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[News Thetan]

Adams Co. business owner thought to be victim now charged with murder (Denver Post)
22 January 2010, 5:26 pm

William Rex Fowler, 58, at first to believed to be the victim in a Dec. 30 shooting at his Adams County office, has been arrested and charged with the murder of his former business partner.

Investigators say Fowler shot Tommy Ciancio, 42, three times in the head with a 9mm Glock handgun when Ciancio came to Fowler Software Design to collect $9,900 in severance.

Ciancio, who was Fowler Software's chief operating officer, resigned Nov. 23, 2009 in a dispute over the way the company was being managed.

On Dec. 29, 2009, he agreed to a settlement and to sign a waiver of release in exchange for the payment, company CEO Laura Zaspel told investigators.

Employees of the software company, which reportedly had suffered financial difficulties since 2008, related in part to the transfer of as much as $200,000 to a church or charity by Fowler, told investigators that Ciancio arrived around 10 a.m. Dec. 30 to collect his check.

After greeting former colleagues and asking them about their New Year's Eve plans, he asked to speak to Ubaldo Ciminieri, the company's vice president of sales and marketing, who had stepped away from his desk. Ciancio then went downstairs to Fowler's office.

According to the arrest affidavit, the employees told investigators the next thing they heard was gunshots.

Police were called by another tenant in the Elati Building near West 84th Avenue and Elati Street in unincorporated Adams County.

When officers arrived at the building, they saw Fowler coming out through the door, bleeding from the face. Investigators said he took one step past the threshold, then walked back in. Police rushed into the building, and escorted Fowler back out.

When Fowler attempted to speak to police, blood rushed out of his mouth. They asked if Ciancio was still in the building and he shook his head up and down to say "yes." They asked if Ciancio shot him and Fowler did not respond, investigators said.

Fowler was loaded into an ambulance and transported to Denver Health Medical Center, where he underwent emergency surgery. During the surgery, police said, Fowler's hands were bagged to protect evidence of gunshot residue, which was later collected by investigators.

Inside Fowler's office, police found Ciancio's body. They said he appeared to have been sitting at a table when he was shot. They also found the murder weapon and four 9mm Luger shell casings. They found a handgun magazine on the table, and another in a closet in the office.

Investigators say the gun was registered to Andrew Hyung Fowler, 26, who lived at 1413 L. Ron Hubbard Way in Los Angeles, when it was purchased. In interviews with police, Andrew Fowler said he gave the gun to his father for Christmas in 2007.

Police also found a briefcase and a typed note, dated Dec. 30 and signed by Fowler, that advised there was nothing confidential in the satchel and that it should be given to his wife, Janet.

When Janet Fowler was interviewed by detectives, she told them she wanted the briefcase returned immediately.

"It is important to me and my church. It is religious material and I want it now," she said to investigators. "Even if you looked at it, and read it, you would not understand anything in it. Because it is way above a normal person and you would not know what it meant. I want it back right now."

Janet Fowler also reportedly told investigators that her husband "is a Scientologist and would not have gone without a fight. He would have grabbed a gun in a struggle and would not have let someone shoot him."

She also told investigators that Ciancio had sent e-mails to Rex Fowler, threatening to hire an attorney and sue over money he said was owed him.

Adams County officials said Fowler is in custody, but would not say where he is being held. He was last at Denver Health Medical Center, but his name no longer appears on patient rosters.

more at http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14248447?source=rss#ixzz0dOk6X9JX

[News Thetan]

Man charged in shooting death of former business partner (9 News Denver)
22 January 2010, 5:29 pm

ADAMS COUNTY - It's been a month since the fatal shooting at a software design company in Adams County. The man who owned the company, William "Rex" Fowler, was shot. Fowler's business partner, Thomas Ciancio was killed. Fowler was charged with first-degree murder on Friday.

In court documents released Friday, the Adams County District Attorney said Fowler shot his business partner over a disagreement.

