Dallas Musician Shot Dead

[Darth Ape]

Dallas musician Carter Albrecht killed at neighbor's home

Gifted member of New Bohemians was mistaken for burglar


12:46 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 4, 2007

By TANYA EISERER and MIKE DANIEL / Staff Writers


The local music community was left stunned Monday by the fatal shooting of a keyboard and guitar player well-known in music circles.


Albrecht Police say Carter Albrecht, 34, beat up his girlfriend and then tried to kick in a neighbor's door in an apparent drunken rage. He died early Monday after being shot in the head by the neighbor, who thought he was a burglar.

Police said the girlfriend had bruises on her face but did not suffer serious injuries. The couple did not have a history of domestic violence, police said.

Mr. Albrecht was a guitarist and keyboardist best known for his work with the Dallas rock band Sorta, as well as with Edie Brickell & New Bohemians.

"He was my brother, he was my best friend, and my heart is completely broken right now," said Sorta bassist Danny Balis, who lived with Mr. Albrecht and added that people were "pouring in by the dozens" to offer condolences at their home.

"It's a sad day for Dallas music," local concert promoter Mike Snider said.

"He was a musical genius, a real prodigy – everything came to him naturally. He was an incredible instrumentalist – when he played, you could really see the joy he got out of playing."

According to police, Mr. Albrecht became drunk at a Greenville Avenue bar. His girlfriend drove him to her home in the 9000 block of Santa Clara Drive, just east of White Rock Lake, police said.

The girlfriend told police that Mr. Albrecht slammed a drinking glass on a table, cutting his hand. He then struck her in the face several times, knocking her to the floor about 4 a.m. Monday, a police report said.

After she ran outside, he followed, and she ran back in, locking Mr. Albrecht out, the report said. Mr. Albrecht then went to the back of a nearby neighbor's home, police said.

The neighbor told police "he was awakened when he heard his wife screaming that someone was breaking into the house." The man was kicking and banging at the door, and the homeowner yelled at him to stop.

When the man, later identified as Mr. Albrecht, didn't stop, the homeowner, who was armed with a handgun, "shot one time at the top of the door," the report said.

"He was trying to shoot over his head to scare him away," but Mr. Albrecht "is rather tall," said Sgt. Larry Lewis, a homicide supervisor, estimating the musician's height to be 6 feet 5.

A bullet struck Mr. Albrecht once in the head, and he died at the scene.

Police did not release the name of the homeowner. Investigators said the case will be referred to a grand jury to determine whether any charges will be filed.

A new law, nicknamed the "Castle doctrine," eliminates the requirement that someone has to retreat before using deadly force to defend themselves. The law already allowed a person to use deadly force to prevent someone from committing a break-in at night.

Mr. Albrecht's parents declined to comment on the events surrounding his death but did say that they had spoken to his girlfriend.

"She's a dear person," said the musician's mother, Judith Albrecht. "We've hugged and cried. I know they cared for each other a lot."

Mrs. Albrecht and her husband, who live in Plano, said they knew from an early age that their son had the makings of a gifted musician. Mrs. Albrecht began teaching him piano as a small child, and he later took lessons from a college professor while the family lived in Kansas.

"He had a wonderful ear," Mrs. Albrecht said.

"It just came natural to him. He had a way of making what was on the page come to life."

Their son attended Southern Methodist University on a music scholarship.

After graduating in 1995 from SMU, Mr. Albrecht was a pianist for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He became involved in local pop and country music in the late 1990s, performing in bands such as the Limes and Sparrows before bassist Balis and others joined together in Sorta in 2000.

"He always wanted to have a band," said Kenneth Albrecht, his father. "Music was how he was going to make his living."

In 1999, he'd begun to perform with New Bohemians and was a full member by the time the band and Ms. Brickell issued its comeback CD, Stranger Things, in 2006.

