Flatonia’s Dark Secret: Rowena’s Death Deserves a Second Look | Forensic Files

Hi, crime junkies. I'm your host, Ashley Flowers. >> And I'm Britz. >> And today's story is one that found me
about eight months ago. I was combing through our case suggestions and one of them just jumped out. It was from a
woman down in Texas named Jolita Wilkinson who wanted help rewriting the false narrative around her sister's
[music] death. a death that was ruled such a shameful accident in the 1980s in smalltown Texas that her family didn't
really speak of it. So, she was never able to voice her concerns about a crime scene that she had to clean up. One that
she believes pointed to murder. Now, part of her submission, I actually want to read it to you. [music] It said, "My
parents did not want to stir the pot because her past may embarrass the family and her three-year-old son. So I
told them after they passed I would dig into [music] the truth. They have now passed and I feel it's time to really
investigate her death being as there are so many coincidences discrepancies and I
hate that my nephew has lived [music] the past 40 years believing his mom accidentally killed herself
masturbating. Now this woman [music] came to us believing that her sister might have actually been murdered by a
known serial killer. But she didn't know where to go from there. So, a few months
ago, I put one of our reporters on this case, [music] and through our own investigation, we have come to agree
with Jolita. Her sister was murdered. But maybe not by the roaming serial killer, she thought. [music]
Because our investigation led us to the case of two other women who died in the [music] same small town. And all these
women link back to one local man. So let me start with the story of Rowena Wilkinson Zapalac.
When Jolita was only 14 or 15, her family got a call from the local sheriff's office in Faget County, Texas,
that her 20-year-old sister Rowena died in her studio apartment over a saddle shop in Platonia, Texas. It was
unexpected for everyone and only made more shocking by what authorities told [music] them. According to the sheriff's
office, Rowena had died via suicide by masturbation. The rope around her neck and the dildo on her bed were the clear
signs that deputies pointed to when breaking the news to her family. But when Jolita and her dad went to Rowena's
[music] apartment the day after this to clean it out, they saw so much more that
to Jolita painted a completely different picture of what happened. Now, Rowena had only just moved into this apartment
recently, so there wasn't much in there to begin with, which only made the stuff
that was there stand out even more. Pennies littered the floor. There was a broken acrylic nail with blood on it,
water still [music] in the shower a day later and a literal broken kitchen window with glass on the floor. But
because it was ruled a suicide, there was a very short investigation. It was case closed basically that same day. And
Rowena's family was just sort of left to accept what the sheriff said, which Jolita said was like painful and
embarrassing for them. And even though her dad was seeing some of the same stuff that Jolita did and definitely had
some suspicions, they just couldn't bear to push for a deeper investigation. >> And also like '8s smalltown Texas, like
you said, like back when it seems like most people weren't questioning law enforcement like we do now. Like you
think they must they must know what they're doing. And even if they don't, like how in the world are we normal
people or whatever supposed to change our minds? >> Exactly. But just because her family
[music] didn't feel like they could rock the boat back then. And obviously there
wasn't much Jolita could do as a [music] teenager, that nagging feeling that she
always had about her sister's death just grew in her as she got older. So when her parents passed away, Jolita knew
that it was time to get to the truth. So the first thing she did was file a records request at [music] the Faget
County Sheriff's Office for her sister's case file. And when she got the stuff back, she could not believe what she
read in there. There was no mention of the pennies, the fingernail, the broken window. What?
>> Nothing. And sure, like, whatever. Maybe the pennies are nothing, cuz the records
do show that when the sheriff's deputies arrived that afternoon, they found that
the door to Rowena's apartment was pushed open and there was this coffee table kind of like slid out of the way.
And it turns out a friend and neighbor who the one who had actually found Rowena said that she knew the door
didn't lock. So what Rena would do is she would push that coffee table up against it as her way of like locking
the door and staying safe. So this woman who found her, her and another woman had
to actually like force the door open and like dislodge the coffee table. So I mean maybe Rowena could have had like a
dish of pennies on the table. They get scattered when the door is pushed open. Again, whatever. Even if you write that
off, it was right near the coffee table where Jolita found Rowena's broken acrylic nail that had blood on it, by
the way. And Jolita remembers giving that to her dad. Like, you know, I think this might be important.
>> Her dad said that he gave it to the investigators, but there is no record at all of that in evidence. So, all of this
stuff she knew was part of the scene because she'd seen it with her own eyes. She had been the one to clean it up. and
it just wasn't even mentioned in the sheriff's report. But there was something else surprising in the
reports. There were a lot of things included that she and her family never knew, like the autopsy report, which
notes that Rowena's fourth right fingernail is missing, which is probably the one Jolita found, but it wasn't
found right where like [music] Rowena was. And to me, that like points to a struggle that happens like that night,
right? >> Well, exactly. And listen, this wasn't even a huge apartment. It's basically
like a studio with a bathroom, this little kitchenette. And Rowena had a couch and two beds [music] in there.
This like main bed with an iron bed frame, and then this spare bed on the other side of the room. And what's
interesting is they found Rowena by the main bed. The main bed and the coffee table are on like opposite sides of the
room. So to me, there's no way to even say like, oh, if she was like did something to herself, like it just came
off. Like you would expect that if she lost that nail, it' be next to her. So I agree. Like this is just pointing to a
struggle. Now, when they found her, she was sitting on the floor nude except for
this thick twist bead necklace and a nylon rope that was wrapped around her neck and then attached to the bed frame.
Now, she had blood on her left hand and then this they call it like a yellowish gummy substance on her shoulder and left
arm. And the autopsy report also note scratches on her neck too, which could have been from Rowena trying to like get
