Snapped: Women Who Murder - William Rouse

Episode Date: August 18, 2024

The truth behind the brutal deaths of a prominent and wealthy couple in Libertyville, IL, remains dormant until 15 years later, when a new police task force exposes a murderer that let money remove their sense of consequence.Season 27 Episode 23Originally aired: August 23, 2020Watch full episodes of Snapped for FREE on the Oxygen app: https://oxygentv.app.link/WatchSnappedPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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We talk more than your fantasy group chat, so buckle up and join me for a good laugh all season long. Watch the Offensive Line on YouTube and listen on the Wondry app or wherever you get your podcasts. Their family history was a story of humble beginnings, hard work, and huge successes. It seems like he was just a classic overachiever. My dad was really generous. They were able to take success in one business and turn it into others.

We're looking at the American dream. But one spring morning, the dream was shattered. When the sheet was pulled away, they could see the devastation. The nature of the killings was so brutal, so bloody, so violent. It was like waking up into a nightmare. As investigators search through the emotional wreckage, a killer remains hidden in the shadows, free to strike again. Obviously we were looking at someone that was extremely troubled.

Rumors started that they had ran her off the road or affected the car in some way as to cause the accident. And a community exposes the root of all evil. Money tends to remove a sense of consequence. It did resemble mob hits. Took 16 guys and put it up to her head. He said, he started to expose the devil yesterday. Let's bury him today. Music June 6, 1980, Libertyville, Illinois.

An affluent suburb north of Chicago. Shortly after 8 a.m., the local fire department receives an urgent call. Tom Garvin, who was at that time an assistant chief, he and I were in the station. It was early morning when we got a call from the police department. Tom turned to me and said that we were going to the Rouse House that was owned by Bruce and Darlene Rouse, who were big names in the community. At first, all anyone knows is that there has been a reported shooting.

It's not a town where there was crime. So shooting could mean a number of things. It could mean accidental. It just didn't occur to us what we were walking into. First responders are greeted by two of the couple's three children, 16-year-old Robin Rouse and her 15-year-old brother Billy. Billy was on the phone. Robin pointed us to the master bedroom and said mom and dad had been shot.

She was screaming. The master bedroom was down a hall. And when you entered the bedroom, Darlene was in the nearest position on the bed. First thing you see, and it's almost surreal because it doesn't look like a person. It almost looks like a doll. Her head is in Kurdish at the last.

[♪ dramatic music playing over radio transmission and radio transmission in background. 38-year-old Darlene Rouse is dead. Lying beside her is the bloody body of her 44-year-old husband, Bruce. Tom proceeded over to Bruce's side and told me that he's gone too. I've been on thousands of calls, and many of them have been brutal, but none quite as brutal as this one. Bruce Rouse's path to prominence wasn't a story of rags to riches. Born in 1936, Bruce's family ran a successful automotive business in Mundelein, Illinois. Bruce's father had a gas station that was established in 1930-something.

It was a big standard oil with a car wash, gas pump, solder repair. And then as the kids grew up, they worked for the dad. Like his parents, Bruce had ambition and a strong work ethic. Eventually, he decided to strike out on his own in the nearby community of Libertyville. We worked as a bartender and driving tow trucks. That was probably his end to the automotive business,

is driving the tow trucks, because it can be lucrative. Eventually, Mr. Rouse was a successful businessman. He had a gas station right in downtown Libertyville. He also had another auto-related business that was a couple of miles west of there. My father had another auto-related business that was a couple miles west of there. My father had the gift to gab. He got along with people very, very well, very personable. From the beginning, Bruce wanted more than a successful business. He also wanted a family.

In 1959, he married his high school sweetheart, Darlene Stenland. My father was the youngest in his family, and she was the oldest. So she's, you know, used to taking care of the younger siblings, and he's used to being the baby of the family. So there was a dynamic there, you know, that worked in some ways. And, yeah, they fell in love. In 1960, the couple welcomed their firstborn son, Kurt. Three years later, they had a daughter, Robin, followed by another son, Billy.

Bruce I would describe as more of a blue collar, hard working guy. Kind of left, you know, the family, the rearing of the family, the household to Darlene. Even though my mom could be tough on us, she was very protective. You can count on her. As the family grew, so did Bruce's financial portfolio. He was able to purchase real estate, and he invested in local cable TV. So he was able to take success in one business and turn it into others.

