A Vancouver man is accused of burglarizing the Orchards home of the family of five killed in a December murder-suicide.
Michael Lee Luyster, 40, appeared Tuesday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of residential burglary. He was granted supervised release. He is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 16.
Luyster is a brother of convicted triple murderer Brent Luyster, who’s serving multiple life sentences without the possibility of release, in addition to 10 years in a federal firearms case. Brent Luyster is serving his sentence out of state “due to safety/security concerns,” court records show.
Clark County sheriff’s deputies responded Dec. 31 to the house. Kyle Rouse, who was not there at the time, reported he could see someone on cameras inside. He said the man was wearing a face mask and had a backpack, according to a probable cause affidavit.
A responding deputy spotted the suspect running across the street. When deputies began yelling, the man laid down, and deputies arrested him without incident. The man identified himself as Michael Luyster, the affidavit states.
Deputies found lock-pick tools in his pockets and several comic books inside his backpack. Rouse confirmed the comic books were stolen from the house, and he estimated they are worth $100 to $200, the affidavit states.
This was not the first time the house was burglarized, according to posts from the Rouse family and court records. A search warrant affidavit states an unidentified man and woman broke into the house Dec. 15; they ran from the backyard, abandoning their car in the house’s driveway, before deputies arrived.
Kyle Rouse’s brother, Kristoffer Rouse, posted Dec. 7 on Facebook, saying, “I humbly ask that people stop breaking into my family’s house and stop looting things in the neighborhood. This is a horrible tragedy of my family, and we are all mourning the loss. Please be kinder and respect our family and others.” He posted again Dec. 15 saying looters had taken important mementos from the house.
Deputies found five people dead inside the house Dec. 3 after Kristoffer Rouse received a text from his father, Stuart Rouse, saying he’d killed everyone there.
The sheriff’s office said Stuart Rouse, 64, fatally shot Cristina Rouse, 63; his brother, Ronald Eric Rouse, 57; and his daughters, Kristina Rouse, 33 and Melissa Rouse, 19, before fatally shooting himself.