Ciancio, 42, of Castle Rock was shot several times in the head at the Fowler Software Design Company near 83rd and Delaware on Dec. 30.

Fowler owns the company.

Initially investigators named Ciancio as the suspect, but later said he was the victim.

According to the affidavit, one of the first things Fowler's wife told investigators after the shooting, was that she needed Fowler's briefcase because it had very important religious documents in it.

The district attorney's office and the Adams County Sherriff's Department would not comment on the charges Friday.

On Dec. 30, sheriff's deputies first responded to the building on a report of shots fired. When they arrived, they saw a man, who turned out to be Fowler, bleeding from the head leave the building and then go back inside.

Deputies went inside and got Fowler and he was taken to Denver Health Medical Center.

Investigators then found Ciancio dead on the floor of one of the offices. An autopsy later concluded he was shot three times in the head.

After the shooting, investigators interviewed five people who worked for Fowler.

Some of the employees told authorities Fowler and Ciancio hadn't been getting along and that Fowler took between $150,000 to $250,000 out of the company to donate it to a church or a charity of some sort.

Ciancio was upset about that, according to the employees, and quit around Thanksgiving.

The employees also said Ciancio was at the office that day to pick up a $10,000 settlement check from Fowler.

When detectives interviewed Fowler's wife, she told them Fowler is a Scientologist and that he, "Would not have gone without a fight."

The document also said the 9mm handgun found at the scene was registered to Fowler's son, with an address of L. Ron Hubbard Way in Los Angeles, Calif. Hubbard is the founder of Scientology.

Fowler's son told investigators he gave his dad the gun in 2007.

After the shooting, Fowler's son told police the gun was no longer in the home where Fowler kept it.

In Fowler's vehicle, detectives say the found several personal letters between Fowler and a female employee of his.

The letters discuss the financial issues with Ciancio.

Investigators say in one of the notes, the woman told Fowler she did not trust Cianco and that their problem needed to be resolved.

more at http://www.9news.com/rss/article.aspx?storyid=131288

[SocialTransparency]

Been following this with great interest. Hope a larger new entity picks up the scientology angle here.

[Lorelei]

When Janet Fowler was interviewed by detectives, she told them she wanted the briefcase returned immediately.

"It is important to me and my church. It is religious material and I want it now," she said to investigators. "Even if you looked at it, and read it, you would not understand anything in it. Because it is way above a normal person and you would not know what it meant. I want it back right now."

[News Thetan]

Man Charged In Murder Of Former Business Partner (CBS4 Denver)
22 January 2010, 11:06 pm

THORNTON, Colo. (CBS4) ―The owner of a software company in Adams County has been charged with murdering his former business partner.

The Adams County district attorney filed charges against William Rex Fowler on Friday.

Fowler is accused of shooting Thomas Ciancio at Fowler Software Design in Adams County on Dec. 30.

SWAT teams were called out to the business. Emergency dispatchers were originally told that a disgruntled worker entered the building and a shooting followed. Fowler, the company's founder, walked away from the scene with a gunshot wound to his head. He was originally thought to be the victim.

Ciancio was Fowler's business partner who was about to dissolve the relationship. He was found dead inside the building with more than one gunshot wound to his head.

"It is alleged that due to business disagreements, Ciancio resigned in late November 2009. On Dec. 30, Ciancio allegedly was meeting with Fowler to formerly dissolve the business relationship and receive a settlement check," Krista Flannigan with the Adams County District Attorney's Office said in a prepared statement.

According to court documents, Fowler and Ciancio had been "arguing over company matters for several months."

An employee told police Fowler allegedly "embezzled about $200,000" from the company and "gave it to a church or some kind of charity." The Fowlers are active in the Church of Scientology, but it's not clear from court records if that's where the money went.

Fowler left a note on a briefcase in his office dated the same day as the shooting. The letter said "December 30 ... there is nothing confidential in this briefcase. Please give the briefcase to Jan," Fowler's wife.

