The Ugly Duckling Killer?

Did a makeover turn a young woman into a murderer?

- Louise Baty

Rachael Koloroutis and Tiffany Rowell were the pretty, popular girls at school.

But they were kind, too. They noticed shy, awkward new girl Christine Paolilla straight away.

Christine’s life so far had been tough.

Her dad died when she was 2 years old. She’d been diagnosed with alopecia aged 5 and was bald by 7.

She wore unconvincing wigs, had badly drawn-on eyebrows and thick glasses.

She was bullied by classmates who would yank off her wig.

But then she moved from Long Island, New York, to Houston, Texas.

She started at a new school, where Rachael and Tiffany – who were in the year above – took her under their wing.

They gave her a makeover and got her a better wig.

The ‘ugly duckling’ was suddenly part of the popular crowd.

And in 2003, classmates at Clear Lake High School voted her Miss Irresistible.

Rachael kept a photo of Christine in her purse.

On the back, a message scrawled by Christine read, Damn, we’ve had some crazy memories. I love you.

In summer 2003, Rachael and Tiffany, both 18, left school and moved in together. Christine, aged 17, would visit.

By then, she had a boyfriend – Chris Snider, 21 – who was heavily into drugs.

Rachael and Tiffany told her she ‘could do better’.

But Christine suffered from low self-esteem and craved Snider’s attention. She got jealous if he talked to other girls.

Then, on 18 July 2003, four bodies were found in the living room of a house in Clear Lake City.

They were Tiffany Rowell and Rachael Koloroutis, plus Tiffany’s boyfriend Marcus Ray Precella, 19, and his cousin Adelbert Nicholas Sanchez, 21.

Shocking massacre

They’d been shot multiple times at the point-blank range. Not only that, Rachael’s head had been caved in.