Crime
On March 10, 1994, Colwell, aka Charles Durrant, and his girlfriend, Merillee Paul, a 33-year-old white female, were at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. They had devised a plan whereby Paul would pretend she was a prostitute, find a male victim, and go with him back to his room and rob him.
Paul targeted Frank Rosenstock, a vacationing Florida tourist, and went with Rosenstock back to his room persuading him to get into the bathtub. While he was in the bathtub, Paul searched through his belongings for money and valuables. Without success in locating anything of value, she telephoned Colwell in the hotel lobby who told her to "wait there" as he proceeded up to the room.
Colwell knocked on the door, posing as a security guard, and Paul opened the door to let him enter. Colwell showed a fake badge and told Rosenstock he was being arrested for solicitation. Colwell handcuffed Rosenstock, found his wallet, and took it from him. The wallet contained credit cards and $91 in cash.
While Rosenstock was handcuffed, Colwell proceeded to take his belt and wrap it around his throat. Colwell looped the belt through the buckle, strangled Rosenstock, and in the course of the strangulation, slid Rosenstock off the bed down to the floor. Colwell had his foot on Rosenstock’s shoulders as he pulled on the belt, and as he did so, Colwell told Paul that it took a person six to eight minutes to die from strangulation. Colwell strangled Frank for at least five minutes. Finally, when Rosenstock's face was purple and Colwell could tell he was no longer breathing, he removed the belt.
Colwell and Paul then wiped areas of the room down with wet rags to remove fingerprints. They took a number of items from the room and placed them in Rosenstock's suitcase, including the belt used to strangle him and many other items, including glasses and ashtrays that they might have touched. Colwell kept the buckle from the belt. When finished, Colwell and Paul exited the room with the suitcase, leaving Rosenstock lying facedown and dead on the floor. They then went to a room at the Royal Oasis Motel.
Read more about this topic: Lawrence Colwell, Jr.
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