FL FL - PAUL ROWLES, suspect in murder of Tiffany Sessions and others, 1972-94

[bessie]

More links

http://www.wfla.com/story/24642492/a-look-at-paul-rowles-background-and-criminal-past

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...uspect-murder-20140205,0,1792240.story?page=2

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...FFWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EOwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4833,5749392

Here are links to articles on Elizabeth Foster, the woman Rowles is alleged to have killed in 1992. George Everett Taylor was a suspect for years until a court dismissed the charges in 2001.


http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...UFWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YeoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4380,6825251

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...FFWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EOwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4833,5749392

 

[bessie]

Suspect uncovered in 1989 Tiffany Sessions Case

By Keith Morelli | Tribune Staff Keith Morelli
Published: February 5, 2014 Updated: February 5, 2014 at 06:50 PM

He’s a convicted murderer, kidnapper and suspected serial rapist who died in state prison last year.

Alachua sheriff’s detectives will announce today that they believe Rowles killed Sessions. Part of the evidence: an address book left by Rowles that contained the number 2989 scribbled on one page, which is the date Tiffany Sessions disappeared. Next to the numbers is written “#2.” That has led detectives to believe Sessions may have been Rowles’ second homicide victim.

Convicted murderer and rapist, now dead, named as suspect in Tiffany Sessions disappearance

By Cindy Swirko Staff writer
Published: Wednesday, February 5, 2014 at 8:34 a.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, February 5, 2014 at 9:58 p.m.

Documents provided to The Sun indicate Rowles had a troubled history since childhood. He was born in 1948 in Wilkinsburg, Pa. His mother, a nurse, was in and out of mental hospitals and received shock treatment, according to a psychiatric evaluation that University of Florida staff performed in 1994 on Rowles. His father on three occasions tried to hang himself, Rowles said. The report states that Rowles' father was physically and verbally abusive.

At age 8, Rowles choked a female cat. One document said the cat died, while the psychiatric evaluation indicated he stopped choking the cat before it died and that he cried when discussing it.

By the time he was 12, Rowles had developed sexual fantasies of domination and rape of women, Sheriff's Office documents show. He would stalk women and peep through windows. Violent sexual fantasies continued as he got older, the documents state.

A look at Paul Rowles' background and criminal past

Posted: Feb 05, 2014 11:47 AM CST Updated: Feb 05, 2014 12:51 PM CST
By WFLA.com web staff

Rowles was born in 1948. At the age of 8, the website says Rowles choked a cat to death. At age 12, he developed rape fantasies involving women. His father beat him unconscious on several occasions. Rowles also broke into several apartments to steal victims underwear and occasionally wore bras and women's underwear, according to the site.

Rowles married Linda Schaeffer in 1970 when he was 20-years-old. While he was married to Schaeffer, the website says Rowles confessed to the 1972 murder of Linda Ida [sic], a woman who lived in his apartment complex.

 

[mysteriew]

http://www.tampabay.com/news/public...nly-surviving-victim-shares-her-story/2164693

They had him in prison for killing his neighbor. They let him out due to a "sentencing reform". Here is the story of his 15 year old victim. The only one known to escape. Talk about chilling!

 

[bessie]

Of Paul Rowles' victims, she is the only one who lived. She was 15 in 1994 when Rowles crawled through a window in her family's Clearwater apartment and forced her at knifepoint to leave with him. He bound her with duct tape and drove her to his Jacksonville apartment, where he sexually assaulted her.

When he let her go into another room to get a drink, she unlocked the front door with one hand and used the other to move the tire he had used to bar the door. She ran to a neighbor's for help. She thinks the escape took 10 to 15 seconds.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/public...nly-surviving-victim-shares-her-story/2164693

The article should mention that Clearwater to Jacksonville is over 200 miles. The girl was a prisoner in his car for 4-5 hours before they even reached his apartment. It's a miracle she escaped, but he never should have had the opportunity to hurt another human being after he killed Linda Fida.

He was sentenced to life in prison for Fida's murder in 1976, and was paroled in 1985. Prison reform my you-know-what. Less than ten years for a woman's life. Set free to take the life of at least one other, very likely at least 2 or more.


1948 -- Rowles born, Wilkinsburg, PA
1970 -- Marries Linda Schaeffer
Mar 29, 1972 -- Murders Linda Fida, his neighbor, in a Miami apartment complex. Strangles her to death, and stabs her in the breast after she's dead.
Mar 1973 -- Schaeffer divorces Rowles
Mar 1976 -- Sentenced to life in prison for Fida's murder
Dec 1985 -- Released on parole

----------3+ year span-------

Feb 9, 1989 -- Tiffany Sessions disappears in Gainesville

----------3 year span------

Mar 15, 1992 -- Elizabeth Foster disappears in Gainesville, and later is found murdered

----------2 year span------

Jan 1994 -- Kidnaps 15-year-old girl in Clearwater and drives her to his residence in Jacksonville
July 1994 -- Sentenced to 91 months(???) Seven-and-a-half years for the Clearwater kidnapping and rape(???) That's not right.
1995 -- Sentenced to 10 months for armed burglary
Feb 2013 -- Dead, prison records show him as "out of custody"

In April 1991, the Sheriff's Office questioned Rowles after he was spotted in a wooded area behind a business in the 3500 block of South Main Street (Gainesville, FL) with gloves and a towel, authorities say.

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20140205/ARTICLES/140209827?p=3&tc=pg

 

[Sleuthster]

I read Paul Rowles moved to Clearwater after his release from prison in Dec 1985. I'm curious why. I'm also curious if he was in work release in pinellas county prior to being released on parole. Clearwater was where years later he abducted the teen girl from an apartment. He could have been visiting someone he knew in Clearwater when it was a chance of opportunity when he saw this girl that day. I'm wondering if he made that trek back and forth to Clearwater before and could have other victims here. Paul Rowles: A Look Into the Life of a Serial Killer