Houston fugitive seeks refuge in Lytton Springs

Former attorney faces charges stemming from drug-related deaths

By LPR Staff
Editor/POST-REGISTER

Once an attorney licensed to practice in Federal and Bankruptcy court, Shawn Roland Roberts is now in legal hot water of his own.

Roberts, 40, was apprehended in Lytton Springs this week, after violating bond and fleeing the Houston area amid an inv

estigation into the deaths of two friends, and weeks prior to a trial setting for the criminal charge of delivery of a controlled substance.

Disbarred in 2009, Roberts was initially charged with murder in the 2007 death of his girlfriend, Tara Sganga, who allegedly drowned in her bathtub after being injected with heroin.

Although a Harris County Grand Jury no-billed Roberts on a murder charge, they did later return an indictment for delivery of a controlled substance, alleging Roberts had injected the woman with the heroin prior to her death. The case was set for trial on May 10, but authorities suggested Roberts had fled the area in April.

Reports surfaced on April 19 that Roberts’ latest companion, Amanda Kaye Linscombe, 30, of Willis, became ill and later died in early-April. A third friend of Roberts’, a roommate he’d met in rehab, died in a hotel room in March 2009. Evidently that roommate, too, overdosed on heroin at Roberts’ home and later died as a result.

While Roberts was not immediately criminally connected with the deaths, the similar nature of the three incidents leaves police and the Texas Rangers searching for answers.

On May 7, the Caldwell County Sheriff’s office received information that Roberts might be hiding in Lytton Springs. A cooperative investigation between Capt. Jesse Hernandez, Sgt. Eric Hinterlach, Texas Ranger Jimmy Schroeder and DPS Trooper Tony Leal revealed the fugitive’s location and led to his arrest at a home near FM 1185 in the Lytton Springs area, and his eventual transportation back to Houston to face his charges.

For several years, acquaintances tell Houston-area news sources, Roberts’ life has been dictated by his addiction to drugs. Apparently, it was not uncommon for Roberts to appear in court under the influence of drugs, and was once arrested and ordered into rehab for being impaired in court.

Additionally, he was disbarred for allegedly defending a client while under the influence of drugs, a decision which he is appealing with the State Bar of Texas.

It is unclear what led Roberts to seek refuge in Caldwell County.