the rope off her neck. Now, the bed sheet on the bed was like bunched up to one side and there was a sex toy on the
bed along with an open fifth of [music] whiskey that was about like 1/5 full. And there were two pillows, one on top
of another. And to the side, there was a marijuana roach in an ashtray on the bedstand. But weirdly, her talk screen
that came back said that Rowena just had normal levels of a drug that she was prescribed and a 07 blood alcohol level.
So, not a lot at all >> and zero marijuana. I mean, to me, it seems pretty clear someone else was
there. And you don't even know the half of it yet. Rowena's bed sheets had a large diluted blood stain [music] and a
small amount of sperm. And she had sperm inside of her. Her pillow cases also had specks of blood on
them. And there were hairs in her bed sheet that didn't belong to her. I'm sorry. And they just did nothing with
that. I'm not nothing. I know they tried to do blood typing with the semen and all they know is that the semen on the
bed sheet belonged to someone with quote H substance which it's like this is like
a a long sciency thing but basically it could potentially mean type O blood but there weren't enough tests done to even
rule out A and B. So basically all the blood types are in >> Yeah. And it doesn't seem like it went
further than that because they said there was no sign of sexual assault. So investigators are like, well, you know,
all the semen in her and on the bed proves is that Rowena had sex. Might not have anything to do with her death.
Which sure, one option. Like, okay. >> Okay. >> But you want to say that there were no
signs of sexual assault, which I guess to me I take to mean like tearing or bruising of her genitals. Fine. You want
to write off scratches on her neck as self-inflicted cuz I don't know what she had second thoughts. Okay, fine. How
about we look at the other parts of her? Jolita didn't mention this to me in her
original email, but when I read it in the autopsy report, I about fell out of my chair. And now is your turn. I'm just
going to have you read it verbatim. And this is from the autopsy report. >> Mhm. Symmetrical linear bruises are
present on the inner aspect of both upper arms. The size and aspects of the bruises suggest that they were the
result of the subject being gripped from behind and the tips of fingers produced
the four separate symmetrical bruises on each side. Ashley, what? Yeah. Gripped from behind.
I mean, in my opinion, that's evidence to at least keep the option open that she was murdered. I'm sorry. What are
police pointing to to say that this is a suicide? I mean, the the dildo on the bed, the bed with the semen. There are
only three things I can find that I think might have shaped their theory. [music]
>> Okay, so in the report, there is a mention that investigators found a receipt for an X-ray in Rowena's closet.
Now, there are no other notes about this or anything, so this is just like a random thought I had
>> knowing how much they didn't note in their reports. To me, them pointing this
out at all is odd, right? >> So, I'm wondering if they were like, "Oh, maybe Rowena got like bad medical
news. Maybe she like would want to take her own life because of that." >> And did they ask the family about this
to confirm that? >> I don't know. They only wrote that they found the X-ray receipt and nothing
about followup. So, who knows? But I asked Jolita about this now and she told us that due to a hereditary breast
tissue condition, both she and Rowena got early mammogs. And Rowena didn't have breast cancer or anything. It was
like just a precautionary X-ray. So even if they had asked her parents, this was
well known in the family and should have been easily explained away if they asked.
>> So the second thing that I think they hang their hat on was a conversation they had with Rowena's boss, this guy
named Joel, who owned the barbecue place that she worked at. And he tells police
that Rowena once took an overdose of pills before. Now, Jolita doesn't know what to make of this. She says that she
asked several people who knew her sister well, including like their aunt, who was
the Flutonia Town Doctor, if this was true. And nobody else had ever heard of Rowena overdosing before or trying to
>> then how would Joel know this? >> I don't know. And unfortunately, he died in 2002, so we couldn't like reach out
to him and ask. Maybe he was close with Rowena. Who knows? But the third and final thing that I believe makes them so
certain that this was a suicide is the report says there was no sign of forced entry into Rowena's apartment. So I
think they're thinking if no one got into the apartment then she was there by herself and it had to be suicide. The
end. But there was signs of forced entry. They just didn't write it down. I mean the window was broken. Also news
flash. Her door didn't even lock. Like, how can you force entry in a door that's
not even locked? Like, what are we doing here? >> I know. Like I said, they don't even
mention the broken glass. Like, it just doesn't exist to them. Now, the sheriff's report does mention something
about a broken screen in the kitchen, but they say it was pushed out from the inside and that it was broken
previously, like it wasn't from whatever happened, >> but they don't say how they know this.
>> Okay. This woman was murdered. And I've kind of never felt more sure of something, Ashley.
>> I know. I and this is exactly how Jolita feels after she foyers the records. Every instinct and suspicion that she
ever had was right. She knows in her bones now that someone killed her sister. The question is who? So over the
next 20 plus years, Jolita is left to just stew in this knowledge that her sister
never got justice until 2006 when she gets a call from the Texas Rangers and they ask her a pretty
shocking question. Did Rowena know a woman named Melody Bush? >> [music] >> Jolita has never heard the name Melody
Bush before. It rings no bells, means nothing to her. But when she asks why they're asking, she gets the shock of
her life. The Rangers tell her that 6 months before her sister's death, Melody Bush was murdered in the same small
town. And they think this serial killer named Robert Charles Brown just confessed to Melody's murder. And
they've begun to wonder, could he have been responsible for Rowena's death, too? So, wait, are they considering
Rowena's death a homicide? Now, >> this is the weirdest part to me. No, but I I don't know how Rowena's case would
have come on their radar at all all these years later because she is not listed as an unsolved homicide with the
department, >> right? Like wouldn't even be in like the batch of deaths they would be looking at
if they were looking to connect this guy to someone else. >> No. And this is years later. So like in
my mind there had to have just been like some old-timer hanging around who was like, you know, like I remember this one