In 1975, Bruce's sharp business sense allowed him to move his family into an eye-catching 13-room colonial home. We did a lot of upgrades, fixed up the rec room. My mom put carpets down and did the walls, and she liked doing that kind of stuff. It was a multi-story house, long driveway leading in. It was set in a place where everyone could see it,

just off Milwaukee Avenue, near Highway 137. It was on six acres. We put in an indoor pool. We had pool parties. My parents would have parties there. Family get-togethers. My dad was really generous. I think when we look at the Rouse family, we're looking at the American Dream. For the Rouse children, maintaining the perfect lifestyle wasn't always easy. I grew up with the threat of being sent to military school, which, you know, my grades weren't very good, so no military school probably would have taken me. Kurt's appearance was pretty wild at the time. He had a great big bushy beard and wild bushy hair.

After graduating from high school, Kurt moved out of the family home, but he didn't go far. There was a garden house down at the bottom of the property. I moved my waterbed down there and my musical equipment was loud. So I could have the freedom of playing loud music down there. By contrast, Kurt's sister Robin was excelling at a local prep school.

I don't know that she was so favored. It's just she just didn't get in trouble. The cops were never calling. We got Robin down here, you know. And... Their youngest, Billy, was trying to figure out where he fit in. His struggles at school became struggles at home. I think Billy had some learning disabilities, maybe a little dyslexia.

And also he was one of the kids who smoked cigarettes and who got in trouble, you know what I mean? Probably a little mouthy in the back of the class. I mean, the track that kids like the Rouse kids are supposed to be on is the track towards going to a good college and being successful. You can take over this really successful family business, but, you know, you got to meet halfway. To keep his parents happy, Billy worked at his father's gas station. Bruce was setting up to give Billy basically his own company. Maybe Bruce was the owner, but it was going to give Billy some responsibility to do something because that was going to be

Billy's company one day. Bruce Rouse was determined to set his kids up for success. Every single day he was at work by 5.30 in the morning. He always had the business open. He had the coffee on. But Bruce's daily routine came to an end on the fateful morning of June 6, 1980. His trusted employee Richard Jewell got to work that morning and he noticed that Mr. Rouse was not at work. So he called the Rouse home and Billy said, hold on for a minute. Billy puts the phone down and within a minute or so, Richard hears pandemonium.

He hears screaming. And Billy comes back to the phone and tells Richard, my parents are lying on a pool of blood. Now, investigators are surveying the gruesome scene in Bruce and Darlene's bedroom. It was very clear that a gun had been put to Darlene's face. Someone pulled the trigger, and then shot across her and hit the father. We covered the bodies, just pulled the bed sheet over the faces,

and secured the room. While waiting for police to arrive, first responders learned that Bruce and Darlene Rouse's 20-year-old son Kurt also lives on the property. I was directed to go get Kurt in the caretaker's cottage. I had just witnessed a crime scene that I was still trying to get my head around. It was still somewhat surreal. I did not know what to expect when I walked into the cottage.

Coming up, police start with a suspect close to home. There was a police officer with a gun aimed at my head. I'm like, what are you talking about? I was very confused. But they quickly learn this investigation is far from over. It just didn't seem that justice was moving forward on this. It was this tragic mystery that had gripped Chicago. On June 6, 1980, authorities in Libertyville, Illinois, found wealthy community members, Bruce Rouse and his wife,

Darlene, murdered inside the master bedroom of their sprawling mansion. It was brutal. It was not something you see or not anything that you'll readily forget. The couple's 15-year-old son, Billy, directs first responders to a cottage on the estate where his 20-year-old brother, Kurt, has been staying.

I was sleeping and my brother woke me up. I think he said, Mom and Dad are dead. I looked behind him. There was a police officer with a gun aimed at my head. I'm like, what are you talking about? I was very confused. I'm like, what are you talking about? I was very confused. When we told him, he was just, couldn't believe it.