The next day Janet Fowler demanded the briefcase from detectives stating, "It is important to me, my church, and it is religious material and I want it now."

While references to the Church of Scientology are peppered throughout the arrest warrant affidavit, family members of Ciancio told CBS4 that Ciancio, who was not a Scientologist, never complained about the church being an issue and that it was Fowler's poor business practices that caused him to quit.

Fowler is currently in police custody.

Additional Resources

Ciancio's family asks that any donations be made to:

Tom Ciancio's Children Fund
Mapleton Public Schools Federal Credit Union
591 East 80th Avenue
Denver, CO 80229

more at http://cbs4denver.com/local/rex.fowler.ciancio.2.1443597.html

[News Thetan]

Adams County software-firm owner charged in killing of ex-business partner (Denver Post)
23 January 2010, 3:14 am

A 58-year-old businessman and founder of an Adams County software company was arrested Friday on murder charges in a bizarre office shooting at the end of the year that left him injured and another man dead.

Adams County District Attorney Don Quick filed charges against William Rex Fowler in the shooting death of 42-year-old Thomas Ciancio, his former business partner at Fowler Software Design.

Investigators say Fowler shot Ciancio three times in the head with a 9mm Glock handgun when Ciancio came to Fowler Software Design to collect $9,900 in severance pay.

Police had originally thought Ciancio was the gunman but later described him as a victim.

Ciancio, who was Fowler Software's chief operating officer, resigned Nov. 23 in a dispute over the way the company was being managed.

On Dec. 29, Ciancio agreed to a settlement and to sign a waiver of release in exchange for the payment, company chief executive Laura Zaspel told investigators, according to a court document supporting the filing of charges.

Employees of the software company told investigators Ciancio had blamed Fowler for the company's recent financial difficulties.

The employees said Fowler had taken about $200,000 of the company's money without asking and gave it to a church or charity, according to the arrest affidavit.

Ciancio had "become very frustrated with William Fowler," according to the arrest affidavit.

Ciancio arrived at 10 a.m. Dec. 30 to collect his check. He chatted with employees, asked about their holidays and was preparing to attend his son's birthday party later that day.

Ciancio asked to speak to Ubaldo Ciminieri, the company's vice president of sales and marketing, but he had stepped away from his desk. Ciancio then went to Fowler's office.

Two minutes later, according to the affidavit, employees heard gunshots. Police were called by another tenant in the Elati Building, near West 84th Avenue and Elati Street in unincorporated Adams County.

When deputies arrived, they saw Fowler making his way through the front door, bleeding from the head. Investigators said he took one step past the threshold, then went back in. Police rushed into the building, escorted Fowler back out and called for an ambulance.

When Fowler tried to speak to deputies, blood poured from his mouth. They asked if Ciancio was still in the building, and he shook his head up and down to say "yes." They asked if Ciancio shot him and Fowler did not respond, investigators said.

Fowler was taken to Denver Health Medical Center, where he underwent surgery for a wound from the bottom of his chin through the top of his head. During the surgery, police said, Fowler's hands were bagged to protect evidence of gunshot residue, which was later collected by investigators.

Inside Fowler's office, police found Ciancio's body. They said he appeared to have been sitting at a table when he was shot. They also found what they believe is the murder weapon and four 9mm Luger shell casings. They found a handgun magazine on the table and another in a closet in the office.

Investigators say the gun was registered to Andrew Hyung Fowler, 26, who lived at 1413 L. Ron Hubbard Way in Los Angeles when it was purchased. In interviews with police, Andrew Fowler said he gave the gun to his father for Christmas in 2007.

Police also found a briefcase and a typed note, dated Dec. 30 and signed by Fowler. The note said nothing confidential was in the satchel and that it should be given to his wife, Janet.

When Janet Fowler was interviewed by detectives, she demanded the briefcase.

"It is important to me and my church. It is religious material and I want it now," she said to investigators. "Even if you looked at it, and read it, you would not understand anything in it. Because it is way above a normal person and you would not know what it meant. I want it back right now."