case. >> It was kind of weird. >> It is the only thing I can think of. Like Jolita doesn't even know. But when
they call her, so they pushed her. They're like, you know, could there be any connection between Melody and
Rowena? But Jolita really doesn't think so. I mean, she even did her own leg work after this and started asking
around, but no one seemed to think that they knew each other. But that didn't necessarily rule out a connection,
especially the more that she came to learn not just about the events leading up to her own sister's death, but about
what Robert Charles Brown was capable of and the circumstances surrounding Melody
Bush's murder. Now, all Jolita knows about Rowena's last day [music] comes from Rowena's friend and neighbor, this
woman named Ruby Cherry and Rowena's manager, who I'm going to call Jessica. That's not [music] her real name.
Jessica said that Rowena dropped off her son with her and borrowed her truck for
the day. And Ruby said that she and Rua went out on the town together with a group of friends and they spent most of
the night at a bar called Stag Club. Well, it turns out that almost 6 months to the day before Rowena's death on
March 19th, 1984, Melody Anne Bush was partying with her husband Robert Bush in a room at this like seedy motel in
Flatonia called Antlers In. And there were like two other people there. Well, she and her husband got into an argument
and Melody left the room and walked around back to the Stag Club, the same bar that Rowena was hanging out in the
night of her death. And the Stag Club is the last place that Melody has ever seen
alive. 12 days later, her body gets found a couple of miles north of town off the interstate in this culvert. And
the Emmy ruled her cause of death as acute [music] acetone poisoning. So, it was definitely a homicide.
>> An acetone like nail polish remover >> or or it could have been rubbing alcohol. Like it uh rubbing alcohol
metabolizes into acetone. [music] Now, at the time, Melody's case is never connected to Robert Charles Brown
because [music] Melody's husband was the prime suspect in her death, >> but authorities never had enough to
charge him. >> And then Rowena's death is written off as a suicide, >> right? So, it never crosses anyone's
mind that those two cases could be connected. And people certainly weren't picking up on the fact that they had
each last been seen alive in the same bar. But fast forward to 2003. That is when the El Paso County Sheriff's Office
in Colorado get this creepy AF letter from Robert Charles Brown, who is already in jail serving time for two
separate murders. And I'm going to have a voice actor read his letter. I thought
long and hard about picking an incident that would not be lost among the many others. A very small town seemed to be
my best bet. Small towns don't forget such rare happenings. The town I chose is Platonia, Texas. They don't get much
smaller. The year was approximately 1984 or 1985. A young woman was killed and her body was found near this town. The
last I heard was that her husband was being charged with her murder. I'm curious as to the eventual outcome.
Please let me know. Afterward, we may talk some more on this. Texas does like to kill people. That should give you
something to think about. Robert Charles Brown. Robert had been sending detectives in Colorado a bunch of
cryptic letters for years. Like one was a handdrawn partial map of the US with numbers in [music] a few states. Like it
was supposed to allude to the number of victims that he had across the US. And all in all, I think Robert's claiming
that he killed 48, possibly 49 people. And he wrote the number seven in Texas. And investigators in Colorado believe at
least some of this. I mean, they know this man is capable of dark stuff. Now, we don't have time to dive all the way
into him and his story now, or this episode would be like 8 hours long, but I do think the information is really
important. So, we're doing an entire separate episode on Robert Charles Brown. That's going to be available in
the fan club if anyone wants to dive deeper. Literally, the episode is out already right now if you want to sign
up, crimejunkkey.com. But Colorado authorities are trying to pry information out of Robert to see if
they can really connect him to some of these cases. But this dude is like playing mind games, and it is clear that
what he's after [music] seems to be infamy. So, police start piecing together Robert's little clues, seeing
if they can actually match up to real cases. And they think that his letter about a woman in Flutonia is Melody
Bush. But it takes a year for them to even get him to write back about Melody. And when he does, Robert writes just the
following words. >> Flatonia, ether, ice pick. >> But that's wrong. Yeah, we know that the
Emmy listed her cause of death as acute acetone [music] poisoning, no stab or puncture wounds or
anything even close to that. >> Did they ask Robert if he used acetone? >> Yeah. And he said that he never used it
on any of his victims. And detectives are like, "Okay, like maybe he's mistaking ether for [music] acetone,
whatever." But when asked later by investigators about stabbing her with an ice pick, Robert like doubles down. He
said yes. He wanted to make sure that he got Melody's heart. So, he stabbed her at least two or three times, which just
isn't in the autopsy report. But maybe we can't even trust the autopsy report or the Emmy's findings for Melody's
death at all because this guy, Dr. Roberto Bayardo, was investigated by NBC affiliate KX for literally botching
autopsies. And we tried to get the report ourselves, by the way, but no one we foyed had a copy of it. Now, we also
spoke to the lead investigator for the El Paso Sheriff's Office, and [music] he said that acetone was a preservative
that Emmys might use, and he thinks that this guy who did Melody's autopsy just like maybe confused it and thought it
was like the cause of death. Like, and the guy's like clearly not good at his job.
>> Okay, but what about the potential multiple stabs to the heart with an ice pick? I mean, that's actually that's
hard to miss. >> Yeah. He didn't really have like a straight answer to that one, but like
you can't say the Emmy got the cause of death wrong and then also say Robert Brown gave you information only the
killer would know, >> right? Because they don't know how Melody died if they're saying the Emmy
was wrong about the acetone, >> right? I think it's safe to say that they just don't have any evidence that
what Robert is saying is true. And it took over 5 months after that ice pick letter for detectives to even get
to talk to him in person. But when they do, he gives this whole story about Melody with details. He said that he was
working for a flower delivery company and his route regularly took him through Flutonia. He says he stopped, got a room
at the Antlers Inn, and then went over to Stag Club for a drink when this drunk woman came in wearing jeans, a blouse,
