Craft beer mogul shot to death at his front door 5 years ago in Montrose area

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A murder mystery in the Montrose area five years ago is still confounding detectives and family members of the father who was shot and killed when he answered his front door.

Ash Rowell was 35 years old with three young children when he was murdered. He was the face of Duff Beer, a craft beer distribution business.

"He answers the door and gets murdered," former Houston police homicide investigator Fil Waters said.

Waters retired in late 2017 and started a private investigation firm called Kindred Spirits Investigations. He said this case still haunts him.

"It became one that everybody is a suspect and nobody's a suspect," Waters said.

There were many theories and many avenues detectives went down hoping to find a path that led to the killer.

Ash was the face of Duff Beers, a craft beer distributor. Before he died, his family sold the business leaving them with millions. Waters said there were business rivalries as well as family tension.

"You've got a whole lot of people, and clearly, they're not getting along," Waters said.

According to Waters, Ash had family disagreements, but that led the investigation nowhere.

Police also looked at possible business rivalries, still finding nothing.

Ash's mother, Charlotte Rowell, is not giving up on finding her son's killer or killers.

"Sooner or later someone who takes the life of a good person like Ash, there's going to be hell to pay," she said.

Charlotte believes she knows who did it, declining to name them until police can prove it.

"My eternal question is, 'Why?'" she said.

Charlotte and Ash's widow, Lesli Rowell, have been involved in lawsuits since his death, primarily over business matters. Charlotte said she's no longer allowed to see her grandchildren.

We were unable to reach Lesli for comment on this story. Her attorney, Jason Fowell, said he hasn't spoken to Lesli in years.

Waters said he believes this case can be solved.

"Whoever did this, I got to believe had to say something to someone," Waters said.

It can be solved if that someone is willing to come forward. If bringing justice for Ash doesn't motivate them, Waters hopes bringing closure to Ash's children will lead them to do the right thing.

"If they don't have feeling about what they did and they're able to live with that, then that's a whole special kind of evil in my mind," Waters opined.

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