TV News Houston

02-01-10 FATAL LAKE CONROE AREA HOUSE FIRE

A dead body discovered in an overnight house fire near Lake Conroe may be a man who gained infamy along with his son in 2008, when the pair was indicted for murder.

Neighbors reported a fire at 1524 West Creek Drive around 12:30 a.m. on Monday. The Lake Conroe Fire Department responded and found a single wide mobile home engulfed in flames.

Inside, firefighters found what first appeared to be two human corpses, but turned out to be a human and a canine.
CLICK ARROW TO VIEW VIDEO

Investigator Joe Manz with the Montgomery County Fire Marshal’s Office said no information could be released regarding the identity of the deceased until an autopsy was performed and next of kin was notified.

While Manz would not speculate about possibilities or probabilities, various public records show the address is still home to 55-year-old Michael “Fred” Gloede who is awaiting trial in the 2006 brutal murder of his son’s girlfriend.

His son, 30-year-old Michael “Brandon” Gloede, was convicted last July of murdering Lori Randall, along with third-degree felony driving while intoxicated, and is currently in the Montgomery County Jail awaiting transfer to the Texas Department of Corrections. His address is currently listed on the jail roster as the West Creek Drive location.

Brandon and Fred Gloede both lived at the West Creek Drive address when Randall died. They were arrested on March 31, 2008, charged with first-degree murder and eventually both were released on bond.

Brandon was reindicted last May, then tried and convicted of the lesser included charge of manslaughter in July. Fred Gloede’s case has not been heard.

Lori Randall was 32-years-old when she died in the spring of 2006.

The original arrest affidavit states the pair caused Randall’s death by “blunt force trauma to the head,” which is believed to have occurred on April 30, 2006 at the West Creek Drive residence.

Ultimately, Randall was flown by air ambulance to Methodist Hospital in Houston where her attending physician requested contact with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office the following day so he could discuss her extreme injuries.

The document states that the “most significant injury discovered was a large right-sided subdural hemotoma with neurological evidence of extremely severe and most likely irreversible brain injury not compatible with life.”

According to the report, Randall’s friends and family said she was physically abused by Gloede and his father during frequent stays at their home.
Witnesses told investigating officers that Randall said illegal drugs were involved and she was afraid if she tried to get out of the situation “she would be killed” because of her knowledge of their alleged illegal activities related to drug sales and her knowledge of where the contraband was stashed.

Randall once reported an assault by Brandon Gloede, but later dropped the charges.

Witnesses told officers it was common to see Brandon Gloede grab Randall around the neck and shake her and one friend reported witnessing that on April 30 as the couple sat in a vehicle.

According to the police report, Fred Gloede admitted to investigators that he argued with Randall on the night of April 30, 2006 and he shook her twice during that time, and threw her one the couch.

A witness also told officers Fred Gloede said he had shaken Randall, and done so with such force that she passed out, and then repeated that action and laid her on the floor. The father and son, apparently realizing they had gone too far, stated they put wet rags on her head to make her feel better that night.

A neighbor told investigators the next morning, which was May 1, Brandon Gloede dropped by, asking for aspirin for Randall who he claimed had headache. The witness characterized Gloede as “agitated, nervous, and not himself.”

Early that day, the two men finally called for an ambulance, and medics had Randall flown to the Texas Medical Center in Houston where she was removed from life support three days later and died, leaving behind three sons.

All currently accessible public records list Fred and Brandon Gloede as the only permanent residents of the now burned out mobile home over the past several years, except for a young woman who other documents indicate now lives in East Montgomery County.

Fred Gloede is not confirmed to be the victim as of Monday morning. Once the deceased is positively identified, it will be posted on this website, along with the cause of death and the cause of the fire as that information becomes available.

01-30-10 CUT AND SHOOT RESPONDS TO 2-11 FIRE

Just before midnight on Saturday, the Cut and Shoot Fire Department responded to a house fire on the corner of Oliver Lane and Main Street, south of SH 105 East in Security.