and she was barefoot. He remembered that the woman said that she and her husband
or her boyfriend or whatever had gotten into an argument and she thought that he
had gone to another bar down the street. And the bartender apparently asked Robert to give this woman a lift to the
other bar. And Robert says, "You know, at first I say no, but then I say, okay." And then as he's driving her, he
says she started to put the moves on him and they decided to go back to his motel
room where Robert says they had sex. Then Robert said, quote, "Then I used ether on her, put her out, and then I
used a ice pick on her." End quote. He said that he went back and forth between his motel room and the stag [music]
club. And after the bar closed, he said that he and the bartender went out to a local truck stop for breakfast. And then
when he got back from breakfast, he loaded up the woman into his van and drove north across I 10. And then he
said he dumped her body over a bridge or a culvert. He says he hears this splash
and that the area was full of tall grass and water and like that's kind of it. >> So that end part like that's kind of
accurate, right? >> Yes. And I will say that the manager at the bar the night that Melody was last
seen also says some things that kind of back this up too. Her name's Florine, and she told detectives that she
remembers Melody did walk in around 11:30 p.m. She was unsteady on her feet, like she'd been drinking. Now, she said
she was wearing a black sweater with Red Hearts, silver pants, but was barefoot,
so different clothing than what Robert described, >> but still barefoot. >> Mhm. And she said that she knew Melody
pretty well because Melody would waitress there sometimes, and she was always fighting with her husband,
>> which is right again. And that night, Melody seemed intoxicated and quote spaced out. She told Florine that she
left because her husband was destroying the motel room. And she apparently didn't order any drinks and just like
left the bar alone. But Florine did say that she remembered a silk flower salesman that would stop by the bar once
or twice a month back in 1984. He would like pass out these silk flowers to the women. even gave her eight-year-old
daughter some daisies, which is just sickening to think about because both of Robert's later murders were of young
teenage girls. But what Florine doesn't remember is this guy, Robert, being there the night when Melody went
missing. And she never asked him to give Melody a ride and certainly never went out to breakfast with this guy. And
like, here's the thing to know. A lot of what Robert knew and like the parts that
were like, "Oh yeah, that's the same." that could have been in local papers. [music]
So, he could have just pieced together that information. Like, yeah, he was in the area at that time. Maybe he heard
people talking. Maybe he was reading the news. I mean, when police asked him how
he knew Melody's husband was a suspect, he said he heard it in the bar when he was passing through 3 weeks later. So,
to me, him knowing a couple of right things is not solid evidence to convict him of another murder here. But there is
enough suspicion that he like kind of forever stays linked to Melody's case. Even on the Wikipedia page for him, she
is listed as a possible victim. >> Is Rowena? >> No. Because even after Rangers clearly
were aware of Rowena's death and had to have at least briefly considered it a homicide
>> for it to even be in this conversation. >> Uh-huh. It is still officially a suicide
and has never been connected to Robert Charles Brown. But even if not officially connected for years after
this, Jolita wondered if it could be true. So again, after her parents passed away, she's like, "Okay, you know, now's
the time to find out once and for all." And that's why she reached out to us. And what our reporter Jenna Mel found
may prove that Jolita was right and [music] wrong. Yes, we believe Rowena was murdered. And we too think that her
case might be connected to Melody's actually, but we're not convinced that Robert Charles Brown is the most likely
suspect. There's someone else that had connections to the two women who we find far more interesting.
Let me start at the beginning of our investigation so you know how we got to where we did. So when we started looking
at this case, I wanted to begin with law enforcement's theory, which was that this was a suicide. I see all the same
red flags as Jolita, but like let's at least ask the question, is it possible that Rowena died by autoerotic
asphyxiation? One thing that I found odd was the fact that she still had the twistab necklace
on. And the autopsy report also says that the necklace made [music] like impressions on her neck. Now, the
investigators were thinking that was because the rope was laying over the necklace, which like
>> to me raised a flag. Like when you take off this big beaded necklace, if [music]
you were going to put a rope around your neck. >> Yeah. >> And like when I say big, this isn't like
a dainty necklace. Twisted beads are, if no one remembers them, are like this thick necklace. They were a big thing
back in the 80s, but you could like mix and match lots of these strands of beads
like and literally twist them all together. So, is it possible that she was strangled with the necklace and not
the rope then? Maybe. It's hard to say without seeing any autopsy photos. But in that case, I mean, it would be a
homicide to me. Not a suicide by masturbation, which is the term they had for it back then. Like today, it's it's
autoerotic asphyxiation, but same thing. [music] But that's what they're calling it. Now
I felt like at least in the cases that I've heard of most autoerotic asphixxiation cases are associated with
men but after a little research I found that it does happen among women as well but there have been very few documented
cases. The ratio is like 50 men to one woman according to a study that I read in the American Journal of Forensic
Medicine and Pathology. And prior to 1980, there were only two cases of women who died this way ever recorded and then
a third in 1980. [music] So super rare at the time. >> And do we know anything about whether
she was like into that type of thing? >> So here's the thing. So Rowena was actually married at the time but
separated. And we talked to her then husband. His name's Thomas. So did Jolita. And he told Jolita that he and
Rowena never did anything like that. Now, obviously they weren't together when she died, so we can't say for sure
if she ever tried anything different without him. >> Okay, but hang on. Was her husband ever
looked into? >> Well, he's never investigated as a suspect because like there's no one to
look into [laughter] >> a homicide. >> Even after the Robert Brown stuff, like her case is never reopened, never
reinvestigated. I will say though, even if they had looked into her husband, I don't think he had any answers. I know
