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Earl Carl
HEISELBETZ Jr.
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Neighborhood
disputes
Number of victims: 2
Date of murders:
May 30,
1991
Date
of arrest:
June 27,
1991
Date of birth:
April 1,
1951
Victims profile: Rena
Rogers, 27, and her 2 year old daughter Jacy
Method of murder: Strangulation
Location: Sabine County, Texas, USA
Status: Executed
by lethal injection in Texas on January 12,
2000
Date of
Execution:
January 12,
2000
Offender:
Heiselbetz,
Earl #999014
Last
Statement:
Love ya'll,
see you on the other side.
Summary:
Heiselbetz was the closest neighbor of the Rogers family,
living two tenths of a mile away near Pineland, Texas. Before the
Rogers moved in, Heiselbeck bragged that he could break in "whenever
he wanted to."
Heiselbeck was suspected of shooting one of the
Rogers dogs on May 24, 1991. On the morning of May 30, 1991, Rena
Rogers and her 2 year old daughter Jacy made arrangements to meet
her sister in law. She never showed.
Her car keys, purse, and a jar
of coins were discovered missing from the Rogers' home, but there
was no sign of foul play at the home. Rena's car was parked in her
driveway.
Almost a month later, the skeletal remains of Rena and
Jacy were found in and around a barn in nearby Tyler County.
Heiselbeck immediately became a suspect and eventually confessed to
the murders, stating that he killed the victims at around 11 a.m. on
Thursday, May 30, 1991.
Heiselbetz confessed to putting the two bodies into Rena's car
and driving them some miles away to the barn where they were found.
He also stated that when he returned from hiding the bodies in the
barn, he parked Rena's car back at her house, then went into the
Rogers' home and got a package of frozen hamburger meat and canned
tomato sauce, which he took home.
When asked how he had killed the
victims, Heiselbetz answered that he did not know. He said he had
blacked out, but he noted that he remembered marks on the victims'
necks. Heiselbeck directed officers to a pond, where they recovered
Rena's purse.
In his confession, Heiselbetz also claimed that the offense was
provoked by Rena Rogers, who had accused him of killing her dog.
Rogers was less than 5 feet tall, 90 pounds. Heiselbeck was 6'2" and
over 250 pounds.
Texas Attorney General
Media Advisory
Earl Carl Heiselbetz, Jr. Scheduled to be
Executed
AUSTIN - Tuesday, January 11, 2000 - Texas Attorney General John
Cornyn offers the following information on Earl Carl Heiselbetz, Jr.
who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m., Wednesday, January
12th:
FACTS OF THE CRIME
Earl Carl Heiselbetz was the closest neighbor of the Rogers
family at their respective homes near Pineland, Texas. Heiselbetz's
home was about two tenths of a mile away from the Rogers' home,
which was secluded and not visible from the road.
Before the Rogers
had moved into the house, Heiselbetz had actually broken into the
locked house and had stated that he could get into the house
whenever he wanted.
On Friday, May 24, 1991, the Rogers family -- Rena, Bob, and
their two year-old daughter Jacy - left their home to spend the
Memorial Day weekend out of town. They left their two watchdogs
outside to guard their home.
Returning to the area on Tuesday morning, May 28th, Rena took Bob
to his job in Lufkin before going home. Bob arrived at work sometime
between 10:30 and 11 a.m. When Bob returned home from work that
evening he discovered that the two dogs were missing.
On June 2,
1991, the carcass of one of the missing dogs was discovered in the
vicinity of the Rogers' and Heiselbetz's houses. The dog had been
shot.
The Rogers' telephone records showed that on May 28th, at 10:01
and at 10:02 a.m., prior to the time the Rogers returned home, calls
were made from the Rogers' home to the Multiquest Sweepstakes at a
"900" telephone number.
Also on May 28th, Heiselbetz told his wife,
Becky, that he had been bitten that morning by a dog. When she saw
him later, he had a bite on his finger and scratches on his arms,
and he was upset.
Evidence was introduced that Heiselbetz liked to
participate in sweepstakes contests and that he had informed his
wife of his interest in participating in the "dial 900" telephone
sweepstakes, but she had discouraged him because of the cost.
On Thursday, May 30, 1991, a neighbor saw Rena and Jacy Rogers at
the grocery store at about 9:30 a.m., Rena had planned to meet her
sister-in-law, Natalie Whitton, at 11:30 a.m. to travel together to
Nacogdoches; Rena planned to take Jacy.
Even though Ms. Whitton had
confirmed plans over the telephone that morning, Rena failed to show
up at the appointed place and time.
Her car keys, purse, and a jar
of coins were discovered missing from the Rogers' home, but there
was no sign of foul play at the home. Rena's car was parked in her
driveway.
Almost a month later, on June 27, 1991, the human skeletal
remains of an adult female and a child were found in and around a
barn in nearby Tyler County. The remains were identified through
dental and medical records as those of Rena and Jacy Rogers.
Heiselbetz had been questioned by the Sabine County Sheriff on
the day Rena and Jacy Rogers disappeared. Because he had responded
in a questionable manner when asked about his whereabouts, he became
a potential suspect and was questioned again on the day the remains
were discovered.
At this interview, following a previous one,
Heiselbetz voluntarily confessed to the murders in the presence of
his wife at a relative's home.
Heiselbetz subsequently signed a written confession stating that
he killed the victims at around 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 30, 1991.
Heiselbetz confessed to putting the two bodies into Rena's car and
driving them some miles away to the barn where they were found. He
also stated that when he returned from hiding the bodies in the
barn, he parked Rena's car back at her house, then went into the
Rogers' home and got a package of frozen hamburger meat and canned
tomato sauce, which he took home.
When asked how he had killed the
victims, Heiselbetz answered that he did not know. He said he had
blacked out, but he noted that he remembered marks on the victims'
necks.
The interviewer asked if he had strangled the victims, and
Heiselbetz answered that he did not think so. A few days following
his confession, Heiselbetz guided the police investigators on the
route that he had taken after killing Rena and Jacy and showed them
where he had thrown Rena's purse in a pond.
The purse, containing
Rena's identification, was recovered from the pond. It appeared that
an attempt had been made to burn the purse and the items in it.
The incomplete skeletal remains of the infant Jacy evidenced no
trauma which could suggest a cause of death.
The skeletal remains of
Rena, however, evidenced a condition known to forensic
anthropologists as "pink tooth." This condition appears in the teeth
of those who have died of asphyxiation. A forensic anthropologist
testified that strangulation was a possible cause of death of Rena
Rogers.
A court appointed psychiatrist testified that he had examined
Heiselbetz and that there was nothing in the examination that would
explain or excuse Heiselbetz's actions. The psychiatrist also
testified that head injuries sustained by Heiselbetz in a traffic
accident in 1975 could not have caused the amnesia which Heiselbetz
claimed in his confession.
In his confession, Heiselbetz also claimed that the offense was
provoked by Rena Rogers. According to Heiselbetz, Rena Rogers had
come to his gate on the morning of May 30th, with Jacy, accusing him
of shooting her dogs.
He turned to walk away and then felt a pain in
his leg. Realizing he had been shot, he went into his house to take
care of his leg. When he came back out a significant time later,
Rena was still there.
He claimed she threw something at him, and
when he ducked, he hit his head on a fence post and blacked out.
When he came to, both Rena and Jacy were dead; he guessed that he
had killed them. However, the evidence supports a version of events
vastly different from that related by Heiselbetz.
For example, the
assistant director of the Jefferson County Regional Crime Lab
testified that she examined the holes in the blue jeans worn by
Heiselbetz the day of the murders, and that there was no evidence
that the holes were caused by bullets.
Similarly, the physician who
had examined the lesions on Heiselbetz's leg testified that the
injury did not look like a gunshot wound, and was not characteristic
of a recent wound but appeared to have been a year or two old.
It was also established that Rena Rogers was a small woman,
standing under five feet tall and weighing no more than 90 pounds--compared
to Heiselbetz, a large and strong man, weighing about 250 pounds at
the time of the murders.
Further, it was established that on the
morning of the offense, Rena Rogers was preparing to depart on an
out-of-town trip at 11:30 a.m. She was seen at the grocery store at
about 9:30 a.m. and Heiselbetz confessed to killing her around
11a.m.
Considering these facts, it is unlikely that Rena, a petite woman,
on a morning in which she was preparing to go out of town, carried a
gun and her infant daughter two-tenths of a mile to provoke a
violent confrontation over two missing dogs with a man much larger
and stronger than herself, and that after shooting him waited there
for him to return.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On July 16, 1991, Heiselbetz was charged by an indictment filed
in the District Court of Sabine County, Texas, with the capital
offense of two murders. Heiselbetz was tried before a jury upon a
plea of not guilty. The jury found him guilty of capital murder on
November 18, 1991.
