The “Ice Box” Murders

On this day in 1965 police were dispatched to do what we would call a well check at a home in Houston at 1815 Driscoll. An elderly couple hadn't been heard from in a few days so the call seemed routine. When they officers arrived they're knocks went unanswered so they forced their way in. After doing so and taking a quick look around there didn't seem to be anything amiss. One officer noticed some uneaten food left out and decided to take a look in the fridge. The couple must have been the kind of folks that bought meat in bulk but other than that there didn't seem to be anything off about the contents of the fridge.

However, as he was closing the door the officer caught a glimpse of what looked like the shape of two severed heads in the vegetable bins. Cops see so much weird stuff on a daily basis, especially patrol cops so I'm sure this poor guy was thinking maybe they had left some heads of lettuce for far too long and they had turned. What was in the vegetable bins was not spoiled produce. They were in fact the severed heads of Fred and Edwina Rogers.

It would later be found out that the Rogers had been murdered on Fathers Day, June 20th, 1965 and dismembered in the bathroom of the home. The couples legs and torso accounted for what the officer originally thought was just alot of meat stored in the ice box. Sex organs and some of their innards were discovered later in a nearby sewer line, apparently having been flushed down the toilet, but the rest of their remains were never found.
Fred rogers, 81, was beaten to death with a hammer and his eyes were gouged out while Edwina Rogers, 72, died from a single gunshot to the head. A blood trail to an attic bedroom would lead the investigators to discover that the couple didn't live alone.

They shared the home with their 43 year old son, Charles Rogers, he owned the house and had allowed them to live with him. He was a U.S. Navy Veteran and UH-educated seismologist. For reasons known only to Charles, he had quite his job a few years before and was sharing his home with his parents, although many who knew the couple had no idea Charles lived there as he was increasingly reclusive with his comings and goings. He spent most of his time in the attic bedroom. After his parents moved into the house with him there was stress between the three that developed into communications reduced to notes slipped under bedroom doors. After a search of the sons bedroom a blood-stained keyhole saw was found that seemed to be involved in the dismemberment of his parents. Charles, however, was gone.

The murders have gone unsolved, officially, since then. Just recently a Houston couple, who have done extensive research on the case, have announced that the killer was the only suspect at the time, their very own son, Charles Rogers....well duh.
Hugh and Martha Gardenier rooted out that Charles was being physically and emotionally absued by his mother and father from a young age. There was evidence discovered that Fred and Edwina Rogers were constantly taking out loans in their sons name so that along with the year and years of physical and emotional abuse must have sent him over the edge.
The Gardeniers believe that he made it to Mexico and from there found his way to South America were he got a job as a a seismologist again and lived out the rest of his days. The case is officially unsolved to this day however and will remain so unless some solid physical evidence can be found and it isn't likely that Chalres is still alive so we may never know.