Jolita never considered him suspicious and he was forthcoming with us. Turns out at the time that she died, he was
living an hour away. So, for all the reasons you just heard, I don't think this is a suicide [music] or even an
accident. And I don't think her ex was involved. So, we looked into the man that Jolita suspected, Robert Charles
Brown. Interestingly, Jolita and Rowena's husband, Thomas, both remember that Rowena was dating a guy named Rob
about a year before she died. This Rob even lived with her briefly out in San Marcos, Texas when she split with her
husband. So, of course, we're like, do you remember his last name? >> And listen, both of them were like, you
know, this is going to sound crazy, but we remember the last name Brown. And Jolita said she met this boyfriend Rob
once. So she looked at a picture of serial killer Robert Brown and was like, "It kind of looks like him." Oh my go.
But both Jolita and Thomas are the first ones who told us like, "Listen, please do not trust our memories 100% on this
one. Like it is very possible things have gotten twisted up over the years." And Rowena was dating this boyfriend Rob
like several months before her death and they were living together in a totally different town. So it feels like a bit
of a stretch. And Robert Brown is like still around. >> Yeah. Yeah. Like he is in prison for
those other murders like to this day. And as you know from the Robert Charles Brown episode we did, our reporters
wrote to him and when Jen Al wrote to him for this one, she just asked him point blank, "Did you have anything to
do with Rowena Zappilac's death?" And he wrote back, >> "Sorry, I can't help you. I know nothing
about the person you are inquiring about. If I knew anything at all, I would tell you. I'm old and near the end
of my life and have no reason to conceal anything. I am truly sorry. If you would
send me some funds, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you in advance, RC Brown.
Obviously, Jen explained that we don't pay sources and asked him a follow-up question. Did you kill Melody Bush? And
Robert wrote back with the subject line, quote, no pay, no play. >> Do not hide behind that tired old
ephasian. The courts did away with that lame excuse many years ago. If you're interested, send me some funds for my
birthday and some other reason. Adios, Mr. Brown. So, Robert says that he doesn't know Rowena and he won't say
anything about Melody unless we pay him, but excuse me if I don't just take a serial killer's word for it.
>> Right. And not that he couldn't have done one or the other, but I feel like both is such a stretch cuz the MMO is so
so different. I know this is like the hard part to wrap your head around when it comes to him. The different MOS might
actually be one of the reasons I say it was him because like I mean, you know, like now like from our other episode,
dude was all over the place. Like the one victim he claimed to have strangled with shoelaces, claims another one died
cuz he used chloroform. He talks about stabbing. He talks about shooting, blunt force trauma. Like you name the horror,
Robert says that he's [music] done it. So no, like no calling card to link back to him. Like his calling card is like
signature. >> Yeah. And listen, long story, not short, just like long story that we did another
episode on. I'm going to cut to the chase here. The more we looked into Robert and his crimes and his movements,
his mo or lack of mo. Yeah. me and our reporters came to feel that it was unlikely that he had anything to do with
Rowena's murder. But again, there was a murder here. >> So, we started to ask, if not him, then
who else could have done it? And that's when our reporter Jen went back to the beginning because if no one ever
investigated, then every clue was missed by default. And right there at the beginning, she found [music] something
that shocked us. Something that would have been totally missed if she hadn't just been deep in Melody's case trying
to connect everything to Brown. You see, we found out that before Melody went to
Stag Club that night, she, like I said, was with her husband and those two other
people. They're all partying in the motel room. We know Melody starts fighting with her husband about
something and then she storms out. Then the husband told investigators that he went to sleep, didn't wake up till like
6:00 in the morning, found his wife, never came back. And again, I think the husband was always like sus to people,
and as far as I know, never officially cleared as a suspect. >> But then people kind of just like forget
about him and like everything that night once Robert Brown is in the picture. But
what caught Jen's attention was one of the two other people who were with them that night at the motel was a guy named
Cooper Cherry. Now, Cherry is not a name that you read like every day. And it rang a bell for Jen because she spent so
much time digging into Rowena's story. [music] And it was Rowena's friend, Ruby Cherry, from across the hall who found
Rowena dead. >> Little bit too big of a coincidence in such a small town. So, she pulled
records for Ruby. Turns out she was actually once married to Cooper. So, we went back to Ruby's written statement in
the case file from the night that Rowena died, and it turns out she also crossed
paths with Cooper Cherry. You're kidding. No, I'm not. So, in her statement, [music] Ruby basically went
into detail about what happened the day before Rowena died. She said that before
they went out to party, Rowena went with Ruby to drop off Ruby's son with Cooper.
They're divorced by this point, but like that's his dad. So, we know Cooper and Rowena were in the same place at least
once that night. Now, briefly, whatever, like just crossing paths. So, Rowena and
Ruby go out. They're at the Stag Club. They hang out with a bunch of people they know, and Ruby actually lists all
of these people. Nothing weird happened. She said they went home together around
4:00 a.m. The two of them live in [music] these small apartments above that saddle shop. And then Ruby says
that in the morning, Jessica, who was their manager at the barbecue place, she's the one who was watching Rowena's
son, she comes knocking on her door and wakes her up, like I think looking for Rowena because she's got her son. But
Ruby told her that Rowena was probably still sleeping it off cuz they like got in so late. So Jessica leaves. Sometime
after this, Ruby's statement says that she goes to pick up her kid from a sitter's house. So, at some point the
night before or that morning, Cooper needed someone else to watch their kid for him. Where was he? I don't know. How
did she know to go get her kid from a sitter and not from Cooper? I don't know. But after Ruby picks up their kid,
she goes back to Cooper's house and he's got a buddy over, this guy named Bart Moore.
Interesting because if you look back at the list that Ruby gave of the people who were out with her and Rowena at the
bar that night, Bartmore is right there. But she didn't mention that Cooper was out with them, right?
