Ex-wife of slain University of Richmond professor charged with murder
Annie4007
they have no parent.
RICHMOND, Va. -November 8 2004- The former wife of a University of
Richmond professor shot dead outside his home as his three children
slept inside was charged Monday with his murder, police said.
A grand jury returned indictments charging Piper A. Rountree, 44, of
Houston, with first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the
commission of a felony, a police spokesman said. A conviction would
carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Fredric M. Jablin, 52, was found in the driveway of his suburban
Richmond home on the morning of Oct. 30. An autopsy determined he died
of a gunshot wound to the torso.
The couple's children, ages 8, 12 and 15, were unharmed.
Police arrested Rountree Monday shortly after she attended a Henrico
County court hearing at which the judge awarded temporary custody of
the children to Fredric Jablin's brother, who lives in northern
Virginia.
Police would not say whether they knew of a possible motive or whether
Rountree has admitted to or denied the charges.
The police spokesman, Lt. Doug Perry, said he did not know how long
the couple had been divorced.
Rountree's next-door neighbor, Victor Hall, told The Associated Press
in a telephone interview that Rountree moved to Texas a few months ago
from Virginia.
She had been involved in a custody battle with her former husband over
their children, Hall said.
Rountree was being booked into jail Monday afternoon as a memorial
service for Fredric Jablin got under way at the University of
Richmond. It could not be determined immediately whether she had a
lawyer.
Jablin was a management and communications specialist with the private
school's Jepson School of Leadership Studies. He joined the school in
1994.
Jablin also was a researcher or consultant for Anheuser-Busch Inc.,
the Air Force, State Farm Insurance and Westinghouse Inc., among
others, the university said.
Joy in Virginia
> they have no parent.
Thanks for the article from the Daily Press! This is such a sad story,
especially for the kids, with lots of local interest.
Here is the article from the Richmond VA paper which gives a bit more
detail. Apparently her sister was in on it too!:
http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031779033397&path=%21news&s=1045855934842
I have posted some excerpts below:
Joy in (Richmond) Virginia
"Ex-wife charged in death BY MARK BOWES, TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
The former wife of University of Richmond professor Fredric M. Jablin
was arrested yesterday in his Oct. 30 slaying, less than 20 minutes
after a Henrico County judge denied her custody of the couple's three
children.
Piper A. Rountree, 44, was charged with first-degree murder and
felonious use of a firearm in the shooting death of Jablin, 52.
The couple had been separated since February 2001 and were divorced in
July 2002. Jablin had sole custody of their children, ages 8, 12 and
15.
In addition to Piper Rountree's arrest, police in Houston yesterday
arrested her sister, Tina Rountree, on suspicion of tampering with
evidence in the case, Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Wade Kizer said
last night. That allegation stems from actions that occurred in
Houston, not Henrico, the prosecutor added. Piper Rountree had sought
to regain custody of her children after Jablin was found shot to death
in the driveway of his home in the 1500 block of Hearthglow Lane.
During a brief hearing yesterday in Henrico Circuit Court, a judge
awarded custody to Jablin's brother, Michael Jablin, who lives in
Northern Virginia. The children had been living with the brother since
Frederic Jablin's slaying.
(Comment: The judge must have know something was going to happen
fairly soon. Local TV stations showed a tearful woman exiting the
court with her attorney. She had told local TV reporters in phone
interviews that she expected to regain custory of her children at this
hearing.)
Rountree, who has been licensed by the Texas State Bar since 1986, was
served with murder and firearm indictments returned yesterday morning
by a Henrico Circuit Court grand jury. Since Jablin's killing, Henrico
investigators have been in Texas following leads, police said
yesterday. Six to eight Henrico detectives have been working the case,
along with two investigators with the Houston Police Department....
Law-enforcement sources alleged that Rountree flew to Richmond using
an assumed name and used a disguise on the trip. In one of the few
nuggets of information officially released yesterday, police confirmed
that they had placed Rountree in the Richmond area around the time of
Jablin's slaying....
In response to a question, police said there was no rush to arrest
Rountree yesterday before she returned to Texas after losing the
custody hearing.
"Obviously the grand jury met today and we received the indictments,
and she was going to be arrested sometime today whether she was here
in Richmond or in Houston, Texas," Stem said. "It just worked out in
our favor that she traveled here today for that hearing. The timing
was right for us."...
Jablin and his wife, who were married in Travis County, Texas, in
1981, first separated after Rountree alleged spousal abuse and
obtained a warrant on Feb. 6, 2001, charging Jablin with domestic
assault. She also sought an emergency protective order, claiming
Jablin pushed her against a wall on Jan. 11 of that year, according to
court papers. But Jablin successfully amended the protective order,
saying there was no evidence to support it. He told court officials
that his wife has been under psychiatric treatment, taking numerous
medications and was "psychologically unstable," court papers show.
Jablin was allowed to stay in the family home with the three children.
Rountree moved first to a residence in Goochland County (Comment - the
next county over from Henrico, not far away), records show.
Henrico prosecutors withdrew the domestic-assault charge against
Jablin on March 5, 2001, and the protective order was dismissed on
April 5 after Rountree asked for it to be dismissed.... Rountree was
being held without bond in the Henrico Jail pending a hearing Nov. 16
in Henrico Circuit Court."
monett...@yahoo.com
who had an affair with Piper Roundtree while she was still married to
Jablin. In this case the affair led to divorces in both families.
What is the interest in protecting his identity.?