Kumari Shreya
In the second episode of season 1 of ABC’s ’20/20: The Interrogation Tapes,’ which is titled ‘The Interrogation Tapes: The Clique,’ a special focus is put on Christopher “Chris” Snider. His involvement in the various murders in Clear Lake City, Texas, and that of his partner has long been a topic that many have found themselves invested in. With how his actions affected more than one life, his own fate has sparked curiosity amongst those who have come across the case.
Chris Snider Was Involved in the Killing of Four
Chris Snider’s involvement in the murders of four different people is closely linked to his past relationship with Christine Paolilla. The two had begun their relationship in 2003 when Chirtsine was about 17 years old. The relationship was one that her parents did not approve of, as they had been wary of his past criminal record and his habit of using drugs. According to those around Christine, especially her mother, Lori Paolilla, the relationship had apparently been an abusive one.
Many also claimed that Snider had increased the distance between Christine and those around her and led her to become a drug user. They also seemingly fought often, and Christine was apparently known for her jealous nature. All of this would lead to the tragedy that took place on July 18, 2003. Christine’s friend, Tiffany Rowell, had been at her home along with her boyfriend Marcus Precella, Rachael Koloroutis, and Adelbert Sanchez, who had been in Tiffany’s house in Clear Lake City at the time.
Allegedly, Snider and Christine had come up with the idea of simply robbing Tiffany’s place for drugs. However, after an apparent argument between Snider and Precella went southwards, things escalated quickly, and the couple ended up shooting all four people at the house at the time. The two quickly fled the crime scene, and given that they had primarily been after the drugs, the investigators had suspected for the longest time that the four murders were linked to issues related to drugs.
When Snider was arrested in Kentucky in 2004 for stealing a car, his relationship with Christine came to an end. At the time, he had not been linked to the four murders and had even been seen only about an hour after the mothers when he had driven to Walgreens to drop Christine off. That said, the police did have some lead as the neighbors had given their account of the people that they had seen walking out of the home where the killings had taken place.
Chris Snider Was Found Dead in the Woods
Following the end of the relationship between Chris Snider and Christine Paolilla, the former had seemingly kept a low profile. In June 2006, he moved to Greenville, South Carolina, in order to be with someone he had met via the internet. The lady in question was Michelle Henderson, the two having connected through MySpace. Christine would go on to be part of a rehabilitation center in Kerrville, Texas. It was apparently someone who had been there with Christine while she had still been there that made use of the anonymous tip line of Crimestoppers to share that Chsitine had confessed to this person about her involvement in the four murders in Clear Lake City.
The tip to the police regarding the case had come on July 8, 2006, and on July 19, 2006, the police ended up arresting Christine. Only two days later, on July 21, 2006, Snider and Chsitine had been charged with capital murder. Christine would go on to share in her testimony that the initial idea of robbing the four people had actually been conceived by Snider. While she did confess to having taken part in the killings, she seemed to view the situation as something that Snider was primarily responsible for.
It is believed that after Christine was arrested, one of Snider’s family members told him about the police searching for him as well. The police themselves had not been able to arrest Snider properly and were given a tip that indicated that he might have taken his life. As such, a search was conducted in and around the area where Snider was last seen on July 20, 2006, with charges of murder still on his head. Ultimately, on August 5, 2006, the search came to an end when the police found the body of a man in the woods.
The police were reasonably sure that the body they had found had been that of Snider due to the clothes matching the description of what Henderson had claimed she had seen Snider in last. She also pointed out that he had left their home with no money and her prescription painkillers. Not much later, the identification was confirmed to be true. The cause behind Snider’s death was stated to be an overdose on the painkillers that he had allegedly taken from Henderson.
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