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Homicide Homes


queenwest

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does anyone ever wonder whats happens to the homes where people were killed in? are people living in them now and do they know that someone died in it? when i read the true crime books, they tell about the homes but no one ever mentions if these places were tore down or sold to someone who doesnt know the background on it. just curious.

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It does make you wonder now doesn't it.  In the house next door to me, the son shot and killed the father in the kitchen some 30 years ago.  I have often wondered if I should tell the current residents.  But I think with some things, the past should just stay in the past.

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To this day, the 1965 murders of Fred and Edwina Rogers remains Houston's bloodiest and most sensational unsolved mystery. Their bodies had been cut up into small pieces and stuffed into the refrigerator.  Their grown son Charles Rogers -- who lived with them -- became the prime suspect but nobody had any idea where he was. In fact he was so reclusive that the neighbors didn't know the Rogerses even had a son.

 

The murders happened in the Rogers' home at 1815 Driscoll St., in the Hyde Park section of the Montrose area, five blocks east of South Shepherd and three blocks south of West Gray -- behind the River Oaks Shopping Center. Check page 492-R of your handy Key Map. The Rogers house isn't there anymore. There's a townhouse there now, but the house next door has been there for a very long time. I wonder if the current residents know what happened next door to them almost 50 years ago.

 

Countless newspaper and magazine stories and several books have been written about this case over the years. It has even spilled over into the dark netherworld of Kennedy Assassination Conspiracy Lunacy.

 

With no shred of evidence, some of those moonbats believe Charles Rogers was one of Kennedy's assassins, from somewhere in Dealy Plaza or on the Grassy Knoll. In any event, he has never been found or heard of since the murders, and he was declared "officially" dead in 1975.

 

 

Edited by FilioScotia
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I never understood why people care about what happened in a house prior to the owning it. If someone had died in my house, it would probably serve as a converstation starter at parties. Even if ghosts were real, am I'm supposed to worry that one would return to haunt me even if I had nothing to do with their parting? And if it's possible for a place to be haunted... that would be an awesome money maker because I could rig webcams throughout and charge a monthly subscription for access. I'd be a millionaire in a month.

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When you sell your house you are required to disclose if anyone died in the residence. You are also required to disclose if a ghost resides in the house

I noticed that too on the disclosures when I was buying our house here. I'd guess that shows up due to a lawsuit someone filed when a real estate purchase went south. That's only based on your own knowledge, though. If the house goes through a foreclosure then the document trail goes cold and you don't find out much about the history of the house unless you do your own digging so a house could be the site a mass murder and you won't know if it goes back to the bank before you buy it.

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When you sell your house you are required to disclose if anyone died in the residence.

 

That's not really true. You probably have to disclose a murder, or a death related to the condition of the property. You do not have to disclose a natural death, suicide, terminal illness, or accident not related to the condition of the property.

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When you sell your house you are required to disclose if anyone died in the residence. You are also required to disclose if a ghost resides in the house.

 

I doubt if most people admit to a death in the house.

 

I'm pretty sure I would admit to the ghost part.

 

Wrong on both counts. 

 

Not all deaths must be disclosed.   Only deaths on the property that were not "by natural causes, suicide, or accident, unrelated to the condition of the property, occurred on the property."

 

"Ghosts" do not need to be disclosed in Texas (or almost all other states).

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thank yal for the info. i guess i read too many true crime books, i always read the ones that happen in houston, especially if it was near my old neioghborhoods. i still wonder what happened to the houses from the zabolio-duff smith murders, susan white house,issac payton sweats house, the campbell house, and we all know the hill mansion is vacant again.houston is so full of homicide history.

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In particularly grisly murders, they are in fact, torn down, but these are usually small houses. List's mansion wasn't torn down (until it burned down some ten-fifteen years later) probably because it was both huge (indoor swimming pool, anyone?) and the events surrounding List's death do not paint him as a sympathetic character, to put it lightly.

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A murder occured in a house a few years after I lived there in the late 70s early 80s, a woman was strangled with a phone cord by a male acquaintence and it still stands. When I was househunting in the mid 80s, the realtor disclosed that the previous owners died in a fire there.

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  • 1 month later...

I wouldn't have any issue with buying a house where there was a murder as long as all traces of the event were removed.

 

There are several houses throughout the city where people were once murdered. Contrary to popular belief a seller does NOT have to disclose this unless it was caused by the condition of the home. Natural causes, murder, suicide, death by AIDS or an accident not related to the condition of the home does not have to be disclosed. It would be a good idea to disclose it however especially if it was within the last 5 years. There have been cases where I buyer was able to terminate a contract due to a murder not being disclosed. My guess with most of these home is the buyers were told, but didn't care. Usually only spiritual people care about that kind of thing. Selling a house where a murder happened would probably take longer, but eventually you will find someone that doesn't care.

Edited by billyf
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To this day, the 1965 murders of Fred and Edwina Rogers remains Houston's bloodiest and most sensational unsolved mystery. Their bodies had been cut up into small pieces and stuffed into the refrigerator. Their grown son Charles Rogers -- who lived with them -- became the prime suspect but nobody had any idea where he was. In fact he was so reclusive that the neighbors didn't know the Rogerses even had a son.

The murders happened in the Rogers' home at 1815 Driscoll St., in the Hyde Park section of the Montrose area, five blocks east of South Shepherd and three blocks south of West Gray -- behind the River Oaks Shopping Center. Check page 492-R of your handy Key Map. The Rogers house isn't there anymore. There's a townhouse there now, but the house next door has been there for a very long time. I wonder if the current residents know what happened next door to them almost 50 years ago.

