The chart presents an immediate challenge. If the time were off by only four minutes, the Ascendant and house cusps would change. Usually that doesn’t pose much of a problem, but here four minutes looms large, because it might shift the Ascendant from 0 Libra to 29 Virgo or even earlier. It would change the Midheaven too. However, everything happens for a reason so I just went with the 8:00 AM given time, and it yielded a lot of valuable information about this case.
A couple of other things tripped me up while I was studying this chart, and I do make mistakes, so if any other astro-sleuth wishes to comment please feel free to add your own ideas.
Right away there is something really disturbing about this chart, and it is that the four angles all show the critical degree of zero. Zero degree of any cardinal sign — Aries, Cancer, Libra, or Capricorn — is considered critical and in this case the fact that two dead bodies turned up in a city park is, I’d say, fairly serious. Something in Texas City, Texas, went very wrong in the early morning hours of that Friday.
The Part of Fortune is at 7 degrees Capricorn in the fourth house of endings. Sorry my chart does not show Fortuna but it is just important to know that Fortuna, the outcome, is in the 4th of endings, disposited by Saturn which is in the 12th of sorrow and misfortune.
What was the couple doing there so late at night? The couple is shown by the Ascendant ruler which is Venus, occupying 19 degrees Leo in the 11th house. I believe the couple were out having a good time and I wonder if they were trying to buy or sell drugs in the park: their ruler Venus is in fun-loving Leo in the 11th house of friends, but opposed by a nasty 5th house Jupiter-Neptune conjunction. I wonder if a drug buy or sale went bad. Venus is in its own terms at 19 Leo; they were into enjoying themselves and having their own good time.
The killer is shown by the Descendant, which is ruled by Mars in the 10th house in its fall in Cancer. Mars in Cancer shows someone who is emotionally volatile and who will react with violence. It is in the sign of its fall, where it is unfavorably motivated but also angular, giving it power to act badly. Mars is also in square aspect to the rising Mercury in Libra in the Ascendant, suggesting a quarrel between the parties. Mars is in the terms of Jupiter; maybe the killer thought he was carrying out some warped act of justice. The couple was interracial; could that have angered the killer?
The couple also had friends who turned out to be enemies: Venus is ruled by the Sun, which is in the 12th house of hidden enemies. The couple liked their friends (Venus receives Sun) — but Sun receives Venus in its detriment, showing the feeling was not mutual. Some friend of the couple had a hidden agenda. Could this have led to their murder?
Mars rules the 8th of death, meaning death by gunshot or possibly a stabbing. Saturn rules 4th of endings, which also suggests blunt force trauma, or beating.
As it turned out, the news report stated that the victims were both shot and beaten. There was a lot of rage expressed in these killings. I am concluding that the killings were the result of a sudden burst of violence due to an argument. Hopefully the news will have more information and the killer will be apprehended soon.
Event chart for discovery of the two bodies in the park
