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When Bruce Rouse didn’t show up for work one summer morning in 1980, his employees immediately knew something was up. So they called his house and Bruce’s teenage children went to their parents’ master bedroom to check on them. But the scene in their parents’ bedroom was shocking. Their mom, Darlene, had been shot in the face. Their dad, Bruce, had been shot in the face, too. He’d also been beaten and stabbed. A sheet covered their bodies. Who could have done such a thing? (This is a total Brandi case, so we’ll give you one guess.)

Then Kristin tells us about Julia Phillips -- a Southern lady who was pumped to celebrate her birthday. She got a bunch of Mike’s Hard Lemonade, bought some sexy new lingerie from Victoria’s Secret and headed to her boyfriend, Melvin Roberts’ house. But as she was getting out of her car, a man came up from behind her. He was black. Or was he hispanic. He had an accent. Maybe Indian? It was all a blur as the mystery man wrapped duct tape around her wrists, legs, eyes and mouth.  

And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

“Death in the Driveway” episode of Dateline

“Julia Phillips, convicted killer of former York Mayor Melvin Roberts, dies at age 72,” by Andrew Dys for the Herald 

“Prosecution Rests its Case,” by Jonathan McFadden for the Herald 

“Phillips found guilty; sentenced to life,” by Jonathan McFadden for the Herald 

“Family Secrets” by Mark Gribben, The Malefactor’s Register

“Murder Mansion: The Shotgun Slaying of Bruce and Darlene Rouse” by Tori Richards, The Crime Library

“Murder Thy Father and Thy Mother” by Marie Kusters-McCarthy, Crime Magazine

“Man Confesses To Brutally Murdering Parents 15 Years After Squandering His Inheritance” by Benjamin H. Smith, Oxygen

“Rouse’s Defense Tries To Implicate His Brother” by Shirley Salemy, Chicago Tribune

“Judge Gives Rouse 80 Years, Wishes It Were More” by Gary Mays, Chicago Tribune