The Ice Box Murders

 

The date was June 25th, 1965 in Houston Texas and Fred and Edwina Rogers hadn't answered their telephone in three days. Their nephew Marvin Marlin was growing concerned about them so he went to their house located at 1815 Driscoll street. Oddly, he found the house locked up with the blinds drawn. He had no other way of checking on his aunt and uncle, so he called the police and requested a welfare check. Around 9pm, Marvin and two officers approached the home and knocked on the door, but there was no answer. The police proceeded to kick in the door.

Inside there was no sign of 81-year-old Fred, 72-year-old Edwina, or their 43-year-old son. Charles still lived at home and was considered a recluse. So where were they? The one-and-a-half-story home was a bit messy, but Marvin told the officers that this was normal for the home. What wasn't normal, however, was the moldy dinner that sat on the table, and the rancid smell of rot coming from the refrigerator.

One of the officers opened the refrigerator to find what he thought was washed but unwrapped hog meat. This was lining every shelf of the fridge. However, when he opened the crisper to the fridge he made a very gruesome discovery. The shelves were actually lined with dismembered body parts, and the crisper contained the decapitated heads of Fred and Edwina Rogers.

Instantly, their son, Charles became the number one suspect in the case. The gruesome double murder was very personal in nature and therefore it had to be the son. Edwina had been beaten and shot execution-style, while Fred was beaten to death with a claw hammer, his eyes gouged out of their sockets, and his genitals had been removed. The couple was then dragged into the downstairs bathroom and completely drained of blood. There their limbs and torso were cut into fridge size pieces, and their organs were chopped into tiny pieces and flushed down the toilet.

Whoever committed this crime had taken their time with the job. They also seemed to know what they were doing as the dismembering was done in a precise fashion. They also took their time to properly clean the house. The house had been cleaned of any blood and evidence. Though testing indicated large amounts of blood on the bathroom floor and tub. As well, the staircase leading to Charles' room had been scrubbed clean.

In his room, they found clothing, a hot plate, a kettle, some dishes, a collection of ham radios, and a bloody keyhole saw. The police knew they were looking for someone with experience when it came to anatomy. It appeared as if the keyhole saw found in Charles' room was the same saw used to dismember the victims. It had to be the son, especially since they had been dead three days, which meant the couple had died on Father's Day.

Their son Charles was extremely intelligent and had an interest in ham radios. He spoke seven different languages and had a degree in a Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Physics. He had also been a pilot for the US Navy during WWII and had even served in the office of Naval intelligence. After he was discharged from the Navy, he became a seismologist for Shell Oil Company. It was at some point in the 1950s that Charles was involved with Civil Air Patrol, and that this was how he came to meet David Ferrie, a man who would later be accused of being involved in the plot to assassinate John F. Kennedy. After 9 years as a seismologist, Charles just quit his job and moved back in with his parents. However, they barely saw him because Charles rarely left his room, becoming a loner and a recluse. He lived in his attic bedroom and his only contact with his parents was from passing notes under his bedroom door.

After the murders, the police started an international manhunt for Charles. Many neighbors were shocked to learn that the couple even had a son living with them. Those who were aware, like his cousin Marvin, said that he barely left the house but when he did it was before dawn, and he wouldn't return until well after dark. What he did on those days, no one knows. The problem was that Charles would never be seen again.

Many rumors are circulating that Charles was a member of the CIA and that he was involved in the plot to assassinate John F. Kennedy. These rumors suggest that he killed his parents because they knew too much.

It wouldn't be until 1997 that forensic accountant Hugh Gardenier and his wife Martha decided to investigate the crime themselves. They even wrote their own book on their own theories called: The Icebox Murders. While the couple acknowledges in their book that Charles had dealt with CIA contract workers while he was a seismologist for Shell. They reject the theory that Charles was a CIA agent who needed to kill his parents because they knew too much.

Instead, they suggest that Charles was emotionally and physically abused not only as a child but as an adult by his father. They also believe that the elderly couple was defrauding their son, by forging his signature on deeds that he owned and taking out loans in his name. They mark the elderly couple as con artists. Claiming that Fred worked as a bookie and engaged in gambling and fraud. Stealing money from Charles, and continuing to abuse him.

According to them, they believe that Charles had been planning his parents' murders for quite some time. That he used “Powerful Friends” that he met through the ham radios to help him flee to Mexico. One of their theories even has placed Charles in Honduras where he experienced karma having been killed over a wage dispute with miners.

Whatever the case, Charles was declared legally dead in 1975 so that his estate could be probated. The murders of Fred and Edwina Rogers remain unsolved, and the whereabouts of their son remain unknown. The house remained empty and unsold until it was torn down in 1972. The lot remained empty until the year 2000 when they built condominiums over the land.