Glen Edward Rogers

Glen Edward Rogers (born July 15, 1962), also known as "The Cross Country Killer" or "The Casanova Killer," is an American serial killer convicted of two murders and a suspect in several others throughout the United States that began on September 28, 1995.^[1] Rogers grew up in Hamilton, Ohio, where he had an extensive criminal record for charges that included assault and arson.

Early life

Rogers was born and raised in Hamilton, Ohio, one of seven children born to Edna and Claude Rogers. Claude was a pump operator at the local Champion paper company. The family lived in a rough part of town, but Rogers had an unremarkable childhood. As a teenager, he began to be known as a troublemaker with a quick temper. By the time he was 16, he was expelled from Wilson Junior High School and married his pregnant childhood sweetheart, Deborah Ann Nix. Although the child wasn't his, Rogers adopted him and moved with his family to Southern California, where he got a job at the Highland Press printing company in Pasadena. Nix and Rogers had a second child together but divorced in 1983. Nix became the first of many women to accuse him of physical abuse. Rogers returned to Hamilton in 1986 or 1987, where he became stuck in a pattern of holding down menial jobs and accumulating a criminal record including public drunkenness, theft, assault and arson.^[2]

Murders

Authorities suspected Rogers in the stabbing or strangling of an elderly man from Ohio in 1993 and four women in California, Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana. He originally claimed the number of murders was closer to 70, but then recanted his statement, claiming he was joking and had not committed any murders.^[3]

• Mark Peters (Hamilton, Ohio) - suspected victim

On January 10, 1994, Police recovered the remains of 71-year-old Mark Peters, a retired electrician and veteran, in a cabin belonging to the family of Glen Rogers in Beattyville, Kentucky. Peters had taken Glen Rogers in and allowed him to live in his home prior to October 1993 when Mark Peters was reported missing along with his car and several valuable personal items including antiques, guns, and a collection of coins. Rogers had disappeared as well and it was reportedly his brother, Clay, who led police to search the family cabin for clues, leading to the discovery of Mr. Peters' skeleton, which was found bound to a chair and covered by a pile of furniture.^[4][5]

• Sandra Gallagher (Los Angeles, California)

On September 28, 1995, Sandra Gallagher, a 33-year-old mother of three, crossed paths with Rogers at McRed's, a Van Nuys bar. The next day, Gallagher's strangled and badly burned corpse was found in her car near Rogers' Van Nuys apartment. Authorities allege that after murdering Gallagher, Rogers moved on to Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida, killing a woman in each state.^[1] On June 22, 1999, Rogers was convicted of murdering Gallagher^[1] and on July 16, 1999 the state of California sentenced him to death.^[6]

• Linda Price (Jackson, Mississippi)

Kathy Carroll, Price's sister, said Price had met Rogers at a tent where beers were being served at the Mississippi State Fair. She remembered that her sister would repeatedly say, "Ain't he good-looking?" Rogers and Price briefly shared an apartment in Jackson. The last time Carroll saw her sister was the night before Halloween 1995, when the two were planning to have Carroll's grandchildren go trick-or-treating at Price's apartment. However, the next day, Price did not answer her door and Rogers was gone. Similar to the other killings, Price and Rogers met over drinks; and, like the other women, Price was in her 30s and had red hair. Like Cribbs, she was also found dead in a bathtub.^[1]

• Tina Marie Cribbs (Tampa, Florida)

On November 5, 1995, Cribbs was seen leaving the Showtown Barn in Tampa, Florida, with Rogers. A bartender told police Rogers had bought Cribbs and her friends drinks and was later asked for a ride by Rogers. Two days later, a member of the cleaning staff in a Tampa motel found Cribbs' body; she had been stabbed in the chest and the buttocks. A clerk at the motel told authorities that Rogers had arrived at the motel a few days before the murder. On November 5, Rogers paid for an extra night and asked that his room not be cleaned. The clerk then saw Rogers putting his belongings into a white Ford Festiva. The next day, Cribbs' wallet was discovered at a rest area in North Florida; the fingerprints lifted from her wallet and the motel room were matched to Rogers. On November 13, Rogers was arrested in Kentucky driving Cribbs's car, which he claimed had been loaned to him. He also said Cribbs was alive when he left. On July 11, 1997, Rogers was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Tina Marie Cribbs.^[7]

• Andy Jiles Sutton (Bossier City, Louisiana)

Sutton was a known acquaintance of Rogers. Her slashed body was found on November 9, 1995, on a punctured waterbed in her apartment.^[2]

Sentence and appeals

Rogers was scheduled to be put to death on Valentine's Day, 1999, in Florida, but he immediately appealed to the Florida Supreme Court claiming that the State had not presented enough evidence to support the charges. Rogers also argued that the trial court should have granted the defense's motions for a mistrial because a witness was allowed to testify about a misdemeanor for which Rogers was convicted in California; the prosecution was also allowed to present an improper argument during closing arguments. His appeal was delayed until March, 2001, and was ultimately denied. In April 2005, Rogers filed another appeal, which is still pending. Should his death sentence ever be overturned based on a charge of prosecutorial misconduct, he will no longer be eligible for execution in the State of California.^[8]

Simpson and Goldman Murder Claims

In November 2012, American cable channel ID aired a documentary entitled My Brother The Serial Killer. During this documentary, it was alleged that Rogers told his family by phone in early 1994 that he was "partying" with Nicole Simpson just before her murder; he also allegedly stated that she had money and he was “going to take her down.” Alleged copies of receipts from his working for a construction company near Van Nuys, which was close to the residence of Simpson, were shown. Further allegations included that Rogers was acquainted with O. J. Simpson, that Simpson paid Rogers to break into Nicole's house and steal a pair of $20,000 earrings O.J. had given to Nicole, and that Rogers should kill her if necessary. He purportedly later confessed to killing both Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman shortly after being convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Tina Marie Cribbs.^[9]

References