Janet Fowler also reportedly told investigators that her husband "is a Scientologist and would not have gone without a fight. He would have grabbed a gun in a struggle and would not have let someone shoot him."

She also told investigators that Ciancio had sent e-mails to Rex Fowler, threatening to hire an attorney and sue over money he said was owed him.

Adams County officials said Fowler is in custody but would not say where he is being held. He was last known to be at Denver Health Medical Center, but his name no longer appears on patient rosters.

No court date has been set for Fowler.

Ciancio's family members said they did not want to comment on the case. Calls to Fowler's Broomfield home and to the Church of Scientology were not returned Friday.

Several websites that scrutinize Scientology have been following this case, with links to records that allegedly reveal Fowler was a senior Scientologist. The sites claim that Fowler Software was a member of the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises.

According to the arrest affidavit, Ciancio's brother gave investigators four binders of Scientology materials that Fowler had given to Ciancio, asking him to study the religion.

Ciancio was raised a Roman Catholic, his family said, and had attended New Hope Presbyterian Church in Castle Rock.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14251372?source=rss#ixzz0dRQa5dff

[mefree]

When Janet Fowler was interviewed by detectives, she told them she wanted the briefcase returned immediately.

"It is important to me and my church. It is religious material and I want it now," she said to investigators. "Even if you looked at it, and read it, you would not understand anything in it. Because it is way above a normal person and you would not know what it meant. I want it back right now."

Heh, she doesn't sound like she's worried about anything, does she??

[mefree]

Video from KDVR http://www.kdvr.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=05d9d13b-ed3b-4ec2-a01f-4b9dd0b6ebe0&src=front

[ethercat]

There is also a collection of info about Fowler and the company here: http://fairgamestop.org/fowler_report.pdf

[mefree]

^^^^
That is a thing of beauty.

[ethercat]

The police department's affidavit is here: http://alley.ethercat.com/storage/20100123_022551_fowleraffidavit.pdf

Page 2 appears to be missing.

[News Thetan]

Ex-employee remembers hearing 1 final shot in workplace shooting (9 News Denver)
25 January 2010, 8:44 pm

ADAMS COUNTY - Ubaldo Ciminieri remembers hearing three shots. Then he remembers hearing silence. And then he remembers hearing one final shot.
Advertisement

After that, "it was just chaos," the former employee of Fowler Software Design said. He didn't know it at the time, but now he knows precisely what Adams County investigators suspect.

They believe the founder of the company, Rex Fowler, shot and killed the company's former Chief Operating Officer on Dec. 30, 2009, shortly after Tom Ciancio arrived to pick up a nearly $10,000 severance check. They also believe Fowler used the final shot to shoot himself in the head. He survived the shot, and is now in custody at an "undisclosed location" according to the Adams County District Attorneys Office.

Prosecutors have charged Fowler with one count of first-degree murder. He was advised of his rights "by phone" on Monday.

"(Ciancio) was a really good friend to me and my wife," Ciminieri said on Monday.

Ciancio resigned from the company in late November.

"He was extremely frustrated because he felt like he couldn't get the support that he needed to correctly run the technical division and to correctly manage projects," Ciminieri added.

Ciminieri is well aware of the business' connection to the Church of Scientology.

"The majority of the members were Scientologists," he said.

Yet he quickly added, "There was never any pressure on me to join the church. You know, they never really said or brought in the church aspect, but it was there."

Ciminieri told investigators Fowler had taken around $160,000 of the company's money without asking a few years ago. He added Fowler later explained he gave it to "a charity in Africa or something like that." That eventually, according to Ciminieri, led to the company promoting someone else as its CEO.

Another employee told investigators he and Ciancio had been able to see "several large withdrawls by William (Rex) Fowler totaling in the area of $200,000 to $250,000."