Upon arrival, Cut and Shoot firefighters saw flames through the roof and requested a second alarm for manpower and water.

Click the arrow to view video.

Grangerland, North Montgomery County, and Splendora Fire Departments responded, with the temperature hovering around freezing.

The two-story home sustained heavy damage but was not a total loss. There were no injuries.

The Montgomery County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire.

01-28-10 MVA WITH ENTRAPMENT DAW COLLINS RD.

This entrapment came in at 0356. On arrival one Ford F150 with a tree broken off on the roadway and the remainder wrapped in the trucks driver door.

CLICK ARROW TO VIEW VIDEO

01-24-10 NEW CANEY 3 ALARM HOUSE FIRE

UNCUT VIDEO

Just after 1 a.m. Sunday morning New Caney Fire Department was dispatched to a house fire on Deer Glen near Pickering. The first units on the scene reported heavy fire through the roof.

A second alarm was pulled and later a call for additional tankers.A defensive fire was called.

New Caney, Porter, Splendora, Grangerland, Bennette, River Plantation, and Needham all responded.

Porter Fire Department set up two dump tanks to handle water supply. With no close water source tankers traveled several miles to refil and then had to back into the scene as the narrow roads could not accomodate trucks turning or passing.

A truck parked under the carport was pushed out of the reach of the fire by some quick thinking firefighters.

The home was a total loss. The home owners said they were about to go to sleep when one of their girlfriends smelled smoke and insisted he check it. When he went to the garage area flames were already visible from above in the game room area.

10-16-09 MVA TRIPLE FATAL FM1314 AT SOUTH LOOP 336

CONROE – (By Jamie Nash www.montgomerycountypolicereporter.com) A major accident in that occurred in Conroe around 10:15 a.m. on Friday left three people dead and sent an area teen to jail. The crash occurred at Porter Rd. (FM 1314) and S. Loop 336.

The deceased are identified as Craig Rector, 50, his 20-year-old daughter, Felicia Hicks and her common-law husband, Freedom Fitch, 24. All three were Splendora residents. Rector was a father of five; Hicks and Fitch shared a 2-year-old daughter, Annabelle who was not with them at the time of the crash.

Click the arrow to view.

According to police, the victims were in a Mazda sedan traveling northbound on FM 1314 when witnesses say a Dodge Ram 3500 Dually pickup driven by 18-year-old Casey McKinley of Grangerland was traveling at a high rate of speed eastbound on Loop 336 and ran a red light where those roads intersect. The pickup struck the side of the Mazda and pushed it into an older model Mercedes sedan that stopped in the westbound lanes of Loop 336 waiting to turn onto FM 1314. Another westbound vehicle was also struck when the Mercedes slid into it.

McKinley and the driver of one of the westbound vehicles were taken by ground ambulances to a local hospital. McKinley was treated and released to law enforcement. Although police said they did not believe alcohol was a factor in the crash, blood was drawn to be tested as is standard procedure.

Rector, the Mazda’s driver, was pronounced dead on the scene. A PHI medical helicopter loaded Fitch and began to take off for the Texas Medical Center, but he went into traumatic arrest and they landed. Like Hicks, Fitch was loaded into a ground ambulance and transported to Conroe Regional Medical Center where both were pronounced dead.

The Conroe Police Department Community Oriented Response Team is investigating.

McKinley, a 2009 graduate of Caney Creek High School, was arrested and charged with three counts of manslaughter. McKinley does not have a criminal record as an adult, according to Public Data. He is a student at Texas A&M, Galveston. His bond totals $150,000.

01-01-08 RIVER RIDGE HOUSE FIRE

This housefire not long before dawn was fully involved on arrival of Needham Fire Department

click to view video

03-22-04 HFD RESCUES KID FROM TREE TRYING TO RESCUE CAT

This popular video made it to Jay Leno. Tower 18 with HFD responded to this kid who climbed a tree using garden hoses trying to rescue a cat.

CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO