Lubbock police have arrested a 29-year-old man in the January 30 double homicide of Texas Tech University Associate Dean of Libraries Douglas Birdsall and Viola Ross, a local woman. Vaughn Ross, no relation to the victim, was charged with two counts of murder and held in county jail on a $400,000 bond. He admitted to investigators that he was involved in an argument with Viola Ross the day of the murders.
A police spokesman said a key piece of evidence was DNA material on the tip of a latex glove in the car that pointed to Ross, according to the February 5 Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
According to a preliminary investigation, a mutual acquaintance had arranged that night for Birdsall to meet Viola Ross, who was planning to marry a longtime boyfriend on Valentine’s Day.
Posted February 12, 2001.