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Thread: Drew A. Rose Sentenced to LWOP in 2019 PA Slaying of Virginia and Roger Houck

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    Drew A. Rose Sentenced to LWOP in 2019 PA Slaying of Virginia and Roger Houck


    Virginia and Roger Houck




    Prosecutors seek death penalty in Palmer Township double killing that they say included torture


    By Riley Yates
    Morning Call

    Northampton County prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a man charged with the arson killings of a 97-year-old bedridden woman and her son in Palmer Township.

    Authorities say Drew A. Rose, 38, of Bethlehem, needed rent money last year when he hatched a plot to rob the ailing Virginia Houck at her home. He is accused of strangling her 61-year-old son, Roger Houck, then returning hours later and burning her alive in a blaze that destroyed the house.

    On Friday, Rose was arraigned by Judge Jennifer Sletvold on charges that include homicide, arson, robbery and abuse of a corpse. Prosecutors formally notified Rose that they will seek his execution if he is convicted of premeditated murder.

    Pennsylvania allows the death penalty in cases of first-degree murder with at least one of 18 aggravating circumstances. Rose’s notice cites several of those factors, saying he had multiple victims and killed in commission of several felonies. With Virginia Houck, prosecutors also say the way she died amounted to torture, and that Rose killed her because she was a witness to her son’s slaying.

    “There was as many aggravating circumstances in this case as I’ve seen,” said District Attorney Terry Houck, who is not related to the victims.

    Defense attorney Matthew Potts declined to comment after the hearing.

    Rose was arrested after a seven-month investigation hampered by the extensive damage that the Jan. 4, 2019, fire dealt to Virginia Houck’s Stephens Street house. Police said Rose is the son of a former caretaker of Virginia
    Houck, didn’t have money for his rent, and knew the elderly woman was often at home alone.

    After the blaze, the Houcks’ bodies were discovered severely burned and unrecognizable in the basement. Virginia Houck was bound at the head and died of smoke inhalation and burns, authorities said. Roger Houck, a Boeing employee who was visiting from Seattle, was bound at the feet.

    Rose was charged after his now ex-girlfriend, Amanda Rouselle, told authorities that he admitted to the killings after she confronted him with suspicions that he was involved, according to the arrest affidavit.

    Rose allegedly confessed to Rouselle that he strangled Roger Houck in the afternoon of Jan. 3, 2019, then returned to the home and set it on fire, killing Virginia Houck, police said.

    https://www.mcall.com/news/police/mc...vdq-story.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  2. #2
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    Man pleads guilty in Palmer Township slayings, fire

    By Jaccil Farris
    WFMZ News

    EASTON, Pa. - A man has pleaded guilty in a brutal double homicide and arson case in Northampton County.

    Drew Rose pleaded guilty Friday morning in the deaths of Roger Houck, 61, and Houck's 97-year-old mother, Virginia Houck.

    The guilty plea takes the death penalty off the table, and Rose was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

    The Houcks' family was in court during the back-and-forth hearing Friday morning. They told the court that Roger was a dedicated son, and Virginia was a loving woman, who would've wanted them to pray for Rose, but the family said they are not there yet.

    Rose also took the stand and apologized, but the judge said he hears no remorse for the deaths and arson.

    Rose went to Virginia Houck's Palmer Township home on the afternoon of January 3, 2019. He knew she was bedridden and lived alone because Rose's mother had been her caretaker up until a few months prior.

    However, Roger Houck was also at the home as he was visiting his mother from out of town, and Rose demanded Roger order him items online. Houck declined, so Rose punched him in the stomach, then strangled him to death.

    Rose returned in the early-morning hours of January 4, dragged Houck's body downstairs, then dragged Virginia Houck, who was still alive, downstairs as well and poured gasoline around the bodies before setting the house on fire, authorities allege.

    The fire engulfed the home, killing Virginia Houck.

    Rose was charged in August 2019 with homicide, arson, and related charges.

    Prosecutors had been seeking the death penalty in the case, calling it an "egregious scenario" with "multiple aggravators."

    https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/lehig...8c65e271c.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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