Bio

Kevin Lee Hough was born on August 17, 1959. By the mid-1980s, he was living in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area and had become involved in a scheme with associates to rob the residence of a man believed to be dealing drugs.

Murder Story

On October 27, 1985, Kevin Lee Hough went with Juan Fernandez and Donald Maley to a Fort Wayne residence connected to Greg Nicola. The purpose was to evaluate the house for a robbery. When Antoni Bartkowiak answered the door, Hough forced him inside at gunpoint with a .45-caliber handgun. Hough made Bartkowiak lie on the floor, and Bartkowiak’s hands were handcuffed behind his back.

Hough and Maley searched the house. Court records state that Hough questioned Bartkowiak about cocaine he believed was inside the residence. When Bartkowiak denied knowing about cocaine, Hough used a device to shock him. Hough and Maley then took Bartkowiak to the basement. Hough placed a cushion over the back of Bartkowiak’s head and shot him.

After the killing, Hough and Maley left the house with stolen property. Hough later gave Maley $80 and said it came from Bartkowiak’s wallet. He also told Fernandez that he had found another $400 but did not want to share it with Maley. Hough was tried and convicted for Bartkowiak’s murder in November 1986.

On November 6, 1985, Hough and his younger brother, Duane Lapp, went to the Fort Wayne home of Ted Bosler and Martin Eugene “Gene” Rubrake. Hough had told another witness that his cousin had rented from the two men and that they had taken his cousin’s property after rent was not paid. Hough said he intended to get the property back.

That evening, Hough and Lapp approached Rubrake while he was unloading groceries. They helped carry the groceries inside, and Bosler joined them in the basement. Once downstairs, Hough pulled a .45-caliber automatic pistol from a shoulder holster and ordered the two men to lie on the floor.

Rubrake swung at Hough with a television remote control. Hough shot him in the chest. Bosler dropped to the floor, and Hough shot him in the back while he was lying down. When Rubrake appeared to move, Hough shot him again in the face. Hough later returned to retrieve a beer can and the remote control because he believed they might contain his fingerprints. He also removed several rings from the victims.

After the murders, Hough took Lapp back home, packed, and left for Indianapolis with his fiancée, Noreen Akers. Witnesses later testified about Hough’s statements before and after the killings. Donald Maley testified that Hough told him he had gone back to the house, pulled a gun on the two men, shot one after he lunged, and shot the other through the back.

Hough was charged in Allen Superior Court with the knowing or intentional murders of Martin Eugene Rubrake and Theodore G. Bosler. The state also sought the death penalty. A jury found him guilty of both murders and recommended death. The trial judge imposed the death sentence after finding aggravating circumstances, including murder during robbery or attempted robbery, multiple murder, and the prior murder conviction for Antoni Bartkowiak.

The Indiana Supreme Court affirmed Hough’s convictions and death sentence on December 13, 1990. Two justices dissented from the death sentence issues, but the sentence remained in place. Hough later pursued state post-conviction relief, which was denied, and the Indiana Supreme Court affirmed that denial on December 30, 1997.

Hough then filed a federal habeas corpus petition. The United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana denied habeas relief on October 12, 1999. The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the denial on November 20, 2001.

Kevin Lee Hough was executed by lethal injection at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City on May 2, 2003. Officials pronounced him dead at 12:25 a.m. He was 43 years old.