>> No, no, no. She explicitly lists everyone who was out. Cooper's name is not on that list. So, she says that when
she is at Cooper's that next morning, Cooper and Bart ask if they can go to her apartment to use her shower because
they didn't have any hot water. She's like, "Fine, whatever." She leaves ahead of them and got back to her building
just as Jessica was coming back the second time looking for Rowena. And this is when they break in and they discover
Rowena's body. >> Wait, does that mean that Cooper and Bart were they are like above the saddle
shop when they found Rowena? >> I don't know. She doesn't say anything else about them in her statement. I
don't even know if Cooper and Bar ever went to take showers, but it made us think back to that little detail that
Jolita said she noticed when she was cleaning out Rowena's apartment the next day that Rowena's shower was wet, right?
So, like, what if Cooper or Bart did go use the shower but at Rowena's instead? But wasn't Rowena already dead by the
time Cooper and Bart were asking to come shower? Yes, but that is if we're just assuming that Ruby's account is totally
accurate. I mean, there are other inconsistencies in Ruby's story, even in the few pages of reports we have. And
just to be clear, so there are technically three agencies involved. So, you have the sheriffs, the justice of
the peace, and a little later, the Texas Rangers. And it's not like they're all opening up new investigations. All of
these statements happen in the first like 25 [music] days >> and get like put in the same file.
>> Yeah. So, in her own words, the statement put into the sheriff's report says that Ruby woke up or she's woken up
by Jessica at 9:30 in the morning. She goes to the babysitter's house, gets her kid, then back to Cooper's. But the
Justice of the Peace writes in her inquest that Ruby goes to work at 11:00 a.m., not to Cooper's house. Then, in a
Texas Ranger inquest, the officer says Ruby was woken up at 9:00 a.m. by Jessica and then went back inside her
apartment to sleep. nothing about going to work or to Coopers or the Sitters. So, why are the stories different? I
mean, is it sloppy police work by all these agencies if they're not like recording her statement correctly? Like,
sure, that's an option, but it also could mean that Ruby was telling different versions of her story to
different agencies. And if she did, why? Are there statements from other people like anyone else to compare it to? Like
uh like the other people who were out that night or Jessica who found her with with Ruby? So, the sheriff's report says
that they talked to other people, but no other witness statements were included.
So, we started calling [laughter] people. We were trying to reach out to all of the people specifically on Ruby's
list. And our reporter Jen got in touch with a guy named Red Mhalland who was out with them that [music] night and he
told us he thinks Cooper was out with them that night. Okay, but why would Ruby leave that out?
One option is that she forgot or accidentally left his name out. Another option is that she lied because
she didn't want police to know that Cooper was there. Just to play devil's advocate though,
>> my favorite role. >> I know. [snorts] >> If Ruby knowingly lied because something
happened and she was trying to like cover for Cooper, why wouldn't she just leave out all that
stuff about Cooper and Bart and the shower in her own statement? Like, why add them back into the story at all?
>> I know. And like maybe it's because that's the truth and like it like she just forgotten later statements because
that's like the least interesting part of her morning. Or if the later statements are accurate and they like
didn't come over. I don't know. I don't know why you make up that unless you wanted to give them like an innocent
reason for being seen around there, but then you would think you would stick to it. So like it doesn't make sense. And
if we're going to question Ruby at all, this got me thinking about Joel, the owner of the barbecue place where Rowena
worked. >> He's the one that tells the sheriff that she overdosed before, which bolsters
their suicide narrative. >> Well, Ruby worked there, too. >> So, maybe that story about the overdose
could have come from Ruby. [music] >> I don't know, but something just feels really odd about the whole thing.
Now, obviously, we reached out to Ruby to try and get her to talk. She is alive and around, but she has not gotten back
to us as of this recording. We couldn't talk to Cooper himself about it because he passed away in 2023. And we even
tried like Cooper's brothers, his son, which is Ruby's son. No answer. And listen, like when comparing Cooper to a
guy like Robert Charles Brown, Cooper looks like an angel. We talked to one of his other ex-wives. He has three besides
Ruby. And she said that he was kind, religious, and she had never heard of Rowena before. And when we talked to Red
Mhalland, he told us that Cooper and Bart, they played in this band together. They liked to party a lot. But like the
most salacious thing on his record is a possession of marijuana charge that he and Bart got together in 1989.
Other than that, he didn't have anything else. and Bart only had some traffic violations. But I thought it was
interesting that the one like criminal charge Cooper had like he was with Bart when he got it.
>> But it sounds like they were besties. So, we even tried calling Bart several times, but didn't hear back from him
either, which I think is a shame because he was definitely around that night and
that morning. And I think he might remember something important cuz I don't know, like I just I cannot let go of the
fact that something seems very wild about Cooper being around both Rowena and Melody on the nights that they died.
It could be a weird coincidence. It could be something else. My Spidey senses were like, I don't know. Life
feels like something else. And when we kept looking at him like there was also someone else close to him who died.
[music] His first wife named Rhonda Stall. She died in a questionable way back in 1980, less than 10 months after
marrying Cooper. There is literally one newspaper article and an obit about Cooper's first wife's
death. But here's what we know. According to the Victoria Advocate, on a late summer night, Rhonda was driving
toward train tracks on a rural stretch of road between Platonia and Mulun when her car rolled over twice and threw her
from the vehicle. The car actually rolled partly onto the train tracks and was then pushed aside by the train.
[music] Now, state troopers said that Rhonda was probably laying on the ground for half an hour before the train
passed. How they know that? I have no [music] idea. I don't know if maybe somebody like on the train reported
hitting a vehicle and that's like how her body was discovered. But they rushed her to the hospital where she died a few
