The boys inherited their parent’s estate. In1983 tragedy struck once again when 20-year-old Robin was killed in an unrelated car accident. Kurt, Robin and Billy split up and went to live with relatives in different states. However, without concrete evidence, or aconfession, the police were unable to link the crime to any of the children The motivecould most certainly have been financial as, between Darlene and Bruce, there wereassets of around $2 million. Wealthyrelatives formed a protective cordon of lawyers around the children and all threerefused to appear before a grand jury or attend the coroner’s inquest. The shotgun and knife were never recovered.ĭetectives had very strong opinions that one of the children, or all three, wereinvolved but were unable to produce enough evidence to bring charges. Apparently, as he was still showing signs of life, the killer then bashed his head with the butt of the gun and finished by stabbing him through the heart with a kitchen knife. Bruce was then shot in the lower face at point blank range. The killer had entered the master bedroom and shotDarlene with a 16-gauge shotgun, killing her instantly. In distress, Robin told a detective that one of her brothers was responsible. The police were immediately suspicious of the siblings. They went to the rear of the home to wake Kurt.Īll three children told detectives that they had heard nothing during the night as there had been a thunder storm which must have muffled the gunshots. Within minutes police arrived at the home and were met by Robin and Billy. A hysterical Robin called 911 and then rushed to wake her brother, Billy. It was a ghastly scene: the top of Darlene’s head had been shot off and Bruce’s lower jaw was shattered. She went to her parents’ bedroom and was horrified to find them, lifeless, under a bed sheet. Robin was surprised that her father was not up and ready to leave for work as usual. Kurt was in the guest quarters with a girlfriend and Robin was in her bedroom. When Bruce arrived home, aswas his usual behavior, he chose not to become involved in the argument. When she got home she got into an altercation with Billy about his alcohol and drug useand threatened to send him to a military school. That eveningBruce went to a Rotary Club meeting and Billy returned home where he proceeded todrink and use hashish.ĭarlene had spent the evening with friends for dinner and playing bridge. On JBruce left for work bringing Billy with him to help in theinstallation of a car spray painting booth at one of the gas stations. Twenty-year-old Kurt was also causing havoc in the Rouse household, was barred from the main house and went to live in separate guest quarters at the rear of the residence. He had frequent outbursts of rage, was expelled from school after going on a vandalism spree and setting off the school fire alarm. Darlene struggled to raise three children almost single-handedly and by the time the boys reached their teens they were drinking, using drugs and had meagre respect for authority at home or at school.īy 1980 both boys were extremely troublesome but it was 15-year-old Billy who seemed the more disturbed.
With the success of Bruce’s business, the family moved to a 13-room mansionand it seemed they were living the “American Dream.” However, financial success came at a very high price and meant Bruce was spending more and more time away from home. Within a few years two more children followed, daughter Robin and another son, William, called Billy. Almost immediately Darlene became pregnant and gave birth to her first son, Kurt, when she was just 18. He met and fell in love with Darlene and they were married after she graduated from High School in 1959. In 1957, at the age of 21, Bruce inherited his father’s gas station and within a few years had acquired a chain of gas stations, had invested in real estate, a Ready-Mix-concrete business and a partnership in a cable television station. Bruce Rouse, 44, often spoke of his family that had settled in the area in the 1880s and were prominent in business and social circles. The Rouse family had long, established roots in Libertyville, Illinois, an affluent suburb of Chicago. Fifteen years later, after squandering his $1 million inheritance, he was convicted of their murders. In an affluent suburban Chicago mansion, 15-year-old Billy Rouse murdered his mother and father in their master bedroom.
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