On November 20, 1991, following a separate
punishment hearing, the jury answered affirmatively the two special
issues submitted to it, and the trial court accordingly sentenced
Heiselbetz to death.
Because he was sentenced to death, appeal to the Texas Court of
Criminal Appeals was automatic. The Court of Criminal Appeals
affirmed Heiselbetz's conviction and sentence on June 28, 1995. A
petition for certiorari review was not filed in the United States
Supreme Court.
On April 24, 1997, Heiselbetz filed an application for state
habeas corpus relief in the convicting court. The Court of Criminal
Appeals denied that application on January 21, 1998, and Heiselbetz
did not seek certiorari review to the Supreme Court.
Heiselbetz next filed a federal petition for writ of habeas
corpus in the United States District Court for the Eastern District
of Texas, Lufkin Division, on February 5, 1998. The district court
denied relief on October 20, 1998, and also denied Heiselbetz
permission to appeal.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
similarly denied permission to appeal on July 26, 1999. Heiselbetz
then filed a petition for writ of certiorari to the United States
Supreme Court, which is pending before the Court.
Heiselbetz also
recently filed a subsequent state habeas application with the
convicting court and two motions for stay of execution with the
state courts. These state court matters are pending before the
respective courts.
PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY
At the punishment phase of trial, various witnesses testified to
Heiselbetz's violent nature. A 72 year-old woman testified that
about two years prior to the trial, Heiselbetz had became violently
angry when she fired him for doing a poor job on her roof.
Heiselbetz had chased her with a hammer, threatening to kill her.
Heiselbetz's ex-wife testified that he had physically abused
their two children, even striking them on the head. She testified
that the children have needed professional psychiatric help, and
that Heiselbetz no longer has parental rights over the children. She
also testified that after their separation, Heiselbetz had broken
into her house and raped her.
Heiselbetz's former sister-in-law also testified as to his
violence, stating that she once saw Heiselbetz beat his two children
with the buckle end of a leather belt.
DRUGS AND/OR ALCOHOL
There was no evidence of drug or alcohol
use connected with the instant offense.
ProDeathPenalty.com
Earl Heiselbetz Jr. was sentenced to die for the kidnapping and
murders of his next door neighbor and her young daughter.
Rena
Rogers and her two-year-old daughter Jacy were kidnapped from their
home in Pineland, Texas and driven to Tyler County on May 30, 1991.
Rena and Jacy were both strangled and their decomposed bodies were
not found until one month later.
Heiselbetz was their 40-year-old
unemployed next-door neighbor. Heiselbetz stole a change jar
containing about $8, a handgun and Rena's purse. The purse and the
jar were later found in a pond near the home. Heiselbetz failed
three lie detector tests before confessing to the murders.
Heiselbetz had said he could not remember killing the woman and
child, who were his closest neighbors in a secluded area near the
Sabine National Forest in east Texas.
Mrs. Rogers and her daughter disappeared after returning home
from a midmorning trip to the grocery store. Their remains were
found a month later in a barn. Rena Rogers and her 2-year-old
daughter, Jacy, disappeared the morning of May 30, 1991, after
grocery shopping.
The woman's husband found her car keys, purse and
a jar of coins missing from their secluded home close to the Sabine
National Forest. No signs of foul play were evident.
The victims'
skeletal remains were found June 27 in a barn in nearby Tyler County.
The mother and daughter were identified by medical and dental
records and were believed to have been strangled.
Prosecutors said
Heiselbetz, the Rogers' nearest neighbor who had been a suspect
since the 2 disappeared, confessed after a 2nd round of questioning
the day the bodies were discovered. "He was kind of a loner-type of
person who had gotten into making sweepstakes (toll) calls.
He went
over to (Ms. Rogers') house to make 1-900 calls for some kind of
sweepstakes," said Charles Mitchell, the Sabine County district
attorney who prosecuted Heiselbetz. "We theorize maybe he was caught
there in the house after they got home from the grocery store, they
got into an altercation and he killed the woman and killed her child."
Mitchell noted that the unemployed truck driver weighed nearly 3
times as much as the 90-pound woman.
