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		</div><h5><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Glamorous H</strong><strong>ouston couple Benjamin Ruiz, and Rene Ruiz, were found dead in their home on Thursday night of a suspected murder suicide</strong></span></h5>
<h5><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Cops believe Benjamin, 52, and Rene, 62, died in a &#8216;murder suicide&#8217; at their $1.5million Houston home</strong></span></h5>
<h5><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Laura Mercier creative director Benjamin Ruiz, and his partner Rene Ruiz, who&#8217;d been together 20 years had just filed for a divorce</strong></span></h5>
<h5><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>The high flying, international jet-setting with homes in Houston, Texas and Mexico, had just listed their main house for sale as part of the divorce settlement<br />
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<h5><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Police found the pair in an upstairs bedroom with gunshot wounds after a friend called 911 to the home which was listed day earlier<br />
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<h5><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Authorities have not yet identified which of the pair was the trigge</strong>r man</span></h5>
<h6><strong><img class="alignnone wp-image-292424" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Benjamin-Ruiz-left-and-Rene-Ruiz-right-5.png" alt="Benjamin Ruiz [left] and Rene Ruiz [right] 5.PNG" width="680" height="701" />Soon to be divorced couple Benjamin Ruiz, [left] and Rene Ruiz, [right], were found dead in their home in Houston home on Thursday night of a suspected murder suicide</strong></h6>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font">A gay couple were found dead in their $1.5million Houston home on Thursday and cops suspect it was a murder-suicide.<br />
Police officers responded to the five-bedroom home on the 4000 block of Markham Street around 9:30pm, after a friend of the couple called police about a concerning text message they received.<br />
They were named on Friday afternoon as Laura Mercier creative director Benjamin Ruiz, 52, and his partner Rene Ruiz, 62.<br />
Benjamin Ruiz was a high-flying creative director for the make-up brand Laura Mercier traveled in rarefied industry circles and mingled with celebrities as part of his work.<br />
The pair lived a glamorous, international lifestyle and had homes in Mexico. They recently vacationed in Buenos Aires and mingled with celebrities all perks of the job for Benjamin.<br />
Their bodies were discovered Thursday inside a bathroom at their million-dollar home on Markham Street near Weslayan, near the Houston&#8217;s Galleria.</p>
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<h6><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-292432" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Benjamin-Ruiz-centre-is-pictured-with-Mercier-left-and-Brooke-Shields-right.png" alt="Benjamin Ruiz [centre], is pictured with Mercier [left] and Brooke Shields [right].PNG" width="671" height="697" /><strong>Widely respected sought creative director Benjamin Ruiz [centre], is pictured with Mercier [left] and Brooke Shields [right]</strong></h6>
<h6 class="imageCaption"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-292441" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Benjamin-Ruiz-left-and-Rene-Ruiz-right-10.png" alt="Benjamin Ruiz [left] and Rene Ruiz [right] 10.PNG" width="678" height="662" /><strong>Benjamin and Rene Ruiz who had been together for 20 years reportedly, but were getting divorced. </strong></h6>
<p class="imageCaption">On Thursday night however, a friend received a worrying text message and went round to check on them. When no one answered the door, they called 911. Officers arrived and found the couple dead upstairs. <span class="mol-style-bold"><br />
</span>&#8216;At this time it appears to be a murder-suicide,&#8217; Houston Police Department investigator Blake Roberts said.<br />
&#8220;It&#8217;s not truly set in yet,&#8221; said Ben&#8217;s longtime friend, Edward Sanchez. &#8220;I think deep down inside I&#8217;m waiting to hear from him.&#8221;<br />
Sanchez said the couple helped pave the path for the Houston gay community. Ben was a cosmetics director at Laura Mercier. The pair who had been together for 20 years reportedly, were getting divorced.<br />
A day earlier they had listed their home for $1.5million, as part of their divorce settlement, it was alleged.</p>
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<h6 class="imageCaption"><img class="alignnone wp-image-292431" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Cops-responded-to-to-bodies-found-at-the-Ruiz-home-in-Houston-on-May-3-2018.png" alt="Cops responded to to bodies found at the Ruiz home in Houston on May 3, 2018" width="666" height="364" /><strong>Cops were called out after the men were found dead in their $1.5million Houston, Texas home [photo], Thursday night</strong>.</h6>
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<h6 class="overlay-icon mobile-gallery"><img class="alignnone wp-image-292430" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/The-Ruiz-home-in-Houston-1.png" alt="The Ruiz home in Houston 1" width="663" height="423" /><strong>Crime scene: The 4,000-square-foot home was listed for sale the day before, reportedly part of the impending divorce settlement</strong></h6>
<div class="container-3zJLP vertical-2XJd5">Their nearly 4,000-square-foot home was put up for sale the day before the couple was found dead. The home&#8217;s listing say it&#8217;s an Edwardian-style English city home with &#8216;custom touches&#8217;.</div>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font">It was not the couple&#8217;s only home. They also had a property in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, which they visited for New Year recently.<br />
Benjamin gushed about the property in interviews about his work, saying it was where he went to relax.</p>
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<h6 class="imageCaption"><strong><img class="alignnone wp-image-292435" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Benjamin-Ruiz-left-and-Rene-Ruiz-right-6-1.png" alt="Benjamin Ruiz [left] and Rene Ruiz [right] 6.PNG" width="679" height="408" />Jet-setters: Rene Ruiz, [left] and Benjamin Ruiz, [right], had been together for 20 years and had multiple homes and traveled the world in style<br />
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<p>The couple traveled frequently, most recently Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Mexico&#8217;s Puerto Vallarta, where they have a home.<br />
It is not clear what Rene did for a living. Unlike Benjamin who had a busy social media foot print, he does not appear to have had any online profile.</p>
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<p class="imageCaption">Cops said that no suicide note was left behind, and added that they have never been called to the home before for domestic incidents.</p>
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High flying gay couple found dead in their Houston mansion, victims of ‘murder suicide’: cops – Benjamin and Rene Ruiz, just filed for a divorce after 20 years
