who owns the home, usually stays with his wife on a farm in the Brazoria County town of Manvel, neighbors said.

Rowell, 57, was out of state helping his wife's daughter move when the tragedy occurred, friends said.

He is a music professor at San Jacinto College's Central Campus, plays clarinet for Theater Under the Stars, and also has played for the Houston Symphony and Houston Ballet's Orchestra, friends said.

He could not be reached for comment Saturday night because he was still driving back from Kansas after learning of the killings.

"I really believe he's in the first stages of shock," said his friend, Ruth Stone of Deer Park, who spoke to him on the phone Saturday. "He said, `I'm driving down the road, and I can't comprehend what has happened.' "

Tiffany Rowell had stayed at the Clear Lake home so she wouldn't have to change high schools, but her father looked in on her because he taught school nearby, friends said.

Police think the shootings may have happened about 3:15 or 3:30 p.m. Friday based on noises neighbors reported hearing, but the bodies weren't found until friends stopped by the house several hours later.

"I think it happened very quickly," Houston Police Department homicide investigator Phil Yochum said of the crime. "But it was very, very violent. It looks like some type of confrontation happened at the front door, then moved into the living room."

Evidence suggests two victims were taken by surprise, while the others may have tried to flee or perhaps defend themselves or their friends, police said. Investigators would not specify which victims suffered head trauma.

The tragedy transformed the quiet street Friday night into a sea of flashing emergency lights, crime tape and sobbing bystanders.

One frantic relative pulled up in her car, ducked under the crime tape and ran up to police officers, pleading, "Tell me it's not the Rowell house, tell me it's not the Rowell house."

When officers confirmed her worst fears, the woman fell to the ground, weeping. Officers later escorted her elsewhere so she could grieve privately.

One victim's father anxiously stood by, pleading with officers to tell him whether his child was in the house. When officers couldn't tell him anything immediately because of the ongoing investigation, the father responded, "My daughter may be in there." He then broke down in tears.

Young people and cars were frequently seen coming and going from the house, neighbors said.

"This is very shocking -- it's unbelievable," said Jerry Wilson, who lives across the street from the Rowells. "I don't care what was going on in there -- young people being shot like that, it's tragic."

One of Clear Lake High School's assistant principals, who lives next door to the house where the slayings occurred, declined to comment.

A friend of Rowell's who stopped by to put flowers on her doorstep Saturday said Precella had some questionable acquaintances.

"I would have to say they were hanging around with the wrong people, I feel," former classmate Jesse Wilson, 19, said of the victims. Precella, he said, "had the wrong ties."

The women had been working for the past month as waitresses and bartenders at the adult entertainment establishment Club Exotica near Almeda Mall, but resisted invitations to become dancers because they were too bashful, co-workers said. When they failed to show up for work Friday night, co-workers called them all evening, but got no answer.

Employees at the nightclub were stunned to learn of the women's deaths. "Oh, my God," manager Randy Patterson exhaled, pressing his fingers against his forehead.

"They were both very bubbly girls," Patterson said. "They were friendly, outgoing, weren't afraid to talk to anybody. Everybody loved them."

Precella worked as a waiter at Landry's restaurant in Kemah, acquaintances said. His family members at a home blocks away in the same neighborhood declined to talk.

A steady stream of cars flowed down the street throughout the day Saturday and paused in front of the Rowell home. Some inside the vehicles were seen openly weeping.

"I've known Tiffany since the sixth grade -- she was a really sweet girl," said Kristin Salinas, 18, wiping tears from her eyes as she talked about her friend. "I honestly don't understand why they would do that ... for somebody to take somebody's life when they have so much going for them. I mean, we just graduated a month and a half ago."

I'm not sure there's a whole lot of info that is being let out at this time. Not much on the Chronicle site either....