Couldn't believe it. It was like waking up into a nightmare. We walked up to the house, and we were there to a couple hours answering questions. Kurt said he was with his girlfriend that night that he was not at home. We drove probably down to Lake Michigan and hung out by the lake for a while and got home. Geez, I don't know, 10, 11 o'clock or something like that. He didn't know when this happened whether he would have been in the caretaker's cottage or whether he would have been out with his girlfriend.

But he said he had no information. Detectives also questioned Robin and Billy. Robin had been at a school dance that night and she didn't get home till very early in the morning. So her statement was that she had no information because she wasn't at home that night. Billy said that he had been out with friends and had gotten home about midnight and had gone to bed and had not heard a thing until he was woken up by the phone call the next morning. My assistant chief asked the kids if they had heard anything, and they said no, that

there was a big storm and they didn't hear anything last night. The thunderstorm was loud. It was pretty wild. I just, I slept through most of it. It was very plausible that someone could say they had not heard a shotgun go off inside the house because of the constant thunder and the noise going on that night. With no immediate witnesses, police focus on the crime scene. When the sheet was pulled away, they could see the devastation that had happened to both

people. With respect to Mrs. Rouse, she had been shot in the head with a shotgun. You could see the devastation that had happened to both people. With respect to Mrs. Rouse, she had been shot in the head with a shotgun. Bruce had a wound to his jaw. It looked like it was shot and probably been fired from across the bed, from Darlene's side of the bed. There was also blunt force trauma to the head, also several stab wounds in his chest. Based on the condition of the bodies, the coroner estimates the time of death for both victims between two and three o'clock that morning. With that information in mind,

investigators formulate a theory about what might have happened. One of the possibilities is that there was a burglary that went awry somehow, and that Bruce and Darlene were murdered in the course of that burglary. It's definitely a house that you could imagine somebody looking at it and thinking,

oh, if I robbed that place, I'm gonna get something. Investigators find no signs of forced entry, but the family says the house was always kept unlocked. I don't know that anybody in the family actually carried a key. It was just that kind of feeling in Libertyville that you could just leave your doors open and no one was going to wander in your house. Investigators notice evidence supporting the theory of a possible robbery.

Shotgun pellets embedded in the fronts of the dresser drawers would indicate that the dresser drawers were closed at the time that they were killed. Those dresser drawers have been pulled out. The bedroom appeared to be ransacked. Police begin questioning neighbors, but no one reports seeing or hearing anything suspicious. The neighbors said we could not have told the difference between some gunshot blast and the constant thunder that we heard throughout the night. For the people of Libertyville, news of the double homicide seems impossible to believe. The notion that a couple, a middle-aged couple, successful couple, well known in the community, sound asleep in their beds, attacked, slain in their beds, just doesn't happen.

While detectives continue to comb the neighborhood, the Rouse children wait outside their family estate. Out on the lawn, there are all kinds of people there. You know, relatives and look-alook-y-loos and neighbors and people that worked for my dad. The striking image from that that I think most people around here remember is the police cars, the crime scene tape, and Kurt and Billy sitting on the lawn cross-legged, just watching it all happen, kind of sitting in shock on the grass. Within hours, other members of the Rouse family arrive

and remove the three siblings from the public eye. When the investigators asked the children to come down to be interviewed, they did what any family would do do and hire lawyers and allow your lawyers to direct the family and do the right thing for the children. Over the following weeks, investigators interview everyone they can find who knew or worked for the Rouse family. Unfortunately, the interviews generate no new leads and the case hits a standstill.

At that time, it was still this tragic mystery that had gripped Chicago. And then something interesting happened about six weeks after this double homicide. Billy was now living with an aunt and an uncle. The aunt called one of the lead detectives and said, hey, you know, we were talking to Billy. He was hoping that he could sit down and talk to you about the case.

Two lead detectives went over to the house. And then at one point, Billy said, can I see the photographs, the crime scene photographs? And the officer said, Billy, you're not gonna wanna look at these. And Billy said, no, no, I wanna try to help solve this case. Then he came to a picture of a chair

that was on his mom's side of the bed. And he said, look at that. My mom put her purse on that chair every night before she went to bed and her purse is missing. Then he comes to the next picture which is a picture of a dresser on his mother's side of the room and the dresser is fairly close to the chair and he said look at that my mom always kept her jewelry box on the far left side of that dresser and the jewelry box is missing.

