Ricky Neal Morehouse, III

Homicide

Ricky Neal Morehouse, III
2 YOA
165 Cherry Street
Kent, IA (Union County)
March 3, 2001

Case summary by Nancy Bowers

Ricky Neal Morehouse, III — known by those who loved him as “Little Ricky” — and his twin brother  Reginald “Reggy” Morehouse were born January 23, 1999 at St. Joseph's Hospital (now Creighton University Medical Center) in Omaha, Nebraska. Their parents, Rick Morehouse, Jr. and Rachel Page, split up shortly after the little boys were born. 

Rick Morehouse married Robin Hogue on June 11, 1999 and the twins became a central feature in their lives. After many difficulties, Rick obtained a legal custody arrangement.

Rick had just gotten home from work on Saturday night, March 3, 2001, when Harlan Police Officer Kevin Petty came to the door.  He told Rick that there was a fire at Rachel’s two-story house at 165 Cherry Street in Kent, Iowa.  He said one of the twins was dead and that Rachel was at the Creston Greater Community Hospital.

Robin Morehouse phoned the hospital and spoke with Rachel’s mother, Linda Page.  It was then he learned that Ricky had died in the fire and that his brother Reggy was unharmed. 

Courtesy photo Jeff Young, Creston News Advertiser

The home at 155 Cherry St. in Kent, Ia., where 2-year-old Ricky Morehouse burned to death in the bathroom.

At the hospital, Rachel told Rick that the power failed in the house, so she went to the basement to fix the fuses and restored the power.  She then checked the twins on the upper floor.  The power failed a second time.  However, she did not fix it again but left the house to clean out her car in the driveway.  It was 10:00 p.m.

She said while she was working on the car outside, she saw flames shooting from the window of the upstairs bathroom of her house and that she rushed in to find Reggy at the top of the L-shaped stairway and carried him out of the home.  She said that when she returned for Ricky, she could not find him.

Neighbor Sherry Trembly, who called 911, and Rachel’s aunt Linda Roach, who lived nearby, were two of the first on the scene.  Rachel was standing in the yard with Reggy when they arrived.

The Creston and Lenox fire departments responded to the fire.  According to Creston Assistant Fire Chief Mick Landers, firefighters put out the blaze — which was largely contained to the bathroom — while volunteer fireman Eric Shawler went into the house with a pre-connected fire hose and air pack to search for Ricky.

The toddler could not be found, despite repeated trips into the house.  It was later discovered that the fire burned so hot and fast that the floor of the bathroom gave way and Ricky fell into the dining room below. 

There were no working smoke detectors in the house. 

The Iowa State Fire Marshal office investigated the fire.  Rick Jr.’s and Robin’s contact in that office was Dave Linkletter.  They were told that the fire was arson and that some type of accelerant was used.  The Morehouses believe that it was poured not only on the bathroom floor but onto Little Ricky.  The door was shut so the two-year-old could not get out. 

Ricky’s death certificate stated that he burned to death and had not died of smoke inhalation as most fire victims do; he would have suffered a harrowing death. The toddler's mother Rachel — the daughter of the county attorney in a neighboring county — suffered only burned fingertips and had singed hair. The surviving twin wasn't injured and had no detectable smell of smoke.

Rachel Page failed a polygraph test and also is listed on the Department of Human Services' Child Abuse Registry.

Union County Sheriff Rick Peil told Rick and Robin Morehouse that the Union County Attorney has not brought a case against anyone in the arson/death because he feels there is insufficient evidence for a conviction.

Little Ricky’s funeral was held Saturday, March 10, 2001 at Coen-Beaty-Pearson Chapel in Corning, Iowa, with burial in the Evergreen Cemetery in Prescott.

In addition to his parents and stepmother, Robin, he was survived by his twin brother Reggy; his grandparents, Steve and Linda Page, Ricky Morehouse, Sr. and Debbie Morehouse; and his great-grandparents, Glenn and Anna Ruth Hardest, Neal and Mary Morehouse, Floyd Hinkle, and Bill and Betty Page.

Sources:

“Four die in fires in Iowa,” Des Moines Register, March 5, 2001.
Obituary, Harlan News-Advertiser, March 9, 2005.
Personal correspondence, Ricky Morehouse, Jr. (victim's father) and Robin Morehouse (victim's stepmother), May 2010.
“Toddler dies in Kent house fire,” Creston News Advertiser, March 5, 2001.

Page last updated May 29, 2010