- To read Lauren McCluskey’s obituary, click here.
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Oct. 25, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — University of Utah police knew Melvin Rowland was a bad guy when they started investigating him for the alleged extortion of Lauren McCluskey, his former girlfriend.
They just didn’t recognize how bad he was, or that an apparent revenge scheme against McCluskey would escalate into murder.
In a Thursday press conference at Rice-Eccles Stadium, U of U Police Chief Dale Brophy told reporters that members of his department first spoke to McCluskey, 21, on Oct. 10, 2018.
The day before, she had ended a monthlong relationship with Rowland after learning he had lied about his background, including his name and age.
He had also hidden his criminal past, most notably a seven-year stretch in the Utah prison system from 2005 to 2012 for attempting to entice minors over the Internet.
According to Brophy, McCluskey confronted Rowland in her apartment over his purported lies. He admitted to being a past sex offender, but insisted he was truthful about his age. He maintained he was 30-years-old, when, in fact, he was 38.
McCluskey told Rowland she was ending the relationship, Brophy said. He spent the night in her room and then borrowed her car the next day in order to run errands.
That same day, Jill McCluskey, Lauren’s mother, called police dispatch and asked that a security escort help her daughter retrieve her car from her ex-boyfriend. Police in turn contacted Lauren, who, at first, declined assistance, saying Rowland was returning the car to her apartment and she was comfortable with him doing so.
Hours later, however, Lauren contacted dispatchers and said Rowland had dropped her car off in the Rice-Eccles Stadium parking lot and she needed a ride to pick it up. A security escort responded and drove Lauren to retrieve her car.
On Oct. 12, 2018, University Police heard from Lauren yet again. She told investigators she had received multiple text messages she believed were sent by Rowland’s friends. The disturbing texts claimed her ex-boyfriend was dead and that it was Lauren’s fault. She told police she decided the texts were untrue after tracking Rowland’s posts on social media.
Brophy said the reporting officer asked Lauren if she felt endangered or threatened, and she responded she did not. She did say she believed Rowland’s friends were “trying to lure her somewhere.”
The officer advised her not to go anywhere that made her feel uncomfortable, according to Brophy, and to call back if she was contacted again.
Less than 24 hours later, on the morning of Oct. 13, Lauren called University Police again. According to Chief Brophy — and a written timeline police provided to reporters Thursday — McCluskey said she had received additional messages “she believed were from her ex-boyfriend and/or her ex-boyfriend’s friends.
“The messages demanded money in exchange for not posting compromising photos of Lauren and Rowland on the Internet,” the timeline said.
Lauren responded to the messages by sending “$1,000 to an account as demanded in hopes of keeping the photos private,” according to the timeline.
“A report was taken, a criminal history was pulled and the case was assigned to a detective for follow-up on possible sexual extortion charges.”
Six days later, on Oct. 19, a formal investigation of extortion charges was launched, Brophy said. Between then and Oct. 22, Rowland was seen at various locations on campus.
Next, Brophy said, Rowland sent a text from one of his many accounts, claiming to be a police officer who wanted her to meet him at the station. It was later determined that Rowland was waiting just outside McCluskey’s dorm, Brophy said, but she did not take the bait or leave the building.
Brophy said that his officers were building on the extortion case, and trying to determine the suspect or suspects who sent the texts. They now believe most or all of it came from Rowland. Once the U police were sure their suspect was Rowland, they planned to confront him and contact Adult Probation and Parole officials, the chief said.
But no one knew that Rowland could turn violent, or that McCluskey didn’t have that much time left.
At 8:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 22, Rowland confronted McCluskey as she returned to her dorm after a night class. She was on the cellphone with her mother, back in Pullman, Washington, who heard Lauren yell “no, no, no!”
“She dropped her cellphone and belongings, and he dragged her to a different part of the parking lot, where he forced her into the car he drove to campus, and shot her multiple times,” Brophy said.
Rowland, whom Brophy characterized as “a master manipulator,” had convinced a friend to loan him the murder weapon by saying he wanted to borrow it to teach his girlfriend to shoot. The man feels horrible about his unwitting involvement in the murder, Brophy said.
And Rowland’s escape was provided by another friend, Brophy said. Rowland called a woman he had met a few days earlier on a dating site, and asked her if she could pick him up on campus after his gym workout.
The two went out to eat and to look at the State Capitol, and they went to her residence so he could take a shower, the chief said.
“This is another person Rowland duped into thinking he was a great guy, and could do no wrong,” Brophy said.
Brophy told reporters investigators believed Rowland was trying to threaten his former girlfriend’s finances and reputation, and did not pose a physical threat. That’s what McCluskey told them at the time of her interviews, he said.
“His skill and ability to con people has been evident here, a lot,” Brophy said.
“I believe my officers work in a very, very tough environment, and their actions were appropriate on this evening,” he said, apparently referring to the night of the murder. “I told Lauren if she felt she was in physical danger she needed to tell us, and that didn’t happen.”
Brophy said that among the dozens of shocking details in the case is how Rowland reacted after the shooting.
“I can’t fathom how anybody with a conscience could murder their girlfriend, then go have dinner with someone like nothing happened,” Brophy said. “It takes a special piece of work.”
Rowland committed suicide early Tuesday morning after leading Salt Lake City police officers on a brief foot chase and then entering the Trinity AME Church at 239 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. As officers made their way inside, Rowland shot himself, Brophy said.
U of U President Ruth Watkins attended Thursday’s press conference and said she has “great confidence in the diligent work” of the University Police force, adding that an internal review has yet to turn up any mistakes made, but noting that independent reviews will be held to help the police learn how to best ensure student safety in the future.