Billy's statement is leading the police to believe again that maybe this is a residential burglary gone bad. Investigators asked Billy about other items that might be missing from the home, specifically Mr. Rouse's gun collection. Mr. Rouse was a hunter, and he didn't keep his guns in a safe. He kept them in an open closet up on the second floor. With this new information from Billy, investigators immediately execute a search of the house. The police found that all of Mr. Rouse's shotguns and rifles had been taken from the home.

The next day, we'd searched some of the local bodies of water for missing guns and jewelry. And we walked part of the Displanes River that was nearest the house. It was muddy and dark and nothing was recovered. There were searches of local areas looking for any evidence at all. Obviously pawn shops, other places that stolen items would turn up were checked, were looked at and there were no leads. Nothing turned up. It just didn't seem that justice was moving forward on this. And in fact, the case kind of withered for lack of evidence.

Coming up, a huge discovery breeds much-needed life into an investigation on the brain. He thinks, holy mackerel, these are the proceeds from that homicide. And rumors swirl about a sinister connection to a criminal underground. What else would explain this sudden rise to prominence was he involved in organized crime Hey, podcast listeners, have you heard you can listen to your favorite podcasts ad free? That's good news. With Amazon Music, you have access to the largest catalog of ad free top podcasts included with your Prime membership. To start listening, download the Amazon Music app for free or go to amazon.com slash ad

free podcasts. That's amazon.com slash ad free podcasts to catch up on the latest episodes without the ads. Experience in person the unsettling true stories behind the Dr. Death podcast at Exhibit C Live presents Dr. Death, A Closer Look. This live tour experience brings you face to face with accounts of doctors who caused irreparable harm, the system that failed to protect their patients, and the heroes who stopped them. You'll hear from me, Laura Beal, reporter and host of the Dr. Death podcast, along with our panel of experts and whistleblowers. It's hosted by Suspects, Matthew Schaer. It's an important evening with one of the most iconic true crime podcasts of all time.

Don't miss your chance to be part of the conversation. Exhibit C Live presents Dr. Death, A Closer Look. Tickets go on sale August 9th, so get your truest true crime fans together and get tickets before they sell out. On October 13th, 1980, over four months after the murders of Bruce and Darlene Rouse, investigators get their first big break. There were surveyors at the Displanes River. They had to mark the center of the Displanes Riverbed.

As the surveyor was walking in the river right down the middle. He tripped over something, and he picks it up and pulls it to the bank. What he finds is that these are very large, hefty garbage bags. Inside, the surveyor finds a jewelry box and a woman's purse. He opens up the purse and there's a wallet inside. There's $200 in the wallet. There's credit cards in the wallet.

And he looks at the name. And it says, Darlene Ross. And he thinks, holy mackerel. These are the proceeds from that homicide. My desk at City News Bureau got a tip that there was police activity at the Displanes River and Half Day Road in unincorporated Lake County and I went up there. When I got there I saw Sheriff Brown, a handful of detectives, one other reporter and a dive team. In addition to the two bags with the jewelry box and

with the purse, all of Mr. Rouse's guns were also found. Police recover four shotguns and a rifle and turn them over to the Northern Illinois Crime Laboratory for analysis. Although analysts do not find any fingerprints, investigators have a new lead. do not find any fingerprints, investigators have a new lead. It became apparent that whoever took these items simply took them to make this look like a residential burglary gun ban. Because if somebody was actually there to actually benefit from the things stolen, wouldn't they have perhaps taken the rifles and guns and sold them to somebody? Wouldn't they have taken the rifles and guns and sold them to somebody, when they have taken the cash?