"I always called him the real musician of the band, as far as New Bohemians goes," said New Bohemians guitarist Kenny Withrow. "He had an incredible ability to relate to people in general."

Mr. Albrecht also contributed to a number of significant local projects during his music career, including CDs by Travis Hopper, Salim Nourallah and Burden Brothers as well as regular sit-in roles that ranged from Mr. Nourallah's band to local Grateful Dead tribute act Dead Thing.

"Whoever was in the room would be blown away by his playing, with no exception," said Mr. Nourallah. "He was the best pianist I ever saw."

In 2003, Mr. Albrecht was named best songwriter and musician of the year by the Dallas Observer.

Mr. Nourallah and Mr. Albrecht's parents said he'd recently been working on a solo album.

"This solo record was jaw-droppingly beautiful and deep," Mr. Nourallah said. "Knowing that that album won't ever be done and the world won't hear it, it makes me sick."

Sorta's next album was also near completion, according to Carrie Garcia, the band's manager. But Mr. Balis and Sorta singer Trey Johnson expressed doubt about whether it will be completed.

"The things that sucks so bad about losing Carter was that he was the best, out of all of us. He was so much better than all of us," said Mr. Balis.

[raefformvp]

I heard about this on the ticket. terrible, just absoultely unfortunate! my prayers are with his family, girlfreind, and Danny.

[Evilmav2]

That's horrible...

[MavsX]

Originally Posted by Darth Ape

beat up his girlfriend and then tried to kick in a neighbor's door in an apparent drunken rage......



Police said the girlfriend had bruises on her face.....


He then struck her in the face several times, knocking her to the floor about 4 a.m. ....

No excuse to beat on a woman, especially your girlfriend. What a drunk bastard. Talent or not....

[Darth Ape]

Girlfriend of slain musician cites anti-smoking drug

08:05 AM CDT on Wednesday, September 5, 2007
By MICHAEL GRABELL and TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News


Friends of a popular Dallas musician killed early Monday are at a loss to explain what caused him to spin out of control, beat up his girlfriend and try to kick in her neighbor's door after a night of heavy drinking.

Now they're wondering whether a pill that Carter Albrecht had recently started taking to quit smoking may have sent him over the edge. But there is no hard evidence that the drug causes bouts of rage.

"I really believe it was the drug," said his girlfriend, Ryann Rathbone. "He would have never been abusive toward me, never, ever. He and I had a very peaceful, loving relationship. He and I loved each other so much."

While some users of the drug Chantix have reported symptoms of anger on Internet blogs, no studies released by the Food and Drug Administration, the manufacturer Pfizer or other researchers have linked the drug to violent outbursts.

"When there's something new put in the mixture, it's natural to wonder, 'Might this have made a difference?' " said Dr. Bryon Adinoff, an addiction expert at UT Southwestern Medical Center. "There may be truth to it, but we don't know and we likely may never know."

Mr. Albrecht, who played guitar and keyboard for the bands Sorta and Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, was fatally shot as he tried to kick in the neighbor's door in the 9000 block of Santa Clara Drive, just east of White Rock Lake.

Dallas police said the neighbor shot one time at the top of the door to scare him away, but instead struck the 6-foot-4 musician in the head.

The case will be reviewed by a Dallas County grand jury to determine whether there will be charges against the neighbor, whose name has not been released.

But the shooter will probably be protected under state laws allowing Texans to use deadly force to prevent someone from breaking into their homes at night. A new law that took effect Saturday, known as the "Castle Doctrine," strengthens those rights by eliminating the requirement that people try to flee before shooting in self-defense.

One neighbor, Natalee Morse, said she and others who live nearby brought groceries to the homeowner in sympathy.

"We wanted to do something to show we support them," she said. "It's a terrible position to be in. All of us thought we'd do the same thing if we were in that position."

According to police reports, there have been 15 burglaries on the 1 ½-mile stretch of Santa Clara Drive since January 2006. Four of those burglaries took place in vacant houses, and one occurred in a backyard storage shed. No reports of robberies could be found during that time.