Fight the Death Penalty in the USA
Earl Carl Heiselbetz Jr., 48, 00-01-12, Texas
A man who strangled a woman and child who lived next door to him
was put to death Wednesday, the 200th execution in Texas since
capital punishment resumed in the state in 1982.
Earl Carl Heiselbetz Jr., 48, was executed by injection for the
1991 killings of Rena Rogers and her 2-year-old daughter, Jacy.
Strapped to a gurney before the execution began, Heiselbetz looked
at his mother and father, who were watching through a window nearby,
and said: "Love y'all. See you on the other side." Heiselbetz had
said he could not remember killing the woman and child, who were his
closest neighbors in a secluded area near the Sabine National Forest
in east Texas.
Mrs. Rogers and her daughter disappeared after returning home
from a midmorning trip to the grocery store. Their remains were
found a month later in a barn. "I'm not worried about myself,"
Heiselbetz said in an interview last month, adding that he needed to
"just get my heart right with God."
Rena Rogers and her 2-year-old
daughter, Jacy, disappeared the morning of May 30, 1991, after
grocery shopping. The woman's husband found her car keys, purse and
a jar of coins missing from their secluded home close to the Sabine
National Forest. No signs of foul play were evident.
The victims' skeletal remains were found June 27 in a barn in
nearby Tyler County. The mother and daughter were identified by
medical and dental records and were believed to have been strangled.
Prosecutors said Heiselbetz, the Rogers' nearest neighbor who had
been a suspect since the 2 disappeared, confessed after a 2nd round
of questioning the day the bodies were discovered. "He was kind of a
loner-type of person who had gotten into making sweepstakes (toll)
calls.
He went over to (Ms. Rogers') house to make 1-900 calls for
some kind of sweepstakes," said Charles Mitchell, the Sabine County
district attorney who prosecuted Heiselbetz. "We theorize maybe he
was caught there in the house after they got home from the grocery
store, they got into an altercation and she killed the woman and
killed her child." Mitchell noted that the unemployed truck driver
weighed nearly 3 times as much as the 90-pound woman.
Heiselbetz maintained that he suffered blackouts from an injury
he received in a 1975 car accident, which the high-school dropout
says explains why he would not remember whether he were the killer.
However, a psychiatrist testified that the explanation was not
plausible. A jury convicted him of capital murder and sentenced him
to die in November 1991. "All I can say is, I don't remember the
killing," Heiselbetz said.
(Sources: San Antonio News-Express, Associated Press & Rick
Halperin)
Death Row Book 2000
January 12, 2000
First Texas Execution of the New Century Earl
Carl Heiselbetz, Jr., 48, was executed by lethal injection on Jan.
12, 2000 - the first person to be executed in Texas this year.
His execution also marks the 200th in Texas since executions
resumed in Dec. 1982, and the state's first of the new millennium.
Heiselbetz was sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murders
of next door neighbor Rena Rogers and her 2-year-old daughter Jacy.
Both victims were taken from their Pineland home and driven to Tyler
County on May 30, 1991.
They were strangled and their decomposed bodies were not found
until one month later. Heiselbetz stole a change jar containing
about $8, a handgun and Rena's purse. The purse and the jar were
later found in a pond near the home. Heiselbetz failed three lie
detector tests before confessing to the murders.
In the final moments, Heiselbetz looked to his family and said: "Love
y'all - see you on the other side," By Bonnie Bobit for Death Row.
Texas execution
San Antonio News-Express
January 12, 2000
A man who strangled a woman and child who lived next door to him
was put to death Wednesday, the 200th execution in Texas since
capital punishment resumed in the state in 1982.
Earl Carl
Heiselbetz Jr., 48, was executed by injection for the 1991 killings
of Rena Rogers and her 2-year-old daughter, Jacy.
Strapped to a gurney before the execution began, Heiselbetz
looked at his mother and father, who were watching through a window
nearby, and said: "Love y'all. See you on the other side."
Heiselbetz had said he could not remember killing the woman and
child, who were his closest neighbors in a secluded area near the
Sabine National Forest in east Texas.
Mrs. Rogers and her daughter
disappeared after returning home from a midmorning trip to the
grocery store. Their remains were found a month later in a barn. "I'm
not worried about myself," Heiselbetz said in an interview last
month, adding that he needed to "just get my heart right with God."