That indicates to us that the motivation for the murders probably wasn't financial. There was some other motivating factor behind the murders. With this new discovery, the rumor mill of Libertyville begins to swirl with speculation. Looking at the burglary as a cover-up for a murder, The rumor mill of Libertyville begins to swirl with speculation. Looking at the burglary as a cover-up for a murder, that could happen in a mob. For a long time, the Chicago Mafia, the organized crime family, the outfit as it's called here

in Chicago, had had a strong foothold in Lake County. And there had been a number of murders in Lake County over the years that were attributed to the mob. So is it possible that the Rousers somehow were connected to some sort of illegal activity? I mean, what else would explain this sudden rise to prominence? I never heard Bruce was connected or anything like that, but he was kind of an entrepreneurial business guy. And so I think there was just sort of a sense that that's a possibility. In this investigation, there was no stone left unturned. Okay, Bruce's business records, telephone records, bank records,

everything was followed up to the very end. There's not a speck of evidence that Mr. Rouse was involved in any shady business dealings or that he was ever involved with any member of the mafia. Investigators turned their attention to another growing rumor. The community suspected Kurt, the disheveled, hippie, older son. I know everyone thought that he had something to do with it. You know their main focus was on Kurt, you know, just because of I guess his

lifestyle. My parents weren't thrilled that I had long hair and a beard and that I, you know, wasn't working as much as my mom wish I would. You know, wasn't working as much as my mom wished I would. You know, there's some animosity. But I'm a good guy. I'm not a violent person. No matter how they try to paint me as this awful person. At the time of the incident, I kind of remember being kind of stuporous and disbelieving. There was a lot of friction in the family.

Stories were going on around the town. He had to be the one that did it. He didn't get along with his parents. He argued with his parents. Just look at it. For investigators, Kurt Rouse remains a viable suspect. There were also whispers in the community about his younger brother, Billy.

Billy was a kid. He was a junior high and high school kid. But we found out that he had his issues with authority. There were rumors that he had vandalized with a couple other kids. Billy was rebelling in his own way. Billy was drinking,lling in his own way. Billy was drinking, was using drugs,

was hanging out with other kids that his parents didn't necessarily, particularly Darlene, didn't necessarily approve of. I think what you see in sort of wealthy suburban kids is what you can maybe see in the Rouse kids, which is a sense of entitlement, just a sense of they could do what they wanted. There had been some discipline issues between Mrs. Rouse and Billy. She thought that he was on the wrong track.

In terms of the reaction to the community, you had folks that believed it was one of the kids or more than one of the kids. You had folks that specifically thought Kurt was involved. You had folks that specifically thought Billy was involved. If one of the Rouse boys did murder their parents, investigators know it would be hard to prove. Much physical evidence in a crime scene has to do with transference. Either transference of fingerprints, transference of DNA evidence, you know, a variety of types of fibers,

for example, off your clothes. You know, if it were one of the children or a family member, there's a reason why their fingerprints, why their DNA would be in their parents' bedroom. With none of the evidence collected from the River Search or from the Rouse home, providing a definitive link to a suspect, the case stalls again.

Years pass, and with their parents' inheritance, the Rouse children grow up and try to move on. I lived with my aunt and uncle for a while and headed for California, where it was nice and warm. I was getting a check once a month. I was living on that, basically. But then, after that, I'd moved to Iowa and trying to forget about it, just get on with my life.

And, you know, if you dwell on something like that, it makes you, it destroys you really. There was an insurance policy on the parents' lives. And at the conclusion of the settlement of the insurance policy, each of the three children inherited money from that insurance policy. Each of the Rouse kids inherited $300,000, but one of them will not live long enough

to spend it. Coming up, tragedy strikes again. All of those things that had been in the news two years ago came back out again. And a seemingly unrelated crime sheds new light on old wounds. They robbed two banks wearing the same clothes. So we thought, let's take a shot at talking to them. Two years after the murders of Bruce and Darlene Rouse, another one of the Rouse children comes forward with a stunning development in the case. Robin calls them and says that she wants to come in and talk.

She indicates that she believes it was one of the brothers, but she didn't say which one. That could mean that it's simply what she believes. Or one of her brothers may have confided in her and told her that he was the one that killed her parents and this is why it happened. That's potentially a great break in the investigation. That's potentially a great break in the investigation. But on August 27, 1983, there's a tragic turn of events in Racine, Wisconsin, where Robin attends college.

There were reports that they had offered her immunity. I don't know why they would give her immunity, what she knew that she would need immunity for, but the day before she was supposed to talk to the police, that night she was in a car accident, was killed. Robin Rouse was driving on another rainy night. She lost control of her car and hit a pole. The common story in the public was that she was murdered.

