Murder Mansion Mystery

Bruce Rouse was born in 1936 into a Libertyville family that had been in the area since 1880; his grandfather had been mayor, and his father owned one of the first gas stations in Mundelein. Bruce started out pumping gas in the family business, opened his first station before he was twenty-one, and in 1955 made $80,000 in a year by fitting car air conditioning in the corner of his garage. He married Darlene Stenland, six years his junior, as soon as she finished high school in 1959. this part of the story is covered for now By the 1970s Bruce owned several gas stations, property and real estate, a share of a cable television company and interests in a concrete firm and a used car business, with a personal fortune of about $3 million.

In 1974 the family bought a thirteen-room mansion on seven and a half acres at North Milwaukee Avenue in Libertyville, in the Bull Creek subdivision. They added an enclosed swimming pool, stables for Robin's two horses and a game room with arcade machines. The interior was said to lack any decorating flair and to feel cluttered. Bruce worked at least sixteen hours a day and was rarely home; Darlene played bridge, bowled at four o'clock every day and met friends for coffee at Miss Alice's restaurant on Main Street. Neighbours described a family in which everyone went their own way, with a veneer of wealth covering constant friction.

Kurt had been a good student and a state runner-up wrestler at 167 pounds, but after high school he did nothing. His parents wanted him in the army, and when he refused they moved him into the coach house behind the main house. details of the account remain covered until revealed Robin was her father's favourite and did well at school.

On 4 June 1980 Bruce and Darlene played golf with a family friend, John Feney. Darlene told him she was afraid of Kurt and that she and Bruce were going to change the locks and put him out. The next day, 5 June, Kurt argued with his mother about the army again. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now

At about 12.30 a.m. on 6 June, someone entered the master bedroom at the north end of the house. Darlene was shot point blank between the eyes with a 16-gauge shotgun, which took the top of her head off. Bruce woke, was shot in the jaw so that his lower face was destroyed, then beaten with the butt of the gun and stabbed six times in the chest. The couple were covered with a red, white and blue sheet. A trail of blood led upstairs and stopped at the landing.

At 8.30 that morning Robin was woken by a call from her father's gas station employees, who wondered why he had not arrived. details of the account remain covered until revealed Officers found the bodies and searched the grounds, and a policeman pointed a gun at Kurt as he came out of the coach house. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it All three children said they had heard nothing. Darlene's rings and Bruce's wallet with $300 were untouched, but the bedroom looked ransacked and about six guns were missing from the house. The family dog, a black lab, had not barked. Bruce's car was covered in blood and its windscreen wipers were still running at full speed, although it had not been raining when he came home; a thunderstorm did not reach Libertyville until about 3 a.m., so the car had been driven after that.

Robin told a deputy that one of her brothers had done it, and at least one officer said she named Kurt. this part of the story is covered for now Two days after the murders Kurt rang the sheriff's office to ask for his mother's 1973 Cadillac, a larger allowance and permission to move to California. details of the account remain covered until revealed The wills left the $3 million estate in trust with Lake Forest Bank, divided equally among the children at twenty-one, and the children were also the beneficiaries of $900,000 in life insurance.

On 24 June a security guard watching the empty house was clubbed unconscious. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it In October a surveyor spotted plastic bags in the Des Plaines River about four miles from the house and 900 feet from a bridge carrying Illinois Highway 60. Divers found a 16-gauge shotgun, two spent shells, about half a dozen unfired shells, clothing, a woman's watch, costume jewellery and Darlene's purse with her driving licence, along with the missing guns. The guns had been wiped clean of fingerprints. A witness came forward to say he had seen Bruce's car on the bridge on the night of the murders and a figure throwing bags into the water. The knife was never found. In December 1981 the children settled with American United Insurance Company for nearly $250,000 each, paid on 15 January 1982.

The house was sold in 1981 and resold to men connected with the Chicago mafia, who opened a casino with blackjack and craps tables, two cocktail lounges and valet parking. In May 1982 the bookmaker Robert Plummer was strangled and beaten to death in the stairway; his body was found a week later in the boot of his wife's car at the Holiday Inn. this part of the story is covered for now The house was now known as Murder Mansion.

Robin was killed on 31 August 1983 when her car hit a utility pole in Racine, Wisconsin, after another vehicle swerved into her lane. Kurt took his inheritance to northern California, married and bought 75 acres outside San Francisco, where he lived in a trailer. details of the account remain covered until revealed He married Francis Dobbins, bought a house at Petronia Street, and lost it after they separated in 1991.

In 1995 Lake County reopened the case. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now He said he had not planned to kill his father, but shot him when he woke, then beat him and stabbed him six times, before driving to the bridge over the Des Plaines River and throwing the guns and his mother's purse into the water. He said his brother and sister knew nothing. Asked whether he was sorry his parents were dead, he said "yes and no".

details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed The empty house burned down in 2002 in a laundry-room fire, was ruled accidental and was demolished the following year.