Glen Edward Rogers

Glen Rogers
Death Row mugshot
Born	(1962-07-15) July 15, 1962 Hamilton, Ohio, U.S.
Other names	The Cross Country Killer, The Casanova Killer
Height	6 ft (1.83 m)
Criminal penalty	Death
Conviction(s)	Armed robbery, Arson, Grand theft auto, Murder
Details
Victims	2+3 [suspected]
Span of crimes	1993/1995–November 9, 1995
Country	United States
State(s)	California Florida Kentucky (suspected) Mississippi Louisiana
Date apprehended	November 13, 1995 (1995-11-13)

Glen Edward Rogers (born July 15, 1962), also known as "The Cross Country Killer" or "The Casanova Killer", is an American serial killer. He was convicted of two murders and is a suspect in numerous others throughout the United States, including being mentioned, and considered by investigators in Los Angeles County, as a possible alternative suspect to O.J. Simpson in the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman,^[1] although as of 2018 nothing has developed regarding these allegations. Rogers was featured on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list after a crime spree that began on September 28, 1995 with Rogers' first authoritatively established murder.^[2]

Early life

Rogers was born and raised in Hamilton, Ohio. He was one of seven children born to Edna (née Sears) and Claude Rogers. Claude was a pump operator at the local Champion paper company. Rogers was expelled from his junior high school before he was 16. Sometime after his expulsion, Rogers' 14-year-old girlfriend, Deborah Ann Nix got pregnant from another male. The young couple married soon after then had another child in 1981. In 1983, Nix filed for divorce alleging brutal physical abuse.^[3]

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.^[4]

• 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 Peters' skeleton, which was found bound to a chair and covered by a pile of furniture.^[5][6]

• 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 bar, in Van Nuys, California. 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.^[2] On June 22, 1999, Rogers was convicted of murdering Gallagher^[2] and on July 16, 1999 the state of California sentenced him to death.^[7]

• 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.^[2]

• Tina Marie Cribbs (Tampa, Florida)

On November 5, 1995, Cribbs was seen leaving the Showtown Bar in Gibsonton, Florida, with Rogers. A bartender told police that Rogers had bought Cribbs and her friends drinks and that Cribbs 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 lent 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.^[8]

• 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 in Bossier City.^[9]

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; he also claimed 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.^[10]

Television & Film

The 2012 documentary My Brother the Serial Killer examined Rogers' crimes and included claims that Rogers killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman in 1994.^{[11][12][13][14]} According to Rogers' brother, Clay, Rogers claimed prior to the murders that he had met Brown and was "going to take her down." During a lengthy correspondence that began in 2009 between Rogers and criminal profiler Anthony Meolis, Rogers wrote and created paintings about his involvement with the murders. During a prison meeting between the two, Rogers claimed he was hired by O.J. Simpson to break into Nicole Brown Simpson's house and steal some expensive jewelry and that Simpson had told him, "You may have to kill the bitch".

Rogers was the subject of an episode of The FBI Files titled "Deadly Stranger" (Season 3, Episode 12). He was also the subject of an episode of Southern Fried Homicide titled "Smooth Talking Devil" (Season 3, Episode 2) on Investigation Discovery.

The Oxygen channel's series "It Takes A Killer" episode The Casanova Killer, run time: 22 minutes, air date: September 2, 2016 focuses on four of the murders linked to Rogers and the manhunt leading to his capture.^[15][16]

Bibliography

• Combs, Stephen M; Eckberg, J. Road Dog. Federal Point Pub Inc, 2002 ISBN 0-966-82591-8
• Linedecker, Clifford L. Smooth Operator: The True Story of Seductive Serial Killer Glen Rogers. St. Martin's True Crime Classics, 1997 ISBN 0-312-96400-5
• Spizer, J. The Cross Country Killer. Top Publications, Ltd., 2001 ISBN 1-929-97611-9

References