You know, that Robin was going to talk about who killed her parents and that they killed her. And once again, you know, the common bad guy in public opinion is Kurt Rouse. And once again, the common bad guy in public opinion is Kurt Rouse. There was a Iowa State police officer at my door. Informing me your sister's dead. I don't think it was so much about telling me as just knowing where I was. I was living in Iowa. I wasn't even in the same state.

Right? But just that's the way people think. Law enforcement came out pretty quickly afterwards and said that it was in fact an accident. There was an expectation perhaps that she could help solve the case, and her death ended that speculation. In the years following Robin's death, the dark legacy of the Rouse family murders and the mansion on Milwaukee Avenue continues to grow. I remember people talking about that building as the Rouse murder mansion.

It sat vacant, almost like some sort of a haunted house that was just a terrible eerie reminder of the crimes that had occurred there. For more than a decade after the murders, the Rouse case remains unsolved. Through the years, the investigators would take a look at this case from time to time to take a look at it. Is there any new evidence? Are there people that we can go out and interview, re-interview? Can we look at the evidence itself to see

are there any technological changes that may give you a piece of evidence that links it to a certain person? In May 1995, a newly formed Lake County task force begins reviewing the case. Kurt at that time was living in California, and Billy was living in Key West, Florida. As this cold case review is going on, Billy gets charged with armed robbery. He was with a couple of other guys, and they robbed two banks wearing the same clothes, and Billy was brought in, and he admitted to hiding the gun. A decision was made to go down and take another look at Billy Rouse.

The focus wasn't necessarily to sit down with Billy Rouse. It was more of to rebuild Billy's life over the past 15 years and to talk to everyone that he had come in contact with to see if that at any time he had said something, something that could give us a lead or could further the case. Through interviews with known associates of Billy Rouse, investigators construct a timeline of his adult life.

Billy went down to Florida and kind of lived kind of the Margaritaville life. I talked to his ex-wife, and they were kind of a young party couple. They got married, got a house, had a kid, but his drinking got worse. By the time he was arrested, he had no money, was living in a shack, and was really at the end of the line.

So after talking to all of these people and coming up with nothing, we're in Key West. We try one last chance to see, is Billy going to talk to us? Will he sit down and will he talk to us? On October 12, 1995, Libertyville investigators arrive at the Monroe County Sheriff's Office to interview 31-year-old Billy Rouse about the night his wealthy parents died. We arranged for Sergeant Scott to conduct a polygraph examination of Billy that afternoon. Billy was very open, was talking to him very concisely about what had happened that night of June 5th into June 6th of 1980.

Investigators are astonished when Billy's account of that night now includes a shocking new detail. Billy had taken Sergeant Scott to the point where he was standing in the doorway of his parents' bedroom with a shotgun in his hand. At that point, Billy had broken down, didn't want to continue the conversation. Billy said that he wanted to get some things clear

in his head before he talked to us and he would talk to us the next day. On day number two, as the officers were walking towards the interview rooms, Billy is now being escorted in from the jail at the same moment. And both camps are walking towards the hallway and they meet outside of the interview room. And Chuck Fagan said to Billy, Billy, you started to expose the devil yesterday. Let's bury him today. The time is 10.30 a.m.

We're in the criminal investigation division of the Monroe County Sheriff's Department in Key West, Florida. They set up the recording and then they sat down in the room. And then on tape, Billy essentially gave the full version of what had happened. Billy said that he had come in drunk that night in high, and his mom had confronted him immediately. She walked out of the room and she said, she smelled like liquor. I said, yeah, what about it? I said, I want the work. I did what I had to do. I said, yeah, what about it? I said, I went to work.

I did what I had to do. OK? And then she said, yeah, don't worry about it. You're going to be chipped off the military scope. I'm just over it. You're a fucking moron. Billy described about going up into his bedroom, about how he drank some of his dad's whiskey, which

was a common occurrence according to him, and ate some psilocybin mushrooms. And he was just angry, angry at his mother and trying to decide what he was going to do. Coming up, after 15 years, the truth comes out. He's got the gun across his leg staring at his parents. The perils of wealth, privilege and youth are finally revealed. Money tends to remove a sense of consequence.