Channel 2 tv

Search Continues For Clues In Clear Lake Murders

Friend Of One Victim Says Trio Had Some 'Shady Acquaintances'

POSTED: 6:30 p.m. CDT July 20, 2003

UPDATED: 6:32 p.m. CDT July 20, 2003

HOUSTON -- Houston police identified four young people found shot in a Houston home Friday while the Harris County medical examiner's office worked Sunday to complete their autopsies.
Tiffany Nichole Rowell, 18; Marcus Ray Precella, 19; Rachel Ann Koloroutis, 18, and Adelbert Nicholas Sanchez, 21, were all found shot multiple times Friday in a small tan wood and brick home on a tree-lined street in a south Houston suburb. Houston police homicide detectives said besides being shot multiple times, two of the four had been struck in the head with something.
Harold C. Jordan, a senior investigator with the medical examiner's office, said preliminary autopsy results would likely not be available until at least Monday.

Meanwhile, Houston police continued to search for clues in the case.
Houston Homicide Sgt. Tom Ladd said no suspects had been identified and a motive remained unknown Sunday.
A friend of Rowell's, Kyle Clement, said he had seen Rowell, Precella and Koloroutis two days before they were shot.
He said Rowell was a sweet girl.
"She never had a bad bone in her body," Clement said. "She always had a smile for everybody."
But Clement said he believed the trio had some shady acquaintances.
"I know they were messed up with some bad people," he said. "I know especially Marcus was messed up with some bad people."
Precella's aunt, Yolanda Romero, said Sunday her nephew was a good person who struggled to graduate from an alternative school but ultimately did in 2000.
"He was with Tiffany for almost four years," she said. "They were inseparable."
Romero said her nephew often stayed at the home owned by Chester Rowell, a music instructor at San Jacinto College, where Precella attended school. Rowell's neighbors said over the weekend that Tiffany Rowell lost her mother to cancer and Chester Rowell remarried, but allowed his daughter to remain at the home so she could graduate with her friends from Clear Lake High School. They said Rowell checked in on his daughter.
Neighbors Angel Amador and Doyle Smith discovered the bodies Friday evening after some of the victims' friends ran from the home screaming that those inside had been shot.
Charles Rowell, who neighbors said was out of town, did not immediately return a phone message left at the Clear Lake home, where neighbors said they found his daughter and Precella still sitting on the couch, both with bullet wounds. Amador said Koloroutis was found face down in a pool of blood in front of the TV, which was still on. Sanchez was found behind the couch, also shot, neighbors said.
Romero said her nephew was happy and didn't express any concerns to her.
"He struggled but he succeeded," she said. "No matter how hard he was trying he was doing the best to do good."
Precella pleaded guilty in March 2001 to burglary of a vehicle and was placed on probation for 18 months. Amador described Tiffany Rowell, who he has known since she was 10, as a polite girl who didn't cause any problems.
Koloroutis' home phone number was unlisted and her parents could not be reached for comment Sunday. Sanchez also has an unlisted number.
The Houston Chronicle reported in Sunday's editions that Rowell and Koloroutis had been working at Club Exotica, an adult entertainment club, as waitresses. When the pair failed to show up for work Friday evening, co-workers told the newspaper they tried contacting the girls, but got no answer.

