Naman Shrestha
A neighbor made a horrific discovery of the dead body of Chris Rotenberger in the early hours of November 2015 and informed the police right away, which sparked an investigation that lasted several months before the killer/s was caught. The police came across several concealed truths related to the victim’s life, making the case all the more complicated to solve. The entire murder case is explored in detail in the episode titled ‘Obsession Turns to Murder’ of Investigation Discovery’s ‘Fatal Affairs,’ which also features in-depth interviews with the victim’s loved ones and important officials who were key during the investigation.
Chris Rotenberger Was Killed Outside His House in 2015
Christopher Wayne Rotenberger was a fine young man with ambitious goals for his future. Born on February 21, 1991, he spent a major portion of his life in Pinellas County, on the west central coast of Florida. A bright individual, he was quite well-read and curious to learn more about the world. Though he was surrounded by friends and loved ones who lovingly referred to him as Chris, he mostly kept to himself as he found it challenging to let his guard down. His compassionate, brilliant, and reliable personality made everyone around him admire him. As years went by, Chris became more outgoing and began opening up to people he trusted.
In high school, Chris stumbled upon Stephanie Dalrymple. After a few interactions, the two found themselves romantically drawn to each other and eventually began dating. However, their relationship didn’t last long, and they split before graduation. In an interesting twist of fate, Chris and Stephanie gave their love another chance and got together again in their 20s. According to reports, he had obtained his grandparents’ property in Seminole as an inheritance after their passing. Chris also let his friends and Stephanie live there with him. As adults, both Chris and Stephanie wanted to contribute to their future. While the former worked at Hooters, the latter was employed at a beach store as well as McDonald’s.
In October 2015, Stephanie broke the news of her pregnancy to Chris. Though they had their share of ups and downs, the two were ready to do everything they could to build a great and safe life for their child. Since Chris didn’t really have his father around while growing up, he wanted to be there for his baby. Unfortunately, he couldn’t fulfill that dream, as his life was cut short on November 11, 2015. Around 8:15 am that morning, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office received a call reporting the discovery of a deceased person at 8640 Flame Vine Avenue. Upon reaching the spot, they found Chris outside his home, lying motionless on the ground. Upon inspection, they announced the 24-year-old father-to-be dead and reported the cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the head.
Chris Rotenberger’s Girlfriend’s Affair Proved to be Deadly For Him
After the investigators were done inspecting the crime scene and the surrounding areas, they began interviewing Chris Rotenberger’s loved ones and acquaintances, including family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. Soon, the detectives were able to connect the dots and learn new things about the victim and his relationship with his longtime pregnant girlfriend, Stephanie Dalrymple. They found out that while working overnight shifts at McDonald’s, Stephanie had befriended a coworker named Priscilla Dawn Houck, a married woman and a mother to a daughter.
As Dawn allegedly started making sexual advances towards her, their friendship turned into something more intimate. As On the other hand, Chris and Stephanie’s relationship showed signs of cracks, and they found themselves in the middle of a heated argument in August 2015. The latter was soon picked up by Dawn and the two women drove away. However, it only took a month for Chris and Stephanie to rekindle their romance and by October 29, 2015, they were officially back together again after learning they were pregnant. However, the same news was not met with elation by Dawn, who had fallen deeply in love with Stephanie by then and had expressed her dislike for Chris.
The Killer Purchased the Murder Weapon From a Co-Worker
As per Stephanie’s accounts, she had distanced herself from her coworker when things started getting serious. Upon interviewing Christopher’s roommates who were living with him at the time of his demise, the authorities learned that one of them heard a loud bang right outside the house around 3:30 am on November 11, 2015, but assumed it to be one of the dogs. In addition, the investigators were told that Stephanie was at the house too but was taken to a local hospital because of her pregnancy. Right after Stephanie found out about her pregnancy, she began receiving harassing text messages from an unknown number, demanding her to leave Chris alone.
When the detectives brought in Dawn for questioning and asked about her alibi, she claimed that she watched a movie and went out for a drive. After obtaining permission to access Dawn’s cellphone, they went through her search history and learned that she had spent hours searching for firearms on November 6, 2015. It turned out that Dawn was the one who had sent threatening texts to Stephanie through a burner phone she purchased. Despite having circumstantial evidence against Dawn, the police still lacked enough to get her arrested. The investigators kept scratching at the surface, and finally, in February 2017, they noticed a set of text messages she had sent to a co-worker named La’teik Samuels regarding the purchase of a firearm.
As per reports, on November 9, 2015, Dawn withdrew $200 from her bank account, bought a firearm, a pair of binoculars, a black hoodie, and vinyl gloves, and rented a car. A couple of days later, on November 11, 2015, around 3:30 am, she shot Chris Rotenberger to death right outside his house on Flamevine Avenue near Seminole. After getting the testimony from La’teik against Dawn, the detectives had enough to obtain an arrest warrant against the killer. Finally, after several months of investigation, on March 2, 2017, Dawn Houck was arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of Christopher Rotenberger.
Dawn Houck is Currently Behind Bars, Serving Her Life Term
More than three years after the killing of Chris Rotenberger, Dawn Houck’s trial began. In December 2018, the jury returned with a guilty verdict and convicted the 40-year-old woman of the first-degree murder of Stephanie’s late boyfriend in 2015. Soon after the verdict, the defense argued that “there was no evidence introduced at trial that (Houck) was present at the scene of the crime” and claimed that the verdict was unsound.
However, despite the defense’s efforts to get a new trial, the judge denied the appeal and Dawn was subsequently sentenced to life in prison. At present, she is out of the Department’s custody by court order and ineligible for visitation. It seems that she is being held at Pinellas County Jail in Clearwater, Florida.
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