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Man Charged In Murder Of Former Business Partner

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Jan 22, 2010 9:06 pm US/Mountain

Man Charged In Murder Of Former Business Partner

Reporting
Raj Chohan
THORNTON, Colo. (CBS4) ― The owner of a software company in Adams County has been charged with murdering his former business partner.

The Adams County district attorney filed charges against William Rex Fowler on Friday.

Fowler is accused of shooting Thomas Ciancio at Fowler Software Design in Adams County on Dec. 30.

SWAT teams were called out to the business. Emergency dispatchers were originally told that a disgruntled worker entered the building and a shooting followed. Fowler, the company's founder, walked away from the scene with a gunshot wound to his head. He was originally thought to be the victim.

Ciancio was Fowler's business partner who was about to dissolve the relationship. He was found dead inside the building with more than one gunshot wound to his head.

"It is alleged that due to business disagreements, Ciancio resigned in late November 2009. On Dec. 30, Ciancio allegedly was meeting with Fowler to formerly dissolve the business relationship and receive a settlement check," Krista Flannigan with the Adams County District Attorney's Office said in a prepared statement.

According to court documents, Fowler and Ciancio had been "arguing over company matters for several months."

An employee told police Fowler allegedly "embezzled about $200,000" from the company and "gave it to a church or some kind of charity." The Fowlers are active in the Church of Scientology, but it's not clear from court records if that's where the money went.

Fowler left a note on a briefcase in his office dated the same day as the shooting. The letter said "December 30 ... there is nothing confidential in this briefcase. Please give the briefcase to Jan," Fowler's wife.

The next day Janet Fowler demanded the briefcase from detectives stating, "It is important to me, my church, and it is religious material and I want it now."

While references to the Church of Scientology are peppered throughout the arrest warrant affidavit, family members of Ciancio told CBS4 that Ciancio, who was not a Scientologist, never complained about the church being an issue and that it was Fowler's poor business practices that caused him to quit.

Fowler is currently in police custody.

Additional Resources

Ciancio's family asks that any donations be made to:

Tom Ciancio's Children Fund
Mapleton Public Schools Federal Credit Union
591 East 80th Avenue
Denver, CO 80229

(© MMX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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