Rena Rogers and her 2-year-old daughter, Jacy, disappeared the
morning of May 30, 1991, after grocery shopping. The woman's husband
found her car keys, purse and a jar of coins missing from their
secluded home close to the Sabine National Forest. No signs of foul
play were evident.
The victims' skeletal remains were found June 27
in a barn in nearby Tyler County. The mother and daughter were
identified by medical and dental records and were believed to have
been strangled.
Prosecutors said Heiselbetz, the Rogers' nearest neighbor who had
been a suspect since the 2 disappeared, confessed after a 2nd round
of questioning the day the bodies were discovered. "He was kind of a
loner-type of person who had gotten into making sweepstakes (toll)
calls.
He went over to (Ms. Rogers') house to make 1-900 calls for
some kind of sweepstakes," said Charles Mitchell, the Sabine County
district attorney who prosecuted Heiselbetz. "We theorize maybe he
was caught there in the house after they got home from the grocery
store, they got into an altercation and she killed the woman and
killed her child." Mitchell noted that the unemployed truck driver
weighed nearly 3 times as much as the 90-pound woman.
Heiselbetz maintained that he suffered blackouts from an injury
he received in a 1975 car accident, which the high-school dropout
says explains why he would not remember whether he were the killer.
However, a psychiatrist testified that the explanation was not
plausible. A jury convicted him of capital murder and sentenced him
to die in November 1991. "All I can say is, I don't remember the
killing," Heiselbetz said.
Heiselbetz becomes the 1st condemned inmate to be put to death
this year in Texas. 6 more executions are scheduled in the state in
the next 15 days.
Heiselbetz becomes the 4th condemned inmate to be
put to death this year in the USA and the 602nd overall since
America resumed capital punishment on Jan. 17, 1977.
East Texas Killer Becomes 200th Texas Execution
By Chris
Fletcher -
Abilene Reporter-News
Thursday, January 13, 2000
HOUSTON (AP) — An East Texas man was
executed Wednesday night for strangling a woman and child who lived
next door to him. Earl Carl Heiselbetz Jr. was the 200th person
executed in Texas since capital punishment resumed here in 1982.
Strapped to the death chamber gurney, Heiselbetz looked at his
mother and father, who were watching through a window nearby, and
said, “Love y'all. See you on the other side.”
His mother, a red-eyed
Anna Heiselbetz, waved at him and responded, “Love you. Love you.”
Heiselbetz coughed twice and gasped three times before falling into
unconsciousness. He was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m., eight minutes
after the flow of lethal drugs began.
Heiselbetz Jr., 48, was executed for killing Pineland area
resident Rena Rogers, 27, and her 2-year-old daughter, Jacy, on May
30, 1991.
The execution was Texas' first of the year and one of
seven scheduled for January. “I'm not worried about myself,”
Heiselbetz said in an interview last month, adding that he needed to
just “get my heart right with God.” Heiselbetz said he had no memory
of killing the woman and her daughter, who were his closest
neighbors in a secluded area near the Sabine National Forest, about
80 miles north of Beaumont.
The pair disappeared after returning
home from a mid-morning trip to the grocery store. Mrs. Rogers'
husband later found her car keys, her purse and a jar of coins
missing, but no signs of foul play were evident.
The victims'
skeletal remains were found June 27 in a barn in nearby Tyler County.
The mother and daughter, identified by medical and dental records,
were believed to have been strangled.
Heiselbetz, an unemployed truck driver, became a suspect on the
day of the disappearance when his alibi failed to satisfy
investigators. Prosecutors said he confessed to the killings after
the bodies were found. “He was kind of a loner-type of person who
had gotten into making sweepstakes (toll) calls.
He went over to (Ms.
Rogers') house to make 1-900 calls for some kind of sweepstakes,”
said Charles Mitchell, the Sabine County district attorney who
prosecuted Heiselbetz. “We theorize maybe he was caught there in the
house after they got home from the grocery store, they got into an
altercation and he killed the woman and killed her child.”
The Rogers' telephone records showed calls were made from their
home to a sweepstakes number two days before the victims'
disappearance. Later the same day, the Rogers returned home from a
weekend trip to find their two watchdogs missing.
Heiselbetz told
his wife that day that a dog had bitten him, prosecutors said. The
body of one of the Rogers' dogs was found near Heiselbetz's house.