15 years after the death of his wealthy parents in Illinois, 31-year-old Billy Rouse, who is now destitute and living in Florida, is finally ready to come clean about the night his parents were murdered when he was only 15. And then what did you decide? I said I decided I was gonna get rid of my mom. He then goes downstairs and he grabs a knife out of the kitchen. There's nobody at home at this point other than mother and father. His mom and dad are asleep in bed. I went upstairs in the rec room. I'm going through the closet.

We got the saddles out of there so I could get into there first because I'm going to go back further. I took a semi-automatic, I love that. What kind of semi-automatic though? 16 gauge. Okay. He says he walks into the doorway of the bedroom and he's staring at his parents. His statement is then he sits Indian style,

his words, Indian style, on the floor and he's got the gun across his lap, staring at his parents. And then he says he gets up and he goes over to his mom's side of the room. Took 16 gags and put it up to her head. Okay. And the trigger went off. I don't remember pulling it, but the trigger went off.

Okay. Then what did you do, Bill? My dad sat up real quick, looked at me, and... trigger went off again. He said his dad goes back on the bed, and he starts to convulse. And Billy said he didn't like seeing that, so he goes around to his dad's side of the bed and takes the butt of the gun,

and he hits him in his forehead as hard as he can. And his father was still convulsing. I didn't want him in the f***ing misery. I grabbed the f***ing knife, I stabbed him, and it went till he quit moving. Then I figured, man, I gotta... How'd I do this, man? What the f*** do I gotta do this?

Billy said after he had killed his parents, he was obviously confused and trying to figure out what to do. So he thought that he would make it look like there was a burglary. Billy tells police he dumped the evidence in the Displanes River, then drove home. Are you sorry that your parents are dead, Bill? Yes and no. Can you explain that? What do you mean yes? And then what do you mean no? Yes because...

the s*** I had to deal with then was gone. And that was kind of a relief? For me and then no because it really s*** up my sister. And what about you Bill? For me, and then, you know, because it really f***ed up my sister. And what about you, Bill? I fell in an outcast. Why? You know?

Because I could never do anything right. It was the last thing I would have guessed that he was going to confess to this crime. I never thought my brother could be guilty of this crime. Never once, you know. I love my mom and dad. I love my brother and sister. When it came out in 1995 that Billy confessed to the killings,

I think there was a sense of relief. But the sense of innocence that had existed in Libertyville for so long was shattered with this murder. On August 10, 1996, Billy Rouse is found guilty of murder. But questions remain. What was deep down going on that a 15-year-old boy felt compelled to kill his mother and his father in anger? I don't know that we'll ever know what the specifics were that led to all this. I wasn't a rich kid, but I grew up around rich kids.

And so I can remember being at that trial and hearing about that family and thinking, you know, I know who those kids are. Money tends to remove a sense of consequence. I got the impression that, yeah, he felt like he was a little bit above the law and that them having everything they could want made it easier for him to do what he did. I have no doubt that the fact that they were rich had a lot to do with it. I think it was just the right combination

of drugs and alcohol. I think the right pitch to the argument between he and his mom. I will say this, that our society absolutely fails in the area of mental health treatment. I think that this one case may be just one more example of how we failed some of our fellow citizens. I just feel sorry for my brother, regardless of what he did. Guilty, not guilty. I just feel sorry for him.

We ruined his life, we ruined mine, ruined my sisters, our relatives, you know. All of us, we just, we lost so much. Billy Rouse was sentenced to 80 years in prison. He will be eligible for parole in 2027. The Rouse family home was demolished in 2003. I'm Dan Tbersky. In 2011, something strange began to happen at the high school in Leroy, New York.

I was like at my locker and she came up to me and she was like stuttering super bad. I'm like, stop f***ing around. She's like, I can't. A mystery illness, bizarre symptoms and spreading fast. It's like doubling and tripling and it's all these girls. With a diagnosis the state tried to keep on the down low.

Everybody thought I was holding something back. Well you were holding something back intentionally. Yeah, yeah, well, yeah. No, it's hysteria. It's all in your head. It's not physical. Oh my gosh, you're exaggerating. Is this the largest mass hysteria since the witches of Salem?

Or is it something else entirely? Something's wrong here. Something's not right. Leroy was the new dateline and everyone was trying to solve the murder. A new limited series from Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios. Hysterical. Follow Hysterical on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Hysterical early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery+.