Court documents suggest "Thomas Ciancio did not like William Fowler taking the company's money and causing a financial hardship on the company... (Ciancio) became frustrated with the way the company was being run and resigned in November 2009."

more at http://www.9news.com/rss/article.aspx?storyid=131475

[News Thetan]

Rex Fowler Man's Scientology Faith Ripples Through AdCo Murder Probe

Victim Accused Software Firm Founder Of Diverting $200,000 To Unidentified 'Church'
Alan Gathright, 7NEWS Content Producer

POSTED: 8:42 pm MST January 27, 2010
UPDATED: 12:56 pm MST January 28, 2010

ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. -- Among the mysteries in software firm founder William Rex Fowler's alleged killing of ex-partner Thomas Ciancio is whether Fowler's self-professed devotion to the Church of Scientology played a role in the workplace shooting.

The 58-year-old Fowler was charged last week with premeditated, first-degree murder in the Dec. 30 shooting of Ciancio, who had gone to Fowler Software Design to receive a $9,900 severance payment, according to a statement by an Adams County sheriff's detective supporting Fowler's arrest.

Employees told investigators that Ciancio quit the firm in November because he was upset that Fowler had allegedly taken $200,000 from the company "without permission and gave it to a church or some type of charity," the arrest warrant affidavit said.

Robert Read, an employee hired by Ciancio, told investigators he knew about allegations that Fowler had diverted money "to Africa or some type of charity …because William Fowler had to apologize to everyone in writing for what he did," the affidavit stated.

Read the Rex Fowler arrest affidavit.

Investigators initially believed that Fowler was the shooting "victim," because he had staggered bleeding from the office building with a gunshot wound to the head.

The 42-year-old Ciancio, described by colleagues and family members as a friendly, upbeat father of four, was mistakenly called the "suspect," because his body was found in the shooting scene near a 9mm Glock handgun.

But investigators reversed their suspicions after an autopsy showed that Ciancio, Fowler Software's former chief operating officer, had been shot three times in the head as he apparently sat at a table near Fowler's personal office, the arrest warrant affidavit stated.

References to the Church of Scientology, a popular faith among some Hollywood film stars, repeatedly crop up in the 11-page arrest affidavit.

The investigative report has been published on several Web sites critical of Scientology, which was founded in the 1950s by the late science fiction author, L. Ron Hubbard.

Scientology critics have been chronicling the investigation of Fowler, who goes by his middle name Rex, on the Internet.

They claim the church financially drains members who are required to repeatedly pay for Scientology courses and "auditing," described as a "unique form of personal spiritual counseling," according to a Scientology Web site.

Officials at the Church of Scientology International's Hollywood headquarters did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

Rex Fowler publicly praised the rewards of his 36-year commitment to the faith.

"I am very proud to be a Scientologist," Fowler wrote in 2008 letter to the Rocky Mountain News describing himself a Scientology minister.

Fowler said he was upset by the newspaper's review of comedian Kathy Griffin's TV series that highlighted the performer's "discriminatory remark about my religion."

"If the remark had been about Judaism or Islam, would the Rocky have included it in the article?" he wrote.

In a testimonial on a church Web site, he wrote that both his wife and two children "do Scientology courses on a regular schedule."

"Scientology has made a huge positive, difference in all our lives," he said.

The day after Ciancio was killed, detectives went to a Denver hospital where Fowler remained in critical condition from a bullet that entered beneath his chin and exited the top of his head, the arrest affidavit stated.

When detectives asked Janet Fowler to speak with them, she had an urgent concern as her husband lay fighting for his life in the intensive care unit.

"Janet Fowler quickly demanded the briefcase" containing information about Scientology that detectives had removed from his office, the arrest affidavit stated.

"One thing I need is his briefcase," Janet Fowler told detectives, according to the court record. "It was taken out of his office. It is important to me, my church, and it is religious material and I want it now!"

Rex Fowler had left a note dated the day of the shooting instructing whoever found it to "please give the briefcase to Jan." Another note, found on Fowler's work desk along with several keys, explained to "Jan" what each key unlocked.