Prosecutors said Heiselbetz confessed to putting the bodies of
Mrs. Rogers and her daughter into her car and driving them to the
barn where they were found. In the confession, Heiselbetz said he
blacked out and could not remember how he killed the victims, but
saw marks on their necks.
He later led investigators to the pond
where he had thrown Mrs. Rogers' purse after the killings,
prosecutors said. The purse was recovered. Heiselbetz, a high-school
dropout, said he suffered injuries in a 1975 car accident that
caused occasional blackouts, which is why he was unable to recall
whether he was the killer.
However, a psychiatrist testified that
the explanation was not plausible. A jury convicted him of capital
murder and sentenced him to die in November 1991. “All I can say is,
I don't remember the killing,” Heiselbetz said.
Texas leads all states in executions since the U.S. Supreme Court
effectively reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Virginia is second
with 72.
Heiselbetz v. State, 906 S.W.2d 500 (Tex.Cr.App. 1995)
(Direct Appeal)
Appellant was convicted in November 1991 of capital murder under
section 19.03(a)(6)(A), Tex.Penal Code, for a double murder
committed on May 30, 1991. After the jury returned affirmative
findings to the two special issues submitted pursuant to Article
37.071(b), appellant was sentenced to death under Article 37.071(e).
Direct appeal to this Court is mandated by Article 37.071(h)
Appellant raises thirty-three points of error. We affirm.
The record establishes the following facts:
Appellant was the victims', Rena and Jacy Rogers, closest
neighbor. His home was about two tenths of a mile away from the
Rogers' home, which was secluded and not visible from the road.
Evidence was introduced that before the Rogers had moved into the
house, appellant had actually broken into the locked house and had
acknowledged at that time that he could get into the house whenever
he wanted.
On Friday, May 24, 1991, the Rogers family--Rena, Bob, and their
daughter Jacy--left their home to spend the long Memorial Day
weekend out of town. They left their two watchdogs outside to guard
their home.
On Tuesday morning, May 28, 1991, the Rogers returned home. But,
since Bob wanted to go straight to work, Rena dropped him off at his
job in Lufkin before going home. Bob arrived at work sometime
between 10:30 and 11:00 a.m.
When Bob returned home from work that evening he discovered that
the two dogs were missing. On June 2, 1991, Bob Rogers' brother-in-law
found the carcass of one of the missing dogs in the vicinity of the
Rogers' and appellant's houses. The dog had been shot.
The Rogers' telephone records showed that on May 28, 1991 at
10:01 and at 10:02 a.m., calls were made from the Rogers' home to
the Multiquest Sweepstakes at a "900" telephone number. The Rogers
were not home at the times the calls were made and no one had
permission to be in their home.
The evidence also established that on that same day, Tuesday, May
28, 1991, appellant told his wife, Becky, that he had been bitten
that morning by a dog. When she saw him later, he had a bite on his
finger and scratches on his arms, and he was very upset.
Evidence was introduced that appellant liked to participate in
sweepstakes contests and that he had informed his wife of his
interest in participating in the "dial 900" telephone sweepstakes,
but his wife had discouraged him because of the cost.
From this evidence a rational juror could conclude that on
Tuesday, May 28, 1991, appellant entered the victims' home and
placed the "900" calls which mysteriously appeared on their
telephone records, and that in the course of entering the Rogers'
home, appellant killed their two watchdogs.
The evidence also established that on Thursday, May 30, 1991, a
neighbor saw Rena and Jacy Rogers at the grocery store at about 9:30
in the morning. Rena had planned to meet her sister-in-law, Natalie
Whitton, at 11:30 a.m. to travel together to Nacogdoches; Rena
planned to take Jacy.
That morning Natalie had confirmed plans over the telephone with
Rena but, without explanation, Rena failed to show up at the
appointed place and time. Her car keys, purse, and a jar of coins
were missing from the Rogers' home, but there was no sign of foul
play at the home. Rena's car was parked in her driveway.
Almost a month later, on June 27, 1991, the human skeletal
remains of an adult female and child were found in and around a barn
in Tyler County. The remains were identified through dental and
medical records as those of Rena and Jacy Rogers.
Appellant had been questioned by the Sabine County Sheriff on the
day of the offense and had responded questionably when asked about
his whereabouts. His dubious answers made him a potential suspect;
so, on the day the remains were discovered, he was questioned again.