hours later. And her [music] death certificate says that she died of quote possible intraranial trauma, which is
like head trauma, but no autopsy was done. So they just assume that she died from the car accident.
>> Yeah. And did they say how the car rolled over? kind of like the state trooper thinks that she fell asleep at
the wheel. So like physically no, they just think that this was like an accident. Lot of questions there.
>> But let me try to get this straight. Cooper Cherry is now connected to three women who all died in some sort of
violent way. >> But this is shocking. It seems like no one has a bad word to say about this guy.
Mm-m. It kind of feels he like he's just cursed. >> Yeah, that's an option. Or maybe people
are scared to talk. I mean, it here's the thing. In cases this old, the problem we normally face is not having
any witnesses alive anymore. >> That's not what's going on here. There are so many people who are still around,
>> but for some reason, people in Flutonia are not talking. Only three people got
back to us outside of Rowena's husband and Jolita or really two and a half people got back to us. We we obviously
talked to Red Maholand and then we talked to one of Cooper's ex-wives and we did really briefly speak to Rowena's
boss, the one that we called Jessica. She is the one that found her that day. But when I say briefly, I mean we got
her on the phone for like a minute and I was really surprised that it wasn't longer because Jolita was the one who
told us to call her. She's like, "I talked to her. She remembers everything. She is definitely going to talk to you."
But that is definitely not what happened. >> I imagine it's probably not the easiest
subject to talk about. Ruena's sister, Jalita, asked me to sort of look into Rowena's case. And I mean, she believes
that Rowena was killed, but I'm wondering since since you were there and you you saw everything, like do you have
a personal feeling about that? >> Uh, I do, but you did talk to Rowena's sister. Is that correct?
>> Correct. Yeah, Jelita. Well, she knows she knows everything there is to know about the outcome as far as discussing
anything about what I saw. >> Mhm. >> I won't be able to do that. >> Oh, why is that?
>> Because I've decided not to do it. I don't I don't I don't care to do it. >> You don't care to do it? Um
>> I do not wish to do it. >> Okay. >> I do not wish to do it and and it's and it's personal.
>> Okay. >> Okay. All right. She would be the person for you to talk to. Yeah, I she
suggested I talk to you though. That's the only thing. >> Yeah. And and and that's nice and I
appreciate that, but I'm not going to. >> Okay. Um is it because >> Thank you so much.
>> Is it because you fear? >> No, it's because exactly what I just said. I do not wish to discuss it and
that is all. >> Okay. Because it's an upsetting topic. >> Thank you very much. >> Okay. I hear you.
We don't know her reasons for not talking. And when we asked Alita about this, she didn't really understand
either. But Thomas, Rowena's husband, thinks that people might be hesitant to talk because of who they would be
talking about. You see, Thomas told us that if they were going to say anything about Cooper, Cooper is from a prominent
family in Flatonia. like his dad owned a big ranch out in Mulune and they had several oil wells. He sat on the board
of the town bank which was a powerful seat. >> And are there still cherries around
locally? >> Yeah, there are. But I want to be clear, there's nothing that we found to suggest
that Cooper's family would threaten people and we couldn't ask them anything because none of them have spoken to us.
But to understand the implication here, Thomas gave us a little background just like in his own experience and like his
life. So him and Rowena were high school sweethearts when they got pregnant really young with their son Brandon.
Thomas was from a prominent family as well. His dad actually sat on the same town bank board. Like he knows this
world. >> And Thomas was like, "Look, nothing against Rowena, but she was a runaway
and we got pregnant." And I'm betting that that wasn't my dad's idea of a dream life for me. you know, they
weren't happy, but they supported their decision to get married and to do right by his child, and so they supported them
financially when Thomas went to college. And he said Rowena was a good mom and she loved her son. But it did get to the
point where it was all too much. Like Rowena didn't want to grow up so quickly. She wanted to be young. She
wanted to have fun, go out, see other people. She's 20, remember? >> So she and Thomas split up, but they
never actually divorced. Now, he said that he knew most of the people who were out with Rowena that night, but he
didn't know Ruby. He did know Cooper. I mean, they'd partied together, but they're not like best friends or
anything. And, you know, as we were talking to Thomas and he tells us the thing about like their dads being on the
bank board [music] together, like you could see like the wheels start turning in his head and he's like, you know,
>> Cooper was always getting in trouble and like that might not have been a good
look for his dad. So he's like, I could see a world where Cooper doesn't have more of a record because when you have
the right connections, life is a bit easier for you. If Cooper had anything to do with the deaths [music] of Melody
or Rowena or Rhonda, like >> nobody in his family would I mean who, again, this is like the kind nobody
wants anyone to know that kind of stuff, >> right? >> So there's like all this smoke.
>> Mhm. >> But there is no fire though at the end of the day. The one thing that is
excruciatingly clear is that authorities need to take another hard look at Rowena's case. She thinks Rowena's son
Brandon deserves to know what really happened to his mom. Rowena was so young when she died. She was a talented rodeo
rider, a kind, fun person, and a mom just trying to figure out how to give her son a good life. And we believe that
someone decided to cut that life short. and the Wilkinson and Zapelac family want justice. Jolita started a petition
asking Fyet County to change Rowena's death certificate from suicide accident to homicide [music]
because that would then allow the authorities to reopen her case. We are going to include the link to Jolita's
petition in the show notes if you guys want to sign it. And if you have any information on the deaths of Rowena or
Melody Bush, please contact the Faget County Sheriff's Office at 9799685856 or you can email us tips@auchuk.com.
Come. You can find all the source material for this episode on our website, crimejunkie.com.
And if you want to listen to more episodes like this and all of our episodes completely adree, be sure to
join the fan [music] club. You're also going to get early access to all the new episodes and a ton of bonus episodes.
>> And you can follow us on Instagram at CrimeJunky [music] Podcast. >> As usual, we'll be back next week with a
brand new episode.