Countless newspaper and magazine stories and several books have been written about this case over the years. It has even spilled over into the dark netherworld of Kennedy Assassination Conspiracy Lunacy.

With no shred of evidence, some of those moonbats believe Charles Rogers was one of Kennedy's assassins, from somewhere in Dealy Plaza or on the Grassy Knoll. In any event, he has never been found or heard of since the murders, and he was declared "officially" dead in 1975.

I remember hearing this before, I know of one thats a little similar but happened at gas station. (Guy cut up his wife and stuck in the fridge) Edited by TowerSpotter
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 6 months later...

To this day, the 1965 murders of Fred and Edwina Rogers remains Houston's bloodiest and most sensational unsolved mystery. Their bodies had been cut up into small pieces and stuffed into the refrigerator.  Their grown son Charles Rogers -- who lived with them -- became the prime suspect but nobody had any idea where he was. In fact he was so reclusive that the neighbors didn't know the Rogerses even had a son.

 

The murders happened in the Rogers' home at 1815 Driscoll St., in the Hyde Park section of the Montrose area, five blocks east of South Shepherd and three blocks south of West Gray -- behind the River Oaks Shopping Center. Check page 492-R of your handy Key Map. The Rogers house isn't there anymore. There's a townhouse there now, but the house next door has been there for a very long time. I wonder if the current residents know what happened next door to them almost 50 years ago.

 

Countless newspaper and magazine stories and several books have been written about this case over the years. It has even spilled over into the dark netherworld of Kennedy Assassination Conspiracy Lunacy.

 

With no shred of evidence, some of those moonbats believe Charles Rogers was one of Kennedy's assassins, from somewhere in Dealy Plaza or on the Grassy Knoll. In any event, he has never been found or heard of since the murders, and he was declared "officially" dead in 1975.

 

This is a picture of the house at the time the murders took place.

 

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  • 4 months later...

1815 Driscoll Street was the home of Fred and Edwina Rogers. It was commonly believed that they owned the home, but in actuality it was owned by their son, Charles F. Rogers. The home was torn down in the early 70's by the City of Houston Public Health Department. It was never sold or rented after the double homicide there on Father's Day, June 20, 1965. It was already in need of serious repairs at the time of the murders.

 

By profession we are CPA's/forensic accountants. Starting in October 1997 we spent over five years researching the family, piecing together Charles Rogers' life, his friends, his associates, his business interests, and why his parents were murdered. We interviewed over 100 people that were not interviewed by the police in 1965, did extensive FOIA requests, TORA requests, and a massive amount of archival research. We reviewed crime scene photos, never published pictures, and the personal books and papers of Charles F. Rogers. Before a townhouse was built on the property we covered it with metal detectors with a well-known treasure hunter. We did extensive legal, forensic document, and historical research in order to reach our conclusions. Our book, The Ice Box Murders, was released on Amazon Kindle three weeks ago and is doing very well. In 2003, our book was a Publishers Weekly selection. It is a novel, but in substance is creative non-fiction because 85% of what is in the book is fact. The 15% represents creative license in the sense of dialog.

 

Our website for the book is http://iceboxmurders.com

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Three key pieces of evidence in our search for Charles F. Rogers and his subsequent whereabouts were: (1) the "N" registration number of his plane, (2) where he was working at the time of the murders, and (3) the layout of the City sewage/drainage system in the Hyde Park Addition in 1965.

 

We determined the "N" number of his plane through deductive reasoning and profiling. Through this process we concluded that the registration had to be in a series of 10 records. We obtained those records and we located the registration of his Cessna 140. In our profile of Charles we knew he was an "organized criminal" and that he probably took his initial pilot's license test in his own plane. He did. That registration in turn resulted in being able to determine associates before, during, and after the murders.

 

(2) HPD homicide detectives came real close to determining his employment. They looked for a water treatment company. In fact, it was a cathodic protection company.

 

(3) The sewer system and the placement of drains and gutters even played a part in the murders.

 

In researching and writing our book we concluded that Charles F. Rogers was a sane person. Yes, he had some issues, but he approached this crime in a logical, systematic manner, which made sense to him based upon the circumstances. A great deal was made at the time of the murders of "surgical skills" the murderer must have in order to perform the dissections. In fact, no thought was given to the years that Charles spent living in Shiro with his aunt and uncle. At that time it was hard not to get involved in hunting deer and butchering hogs. I recognize that sounds incredibly cold when I say that, but in interviewing Edwina's relatives none of them were surprised at what became of the toxic relationship in that family. The story of these murders actually starts in 1929 when his sister, Bettie, died. That started a cycle that was bound to end badly.

 

Read our book, "The Ice Box Murders" now available in the Amazon Kindle Store and visit our book website at http://iceboxmurders.com  It will answer many of your questions.

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When you sell your house you are required to disclose if anyone died in the residence. You are also required to disclose if a ghost resides in the house.

 

I doubt if most people admit to a death in the house.

 

I'm pretty sure I would admit to the ghost part.

 

Ghosts don't exist, so there is no need to disclose them. Defects in the property do have to be disclosed.

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If all the houses in Houston where murders have taken place were torn down, there would be a lot of vacant lots all over the city and a serious housing shortage. Bump that up to all the houses where murders and natural deaths have occurred and there would only be a half dozen houses left in the city. 

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