Rain House stood at the northwest corner of West Oak and N. Poplar and, until it was razed a few years ago was, after Hundley House, the site of the most notorious murder in Carbondale's history, though today few people have heard of it.
During spring break in 1982, most of SIUC decamped for the week including SIUC marketing professor Sion Raveed. However, unlike the rest of campus, Raveed did not return to campus. On March 9th the campus and community found out why. His body was found stuffed into a laundry bag in the basement of Rain House, dead from multiple stab wounds to his chest. Since prior to his time at SIUC Raveed had worked in international finance, his experience in the field a major reason for his recruitment to the department, and some of the activities he had been involved in were questionable to say the least, investigators thought maybe his past had caught up with him and not only the local police but representatives of the State Police, FBE and SEC visits, although what they sought was never made public.
However, the truth, when it came out, was much more prosaic. Raveed owned several rental properties in town and, sometime during spring break, he and his property manager had an argument that ended with the manager knifing Raveed multiple times, hiding the body in a laundry bag in the Rain House basement and fleeing to Canada, from where he was later extradited and convicted of manslaughter.
For a number of years afterwards, tenants in Rain House reported hearing voices, footsteps, electrical powered items turning on and off, cold spots, items moving by themselves and the smell of something dead or rotting. For a number of years after the murder, Rain House would rent then a short time after a "For Rent" sign would again appear in the window and its demolition means no other renters will encounter the uneasy spirit of Sion Raveed.
