Doctor from Rockwall area involved in murder-suicide

Authorities say Timothy Roses shot his ex-girlfriend, then himself.

Photo courtesy of Waterloo Courier

Plano radiologist Timothy Roses was found dead outside a home in Jesup, Iowa on Wednesday night after shooting and killing 22-year-old Lindsay Nichols, then shooting himself.

A radiologist who lived in the Rockwall area was found dead in a small Iowa town last Wednesday night after he followed his ex-girlfriend to her new boyfriend’s home, killing her and turning the gun on himself, according to prosecutors in Buchanan County, Iowa.

Buchanan County Attorney Shawn Harden told Waterloo NBC affiliate KWWL on Friday that Timothy Glenn Roses, 45, had been in a relationship with Lindsey Nichols, 22, of Evansdale, Iowa, since April 2011. Roses told Nichols that he was going to leave his wife and get a divorce to be with her, but Nichols ended their relationship in February, Harden told KWWL. Roses continued contacting Nichols even after she ended the relationship, Harden said.

Nichols met Roses at Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo, Iowa, where she had studied radiology. Roses lived in Rockwall with his wife and family. Although he had been working on his credentials to start practicing in Plano, Roses was also part of a private radiology group at Covenant Medical Center for four to five years, said Chris Hires, spokesperson for Covenant Medical Center. However, he was not employed by the hospital.

Head prosecutors in Buchanan County told KWWL that Roses had rented a truck from Hertz in Waterloo early in the week, likely done to disguise his identity from Nichols. When he arrived at the home of Nichols’ boyfriend on Wednesday, Roses jumped out of the truck and tried to get Nichols in the truck. When she struggled, he pulled out a gun and shot her, then turned the gun on himself. While Nichols resisted, Harden said, her new boyfriend called 911.

Roses’ profile was found on the Texas Health Resources website, where Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Allen was listed as his primary hospital. According to hospital representatives, however, Roses was not affiliated with the hospital. The information was later removed from the website Thursday afternoon.

“Dr. Roses had applied for, but had not received, physician privileges at the hospital or provided any care to patients at the hospital,” said Jennifer Erickson, spokeswoman for Texas Health Presbyterian hospitals at Plano and Allen. “He was not a member of the medical staff at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Allen. His name appeared on the website due to computer error between the hospital and his private employer.”

The Texas Health Resources link also listed Texas Radiology Associates in Plano as his practice location. However, Roses was in the credentialing process and had not yet begun a full time position at the private practice, said Dr. Ted Wen, senior partner for Texas Radiology Associates, LLP.

Roses applied for the position late last year and came to terms on a contract with the private practice group approximately two months ago, Wen said. The credentialing process can take anywhere from six weeks to six months, but Wen said it appeared as though Roses was close to being able to start practicing in Plano and at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Allen since the hospital had already included his information on its website.

Wen said Roses’ background check came back clear, as well as the reference checks that included contact with Health Care Solutions, LLC, a Des Moines group Roses had helped form and had been working with since 2006. All yielded favorable reviews, giving no indication of anything out of the ordinary pertaining to his professional life, Wen said.

“We spoke to the training program director and he got very good reviews; it appeared as though he was pretty far along in the credentialing process in Allen,” Wen said. “We are quite shocked and horrified, and our prayers go out to his family in Rockwall, as well as for young lady’s family.”

According to KWWL, Nichols’ Facebook page detailed a troubled split with her boyfriend just last month, and indicated that Roses was contacting her friends in an attempt to keep tabs on her, which she posted was "an invasion of privacy, and needs to stop."

Later that same day on February 3, KWWL reported that Nichols wrote, "I really don't think I should ever feel unsafe because I feel as if I'm being watched."