Rewolinski, Robert

Born deaf in Nebraska; lived in California for 15 years, then came to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. There he met Catherine Teeters, with whom he lived off and on for 5 years, fathering 2 sons. Their relationship was a turbulent one, he abusing her, she being promiscous with other deaf men. In April 1987, Teeters started a new relationship with another man, Paul Oates, and told Rewolinski it was over for them. He beat her severely, leading to a temporary restraining order from a court. The order was lifted 4 days later, and Rewolinski and Teeters had a stormy back-and-forth relationship, while behind his back Teeters continued to see Oates, even making plans to move in with him instead. On June 9, Rewolinksi was stopped by police for speeding, and taken in to the station because he did not have a license with him. He called Teeters through the station's TTY to come get him, but she was reluctant to do so, saying she feared he would beat her again or kill her, but she finally agreed. When Rewolinski left the station, he tried to take the TTY printout with him but the sheriff's deputy took it away, saying it was state property. Several hours later, Rewolinski called the station again via TTY, saying he had lost his temper in another argument with Teeters and killed her by beating and strangulation. Two major novelties of the resulting murder trial were that virtually every relative and witness was also deaf, and that new legal precedence was set on the legality of the sheriff's office confiscating the TTY printout and its subsequent use as evidence. Rewolinski was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.