Detective Gene Claps explained to Janet Fowler that investigators needed to review the briefcase contents.

"Even if you looked at it and read it, you would not understand anything in it," the wife replied, the arrest affidavit stated. "Because it is way above a normal person and you would not know what it meant."

"Janet Fowler then demanded the briefcase be returned again, by saying, 'I want it back now, right now!' " Claps wrote in his statement.

The wife eventually agreed to speak with the investigators after Claps explained that he just needed some background on her husband.

She said that Ciancio had sent e-mails to Rex Fowler threatening to sue him, because of money that the former executive said Fowler Software owed him.

"Janet Fowler stated William Fowler is a Sciencetologist (sic) and that William Fowler would have not gone without a fight," the arrest affidavit stated. "Janet Fowler stated William Fowler probably would have grabbed the gun during the struggle and that William Fowler would have not just let somebody shoot him."

Asked if the investigation had found whether Scientology played a role in the slaying, Adams County district attorney's investigator Krista Flannigan, said she could not discuss details of an on-going investigation.

Both the Fowler and the Ciancio families did not respond to requests for comment.

When detectives interviewed Ciancio's wife, Laura, at the couple's Castle Rock home, she confirmed that her husband and Rex Fowler had been "arguing over company matters for several months. Mrs. Ciancio stated Rex Fowler had sent several e-mails to Thomas Ciancio's laptop computer making financial threats that had to do with the business," according to the arrest affidavit.

The dead man's brother, Charles Ciancio, gave detectives "four binders of L. Ron Hubbard College of Administration Course, which he called study material that was given to Thomas Ciancio to study for 'Scientology,' " the arrest affidavit stated.

Scientology critics' Web sites say that Fowler Software was a member of the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises -- or WISE -- an alliance of businesses and professionals who adhere to the "management technology" principles of L. Ron Hubbard.

"The goal of WISE, the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises, is an ethical, sane and prosperous civilization," Wise.org states. "Through our work, we are returning to business the values and ethical standards upon which it was founded: honesty, integrity, craftsmanship, rewards for productivity, commitment to the prosperity of entire communities and nations."

Investigators traced the semi-automatic handgun used to kill Ciancio to Fowler's 25-year-old son, Alexander Hyung Fowler, who purchased the weapon from a Los Angeles sporting goods store in 2006, according to the affidavit.

Federal firearms records showed young Fowler listed his address at the time as 1413 L. Ron Hubbard Way in Los Angeles. It is the address for the Church of Scientology's American Saint Hill Organization, which trains "volunteer ministers."

Alexander Fowler, who now lives in Santa Fe, N.M., told investigators he gave the Glock pistol to his father as a Christmas gift in 2007.

The son said he went shooting once with his father and "William Fowler shoots much better than he does," according to the affidavit.

Before Rex Fowler discovered Hubbard's teachings in 1974, he wrote on a church Web site, "I was an angry young man looking for a group that might help solve the problems of this world, so I looked into Scientology.

"I'm not angry anymore," Fowler wrote. "As more and more people rediscover their true selves through Scientology, together we WILL achieve a world without war, crime, and insanity."

From http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/22361297/detail.html

[News Thetan]

DNA Test Ordered For Software Exec Accused Of Killing Ex-Partner (KMGH 7 Denver)
1 February 2010, 8:23 pm

A judge ordered an Adams County software firm founder accused of killing his ex-business partner to provide a DNA sample Monday.

Adams County District Judge Francis Wasserman also set an April 9 preliminary hearing for William Rex Fowler, 58, who made his first court appearance in a blue jumpsuit and shackles.

Fowler is charged with premeditated, first-degree murder in connection with the Dec. 30 shooting of Ciancio, who had gone to Fowler Software Design to receive a $9,900 severance payment, according to an investigator's statement supporting Fowler's arrest warrant.

more at http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/22405690/detail.html