Channel 13 TV article

July 21, 2003, 7:55PM

Despite autopsies, Clear Lake slayings remain 'a huge puzzle'
From staff and wire reports
Four young people found dead in a Clear Lake home last week were all shot multiple times and died from those wounds or a blow to the head, the Harris County medical examiner's office said today.
Autopsies completed over the weekend ruled the manner of death for the four as homicide.
Rudy Flores, chief administrator at the medical examiner's office said Tiffany Nicole Rowell, 18, who lived at the upscale suburban home, died from multiple gunshot wounds to her head, face, right shoulder, right thigh, right forearm and left leg.
Rowell's boyfriend, Marcus Ray Precella, 19, died from gunshot wounds to his head. He was shot four times and received one graze wound from a bullet, Flores said. Besides his head, Precella was also shot in the abdomen and right arm and had blunt force head injuries.
Precella's 21-year-old cousin, Adelbert Nicolas Sanchez, died from multiple gunshot wounds to his head, neck, left arm, torso and left shoulder, Flores said.
Rachel Ann Koloroutis, 18, who neighbors say moved into the house with Rowell in recent weeks, died from a blow to the head. She also had multiple gun shot wounds to her lower abdomen and lower extremities, Flores said.
"They were looking for somebody," Rowell's neighbor, Angel Amador, said of whoever is responsible for the shootings. "The way they were shot multiple times, they wanted them dead."
Houston Police spokesman Alvin Wright said detectives continued searching for clues in the case today and had no suspects or motive.
"It's a huge puzzle and they have to put all these pieces together. So far they have some corners but no inside pieces," Wright said of homicide detectives, who spent Monday talking with neighbors and relatives of the four victims.
Amador and his neighbor, Doyle Smith, called police after entering the house and discovering the gruesome scene Friday evening.
They described a bloody scene with two of the young people still sitting on the couch, another face down in a pool of blood on the floor in front of the TV and a fourth face down behind the couch. Amador said the room was littered with beer cans and pizza boxes.
Tiffany Rowell's father, Chester Rowell, who owns the home and works as a music instructor at San Jacinto College, e-mailed The Associated Press today and said he had no comment.
Rowell and Koloroutis had been working for the past month as waitresses and bartenders at the adult entertainment establishment Club Exotica near Almeda Mall, but resisted invitations to become dancers because they were too bashful, co-workers said. When they failed to show up for work Friday night, co-workers called them all evening, but got no answer.
Precella's aunt, Yolanda Romero, said he was a good person, who struggled but was doing well for himself.
In March 2001, Precella pleaded guilty to burglary of a vehicle and was placed on probation for 18 months, according to court records.
A friend of Rowell's, Kyle Clement, said he had seen Rowell, Precella and Koloroutis two days before they were shot.
He said Rowell was a sweet girl.
"She never had a bad bone in her body," Clement told Houston television station KTRK. "She always had a smile for everybody."
But Clement said he believed the trio had some shady acquaintances.
"I know they were messed up with some bad people," he said. "I know especially Marcus was messed up with some bad people."
Precella's aunt, Yolanda Romero, said Sunday her nephew was a good person who struggled to graduate from an alternative school but ultimately did in 2000.
"He was with Tiffany for almost four years," she said. "They were inseparable."
Romero said her nephew often stayed at the home. Rowell's neighbors said over the weekend that Tiffany Rowell lost her mother to cancer and Chester Rowell remarried, but allowed his daughter to remain at the home so she could graduate with her friends from Clear Lake High School. They said Rowell checked in on his daughter.
Charles Rowell, who neighbors said was out of town, did not immediately return a phone message left at the Clear Lake home, where neighbors Angel Amador and Doyle Smith said they found his daughter and Precella still sitting on the couch, both with bullet wounds. Amador said Koloroutis was found face down in a pool of blood in front of the TV, which was still on. Sanchez was found behind the couch, also shot, neighbors said.
Romero said her nephew was happy and didn't express any concerns to her.
"He struggled but he succeeded," she said. "No matter how hard he was trying he was doing the best to do good."
Precella pleaded guilty in March 2001 to burglary of a vehicle and was placed on probation for 18 months, according to court records.
Amador described Tiffany Rowell, who he has known since she was 10, as a polite girl who didn't cause any problems.
Koloroutis' home phone number was unlisted and her parents could not be reached for comment Sunday. Sanchez also has an unlisted number.
Associated Press and the Houston Chronicle contributed to this report.

Rachel Ann Koloroutis, 18 ...
Marcus Ray Precella, 19 ...
Tiffany Nichole Rowell, 18
Adelbert Nicholas Sanchez, 21

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