A man who inherited millions when his parents were murdered 16 years ago was convicted Saturday of killing them over an argument about military school.
William Rouse, 31, was 15 when he shot his parents in the bedroom of their mansion. He faces life in prison. Both a sister and older brother were home that night; police never learned what happened from either sibling.The June 6, 1980, murder of Bruce and Darlene Rouse went unsolved until Rouse was picked up by Florida police last fall as a robbery suspect.
He was living on a houseboat in Key West, having squandered his share of the $2 million fortune his father made with a chain of gas stations.
In a videotaped confession, Rouse said he killed his parents after a confrontation with his mother over his drug use in which she threatened to send him to military school.
As his parents slept, Rouse crept into the bedroom with a shotgun and shot his mother point-blank, then turned the gun on his awakened father.
Prosecutor Michael Waller did not seek the death penalty because of Rouse's age at the time.