'Chantix dreams'

Friends said Mr. Albrecht, 34, was normally a laid-back guy who never became violent when drunk. He and his girlfriend had been taking Chantix for about a week and planned to stop smoking Monday. They had started having vivid sleep experiences that users have nicknamed "Chantix dreams."

"It was giving them awful, strange nightmares," said bandmate Ward Williams.

Changes in dreaming, along with nausea and constipation, are common reactions to the drug, according to Pfizer and the FDA. But they are also symptoms of withdrawal.

Chantix is a prescription medicine that works by blocking nicotine from attaching to the brain receptors that produce feelings of pleasure. It was approved by the FDA in May 2006 after studies showed it to be far superior to other anti-smoking drugs without any major side effects.

"While we haven't had an opportunity to review the details of this case, clinical studies do not suggest a causal relationship between Chantix use and rage," said Pfizer spokesman Francisco Gebauer.

An FDA spokeswoman said the agency would look into the matter but didn't have enough information to say whether the drug could have contributed to Mr. Albrecht's violent outburst.

But Dr. Adinoff said it's possible that heavy drinking on top of the Chantix might have triggered a strange reaction. That's why most drugs bear warnings against taking them with alcohol.

"Both of them interact with some of the same regions of the brain," he said. "You mix alcohol with another drug that affects the central nervous system and you can easily get some unpredictable effects."


Behavior change

Ms. Rathbone said she met Mr. Albrecht about 1 a.m. Monday at a bar on Greenville Avenue. He had taken a dose of the drug just before going to the bar and didn't seem drunk when she got there, she said.

But as they left the bar shortly after 2 a.m., Mr. Albrecht started acting bizarrely, she said. He began quoting a book about the oppression of the Jews called Constantine's Sword, which he had recently been reading.

"He was saying weird, off-the-wall stuff that didn't match our conversation," Ms. Rathbone said. "I think because I didn't understand, he started to get mad at me. It didn't make sense."

She said they were home about 10 minutes when he became out of control.

"He wanted to leave, and I didn't want him to drive," she said. "He already didn't know who I was at that point. I didn't want him going anywhere."

That's when he began to hit her, she said. "He didn't even realize he was hurting me. He had no idea. He was saying the same kinds of stuff that didn't make sense. It was like he was in a dream."

Mr. Albrecht chased Ms. Rathbone outside, and she ran back in, locking him out, the police report said. Mr. Albrecht then went to the back of the neighbor's home and started banging.

The Dallas County medical examiner's office will conduct toxicology tests to determine what was in Mr. Albrecht's system. But that will probably take several weeks.

"We're not by any means scientists or chemists," said Sgt. Larry Lewis, a Dallas homicide supervisor. "We'll look at anything and everything."

[jthig32]

For the Ticket listeners. Danny wrote about this on his myspace page,and referenced the anti-smoking drug as well.

He referred to Carter as his best friend. Very sad.

[DubOverdose]

Crazy stuff. Sounds like the neighbor had good intentions, but it just looked a lot worse than it was (not saying beating someone isn't bad).

[u2sarajevo]

Originally Posted by jthig32

For the Ticket listeners. Danny wrote about this on his myspace page,and referenced the anti-smoking drug as well.

He referred to Carter as his best friend. Very sad.

Danny was roommates with him, don't know if that was currently or in the past.

It is sad.

[Nemesis]

"cold turkey" was the only thing that worked for me. i had a huge nicotine addiction...smoking <=> Copenhagen

[Flacolaco]

Wow.

I did not realize that this was Danny's roommate. I dont know why that should make it any more sad, tragic, or unnecessary to me, but it does.

Much more real.

Very sad.

[Darth Ape]

9-11 tape just released

http://www.dallasnews.com/video/index.html?nvid=172566

quote: "Oh man, I think I shot him... I didn't think he was that tall."