Adam Chase Murder: Cover-Up, Conviction, and Appeal

The Adam Chase murder was the June 14, 2012 killing of a 31-year-old father in Stanley, New York, by his wife, Rose Chase, who shoved him down a flight of stairs during an argument, hid his body in their basement for weeks, then dismembered and burned his remains at her mother’s property in Yates County. She lied to police and family for six months until a private investigator hired by Adam’s parents engineered a ruse that prompted her to confess. A jury convicted Rose Chase of second-degree murder in October 2013, and she is serving 23 years to life.¹

What Happened on June 14, 2012

Three days before Adam died, a woman named Rebecca Grube photographed Rose Chase kissing another man on a park bench at Kershaw Park in Canandaigua and sent the picture to Adam’s sister, Jessica. Adam’s mother, Silvia, confronted Rose about the photo on June 12; Rose denied the affair.²

On June 14, Adam confronted Rose with the photograph himself. During the argument that followed, Rose told him he was not the biological father of their four-year-old son, Trysten. She then admitted pushing him. He fell down a flight of stairs, and she later told police she could not find a pulse. She placed his body on a tarp, dragged it to the top of the basement stairs, and pushed it down to the cellar floor.³

Rose and Adam had been together since high school and married eleven years. In a taped police interview, Rose said she was unhappy in the marriage and had “repeatedly had affairs.”¹ Adam’s mother, Silvia, described her son as “a great father and an excellent guy” who “always cared for other people.”⁴

The Six-Month Cover-Up

Rose kept Adam’s body in the basement for weeks. She then dismembered the remains, wrapped them in blankets, and loaded them into her car. With four-year-old Trysten riding in the vehicle, she drove them to her mother Patricia Mooney’s property on Hagerty Road in Potter, in Yates County. There she burned the remains and most of Adam’s belongings in an outdoor pit and scattered the bones on the property.⁵

While the body was still in the basement, Rose reported Adam missing and told authorities he had walked away and did not want to be found. She sent text messages from his phone to his family to make it look like he was alive. On June 19, his parents received identical messages from his phone saying he was “OK, staying with a friend in Canandaigua, need time to think.”² She washed all of his clothing and told police he did not own a toothbrush because “he did not brush his teeth.” In July 2012 she made a public appeal to the Daily Messenger: “I just want to make sure he’s safe, and that he knows people miss him.”⁶

Why the Missing-Person Search Stalled

Silvia Chase reported her son missing on June 15, 2012. The Ontario County Sheriff’s Office treated the case as a missing-persons investigation for months. As late as November 2012, Sheriff Philip Povero told reporters police were “optimistic he’s alive” and that there was “no indication that it is anything other than a truly upsetting and stressful missing person investigation.”⁷ Investigators noted Adam had not used his credit card or bank account since June 14 and was not answering his phone. On November 14, five months to the day after Adam disappeared, Rose stood beside the family and the sheriff at a press conference.⁸

How a Private Investigator Broke the Case

Adam’s parents hired Rodney Miller, a private investigator and family friend, in July 2012. Miller quickly focused on Rose. He confronted her on July 8, telling her, “I think you killed him.” On July 28, he searched the Chase home and reported smelling what he described as “death” in the basement. He passed his suspicions to Sheriff Povero.⁹

On December 13, 2012, Miller teamed up with Sandy Armison, the Chases’ daycare provider, to set a trap. Armison told Rose she had heard “breaking news that an arrest would be made and somebody would be charged with the murder of Adam.” According to Miller, Rose went “white as a sheet” and left the daycare in visible distress. Later that day she confessed to Miller, admitting she had killed Adam by pushing him down the stairs and had burned his body at her mother’s property.⁹

She then led deputies to her mother’s property that same day. She pointed to a garbage can filled with ashes and said, “He’s in there.” When Patricia Mooney asked if the contents were “deer parts,” Rose replied, “Mom, I wouldn’t be here confessing if this was a deer.”⁶

Trial and Sentence

Rose Chase was indicted in February 2013 on second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, and endangering the welfare of a child. Ontario County District Attorney R. Michael Tantillo prosecuted; Public Defender Leanne Lapp represented Rose. Testimony began in Ontario County Court on October 8, 2013, and on October 18 the jury found her guilty on all three counts.¹ The prosecution’s case leaned heavily on her own recorded statements; Luminol testing at the base of the basement stairs glowed, but lab analysis did not confirm blood.¹⁰

On January 15, 2014, Judge William Kocher sentenced Rose Chase to 23 years to life for the murder, one year and four months to four years for tampering with physical evidence, and one year for endangering the welfare of a child. All three sentences run concurrently.³ The child-endangerment count was based on Rose having Trysten in the car when she transported Adam’s remains.

What the Appeal Changed

Rose Chase appealed to the Fourth Department of the New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division. Her attorney, Gary Muldoon, argued her confession was involuntary and that the prosecution had improperly withheld text messages between DA Tantillo and a sheriff’s investigator in which Tantillo instructed the investigator to be “forceful” during Rose’s interview.¹¹

The court heard arguments in November 2017 and ruled in February 2018. It agreed the DA had improperly delayed turning over the text-message evidence but held the error did not warrant reversal, noting there was “no dispute that defendant is in fact solely responsible for the victim’s death.”¹¹ The murder conviction and sentence were affirmed.

The court did reverse the misdemeanor child-endangerment conviction, finding it “not based on legally sufficient evidence.” The justices concluded prosecutors had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Trysten’s presence in the car with his father’s remains was likely to harm his “physical, mental, or moral welfare.” There was no evidence the boy knew the body was in the car or was upset during the trip.⁵ Because that sentence was concurrent, the reversal did not shorten her time in prison.

Where Things Stand

After Rose’s arrest, Trysten was placed with Adam’s parents, Lindon and Silvia Chase. Family friends organized a donation drive at a Geneva dealership to help provide clothes, toys, and support for the boy’s first Christmas without his father.¹²

Rose Chase is incarcerated at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in Westchester County. She is not eligible for parole until 2037.¹¹

1
USA Today. NY Woman Found Guilty of Killing, Dismembering Husband
2
MPNnow. Murder Trial Underway for Rose Chase
3
Finger Lakes Times. Rose Chase Sentenced for Death and Dismemberment of Her Husband Adam
4
MPNnow. Rose Chase Found Guilty of Murder
5
Democrat and Chronicle. Rose Chase Conviction Reversed
6
MPNnow. Marriage Is Focus in Adam Chase Case
7
MPNnow. Investigation Into Missing Stanley Resident Adam Chase
8
Finger Lakes Times. Family, Police Hold Out Hope That Stanley Man Will Be Found
9
Finger Lakes Times. A Conversation With Rodney Miller, Private Investigator Who Cracked the Rose Chase Murder Case
10
Norwich Bulletin. Investigation Details Revealed During Testimony
11
Finger Lakes Times. Court Upholds Chase Murder Conviction
12
MPNnow. Donation Drive Supports Son of Adam Chase