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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, 2003UPDATED: 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.
Thanks for the update.
Ugly crime.