In 1984, 20-year-old Rowena Wilkinson Zapalac was found dead in her apartment above a saddle shop in Flatonia, Texas. Within hours, authorities ruled her death an accident — a conclusion her sister never believed. Despite signs of disturbance throughout the apartment, unexplained injuries, a broken window, and biological evidence that was never fully examined, the case was closed almost immediately.

For 40 years, Rowena’s sister Joleta Wilkinson fought against the false narrative that defined Rowena’s death. When Joleta finally obtained the case file, she discovered key details had never been documented and the evidence that was recorded told a far different story than the one the public was given.

Even more chilling: six months before Rowena died, another young woman, Melody Ann Bush, was killed in the same small town, last seen at the very same bar where Rowena spent her final night. And the deeper our team dug, the more we uncovered a web of overlapping relationships, conflicting witness statements, and one man who appeared connected to both women… as well as a third woman who died under unusual circumstances.

Join Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat as they unravel the truth behind Rowena’s death, investigate overlooked connections, and expose why the official story never made sense. This decades-old case may finally be on the brink of justice, but only if the right people start asking the right questions.

Joleta's Petition for Rowena: https://www.change.org/p/amend-rowena-s-death-certificate-to-homicide?recruiter=1394[…]_medium=copylink&utm_content=cl_sharecopy_490871358_en-US%3A9

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Key Episode Moments 0:00 - 1:49 - Intro 1:50 - 3:34 - Death Ruled Suicide 3:35 - 5:10 - Scene Discrepancies 5:11 - 8:12 - Autopsy Findings 8:13 - 11:01 - Timeline & Entry Questions 11:02 - 13:17 - Records Raise Doubts 13:18 - 15:24 - Melody Bush Link 15:25 - 19:06 - Robert Charles Browne 19:07 - 23:05 - Confession Claims Examined 23:06 - 26:01 - Shift Away from Brown 26:02 - 29:09 - Focus on Cooper Cherry 29:10 - 34:12 - Witness Statement Conflicts 34:13 - 38:03 - Multiple Suspicious Deaths 38:04 - 42:24 - Silence in Flatonia 42:25 - 49:56 - Family Push to Reopen 49:57 - 51:24 - Outro --------

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About Ashley Flowers Ashley Flowers is the top female podcaster in the U.S. and the host of Crime Junkie, the #1 podcast among women and the #1 true crime podcast globally. As the Founder of audiochuck, she has built a top-tier podcast production company that has garnered over 2.6 billion downloads, captivating audiences with its gripping storytelling through 10+ chart topping podcasts. Ashley and her team are dedicated to creating responsible true crime content that respects victims and their families.

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Check out these other great crime channels: @rottenmangopod New Epstein Emails Get Released & Internet Believes Trump & Bill Clinton Had An AFFAIR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=palUVLwj5vw @annieelise Bound, Tied & Gagged: What Really Happened Inside This Mansion? | Rebecca Zahau https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hEZQ15jroU @kallmekris The Most Evil People On Reddit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAz7oAFihY0 @KendallRae Vanished After Texting “I’m Scared”?! The Disappearance of Brookelyn Farthing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmhiAVsAcKY

Brief Summary

Jolita Wilkinson seeks justice for her sister Rowena's suspicious death, revealing evidence of murder linked to a serial killer and local cover-ups.

Key points

Jolita's Quest for Truth. Jolita Wilkinson seeks to rewrite the narrative of her sister's death, believing it was murder.
The Shocking Investigation. The investigation reveals troubling evidence that suggests Rowena's death was not a suicide.
A Serial Killer Connection?. Jolita learns of a potential link between her sister's death and a known serial killer.
Doubts About Evidence. Investigators question the reliability of the autopsy report and Robert's claims.
Robert's Confession. Robert admits to using ether and an ice pick on Melody. A chilling revelation.
Robert's Dismissive Response. Robert refuses to discuss Rowena's death, claiming ignorance.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This is just pointing to a struggle.

Discussion about the evidence suggesting Rowena's death was not a suicide.

6:37WatchDec 9, 2025

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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