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OREGON (USA): DAYTON LEROY ROGERS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR THE 4TH TIME
November 16, 2015: A Clackamas County jury sentenced Dayton Leroy Rogers to death for the 4th time. Rogers, 62, White, a serial killer who was dubbed the Molalla Forest Killer, killed 8 women in 1987. Rogers was sentenced to death for the killings of Cynthia Diane DeVore, 21; Maureen Ann Hodges, 26; Reatha Marie Gyles, 16; Nondace Kae Cervantes, 26; Lisa Marie Mock, 23; Christine Lotus Adams, 35. He was then sentenced to life in prison for the stabbing death of Jennifer Lisa Smith, 25, outside a Portland restaurant in 1987. An eighth victim believed killed by Rogers was found but never identified until 2013, and Rogers was never charged in her death.
He had previously been sentenced to death 3 times for his crimes, and each time the penalty was overturned on legal grounds. The jury's new verdict comes despite a moratorium on executions imposed by the past 2 governors. The state has not executed anyone in nearly 20 years.
Rogers apologized in court Friday. He told jurors the word "sorry" was inadequate, but he was sorry for taking "8 precious lives."
Prosecutors said Rogers drove to Portland to solicit prostitutes, plied them with alcohol, and took them to remote locations where he tied them up, tortured them, and stabbed them to death. Rogers was arrested on Aug. 7, 1987, and sentenced to death the first time on June 9, 1989 for 6 of the killings.
Rogers’ first known attack was at age 18 in 1972, when he stabbed a 15-year-old girl after taking her to a wooded area to have sex.
He pleaded guilty to second-degree assault charges and was sentenced to four years’ probation. In 1973, he was sent to the state mental hospital after striking two girls with a soda bottle. After his release in 1974, Rogers’ crimes continued for more than a decade.
Defence attorney Richard Wolf argued that Rogers' traumatic childhood - including sexual and physical abuse - and the brain damage he suffered should be considered as mitigating evidence. The state Supreme Court struck down Rogers' death sentences in 1992, 2000 and 2012 on procedural grounds. (Source: Associated Press, Hands off Cain, 16/11/2015)
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