At this interview, conducted in the presence of his wife and at a
relative's home, appellant voluntarily confessed to the murders. We
note that appellant's confession offered no details as to how the
victims were murdered. Indeed, appellant "guessed" that he murdered
the victims.
Appellant subsequently signed a written confession stating that
he killed the victims at around 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 30,
1991.
Appellant confessed to putting the two bodies into Rena's car and
driving them some miles away to the barn where they were found. He
also stated that when he returned from hiding the bodies in the barn,
he parked Rena's car back at her house, then went into the Rogers'
home and got a package of frozen hamburger meat and some canned
tomato sauce, which he took home.
When asked how he had killed the victims appellant answered that
he did not know, that he had blacked out, but he noted that he
remembered marks on the victims' necks.
The interviewer asked if he
had strangled the victims, and appellant answered that he did not
think so. A few days following his confession, appellant guided the
police investigators on the route that he had taken after killing
Rena and Jacy and showed them where he had thrown Rena's purse in a
pond. The purse, containing Rena's identification, was recovered
from the pond. It appeared that an attempt had been made to burn the
purse and the items in it.
The incomplete skeletal remains of the infant evidenced no trauma
which could in turn suggest a cause of death. The skeletal remains
of Rena, however, evidenced a condition known to forensic
anthropologists as "pink tooth." This condition appears in the teeth
of those who have died of asphyxiation. A forensic anthropologist
testified that strangulation was a possible cause of death of Rena
Rogers. "Pink tooth" does not occur in infants.
A court appointed psychiatrist testified that he had examined
appellant and that there was nothing in the examination that would
explain or excuse appellant's actions.
The psychiatrist also opined
that the head injuries sustained by appellant in a traffic accident
in 1975 could not have caused the amnesia which appellant claimed in
his confession. Mindful that appellant confessed that he killed the
victims, and reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to
the verdict, the record supports the following version of the
offense: (This version of events is the theory of the offense
presented by the State.)
The appellant knew how to and actually had entered the Rogers'
home on the morning of Tuesday, May 28, 1991, to make "900"
sweepstakes calls from their telephone. He had been attacked by the
watchdogs, and he had killed the animals.
On the morning of Thursday, May 30, 1991, appellant re-entered
the Rogers' home. Apparently he believed that Rena Rogers had gone
for the day, and he decided to again make "900" telephone calls.
Unfortunately, appellant was surprised by Rena, returning from the
grocery store.
Appellant strangled Rena and then strangled her two year old
daughter, Jacy, in their home. He then, in the relative seclusion of
the Rogers' home, loaded the victims' bodies into Rena's car and
transported them to the barn where they were found a month later.
When he returned Rena's car to the Rogers' driveway, he re-entered
the victims' home to remove any evidence of foul play and took the
tomato sauce and frozen hamburger meat. He later disposed of Rena's
purse and keys.
Appellant offered in his confession that Rena Rogers had come to
his gate on the morning of May 30, 1991, with Jacy, cussing and
carrying on, and accusing him, apparently, of shooting her dogs.
He turned to walk away, felt a pain in his leg, and realized he
had been shot. He went into the house to take care of his leg, and
when he came back out a significant time later, Rena was still there.
She threw something at him, and when he ducked he hit his head on
and fence post and blacked out. When he came to, both Rena and Jacy
were dead; he guessed that he had killed them.
But, remembering that the jury may believe or disbelieve any of
the evidence, and reviewing the record the light most favorable to
the verdict, the evidence supports a version of events vastly
different from that related by appellant.
Moreover, it was established that Rena Rogers was a small woman,
standing under five feet tall and weighing no more than ninety
pounds--compared to appellant, a large and strong man, weighing
about 250 pounds at the time of the murders.
It was also established that on the morning of the offense, Rena
Rogers was busy preparing to go on an out-of-town trip at 11:30 a.m.
She was seen at the grocery store at around 9:30 and appellant
confessed to killing her around 11:00 a.m.
Under these facts, a rational juror could reasonably reject
appellant's assertion that Rena, a petite woman, on a morning in
which she was busy preparing to go out of town, toted a gun and her
infant daughter across two-tenths of a mile to provoke a violent
confrontation over two missing dogs with a man much larger and
stronger then herself, and that after shooting him waited there a
good time for him to return.
The jury apparently rejected appellant's version of the offense;
the evidence supports their decision as reasonable.
