Stagecoach officer who shot brother had ‘significant health and personal issues' :Police

Stagecoach Police Sgt. Robert Lee had been removed from a patrol capacity about two months before murdering his brother, due to significant health and personal issues, according to Stagecoach Police Chief Michael Wethington.

Neighbors on Singletree Drive say Lee had only been living in his home there for a few months, when that home became a murder scene Friday.

“It looked like a swarm of cop cars everywhere," said Dustin Goedde, who lives down the street. “There’s helicopters flying by, news crews everywhere. It was something that we’re not really used to out in these areas.”

On Friday, Sgt. Robert Lee called the Montgomery County Dispatch, saying he’d shot a burglar in his home. Investigator say the supposed burglar turned out to be his brother, Rocky Lee, a deputy with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. By Saturday, Robert had been charged with Rocky’s murder.

“He does not know what he did,” said Wethington. “I don’t know—black out, snapped—I don’t know what word anybody would use, but it is not my word. My word is he did not know what he did.”

Wethington says Robert, who’s 59, had been with his department for less than two years after retiring from a 33-year career with the Houston Police Department. The chief says Rocky had been helping Robert get situated in his new house when the alleged murder happened.

“He was over there quite a bit as of late,” said Wethington. “He’d taken some time off, I understand, from Harris County to assist his brother.”

The chief says Robert had been going through a divorce and had health issues related to high blood pressure when the chief moved him from patrols to doing clerical work.

Chief Wethington says Robert and Rocky were very close.

“Most of their conversations on the phone would end with—and I’ve overheard it—‘I love you,’” said Wethington.

On a police department made up of three paid officers, the murder arrest has taken the tight-knit staff down to just two.

“It’s hurt all of us deeply,” said Wethington. “Robert is our brother.”

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and Texas Rangers are investigating the case.

The victim, Rocky Lee, was a 26-year veteran of Harris County Sheriff’s Office.