Attorneys made their closing arguments in the trial of Jerome Rogers April 17, 11 years after the last murder the San Bernardino handyman with a prior rape conviction is accused of committing.
Prosecutor Justin Crocker said now-68-year-old Rogers was responsible for the murder of 86-year-old Wanda Paulin, on Dec. 12, 2010, and the murder and sexual assault of 76-year-old Mary Beth Blaskey, on Nov. 14, 2012. If convicted, Rogers could face the death penalty.
“The evidence throughout the case points in one direction, (to Rogers)” Crocker said.
Rogers’ attorney, Daniel Mangan, said Crocker’s case was based on circumstantial evidence and faulty DNA testing, and that the two crime scenes had nothing in common.
“There’s an awful lot of not there,” Mangan said, referencing what he said was a lack of DNA evidence.
The Paulin murder
Paulin was beaten and strangled by hand in her living room, the night after she attended a church play. The crime scene had an open back slider, a spilled hanging pot, and a vacuum with a coiled cord.
Paulin was likely to have stepped outside to retrieve the pot from the backyard patio, which could have been knocked down by high winds that night, Crocker said. Paulin likely tripped, knocking the pot over into her living room, and retrieved the vacuum to clean it up, Crocker continued. Rogers was likely to have entered Paulin’s backyard through a side gate with a broken latch, then entered through the unlocked slider and attacked her before she began vacuuming, Crocker finished.
Mangan said that Crocker’s theory relied on too many assumptions. It was also possible that Paulin had brought the pot in before she left to see the play, or that there was an argument at the back door, and someone threw the planter in, Mangan said.
The law directs jurors to assume the version of events that point toward innocence, he said.
The Blaskey murder
Blaskey’s murderer appeared to have entered through an open window, Crocker said. Unlike the Paulin murder, Blaskey was found with her hands and feet tied. Her strangulation was by cord, and a pillowcase had been placed over her head.
She had vaginal tears that indicated she was sexually assaulted, but a lack of DNA evidence within her indicated that it might have been by a foreign object, Crocker said. Her home was ransacked, and her Lexus, laser printer, laptop, television, necklaces, medication and antique walking canes were stolen.
Crocker said that Rogers found and sexually assaulted Blaskey on her bed, referencing underwear left by her bed. He drew parallels to a 1984 rape Rogers committed, where he entered a woman’s apartment, found her on her bed, and raped her. Rogers was sentenced to 31 years and eight months in prison for that crime.
Mangan said that Crocker’s theory was a complete construct to create parallels with Rogers’ prior crime. Blaskey was found in her kitchen, on top of her pants. She was clothed when she entered her kitchen, Mangan argued. Crocker replied that Rogers dragged her from her bedroom into the kitchen, and that she dragged the pants with her in an attempt to grab anything that could help.
Comparisons
Mangan argued that the only similarity between the two murders is that both victims were elderly women, and that there was not any evidence to link the two crimes. Paulin was strangled by hand, and Blaskey by cord. Blaskey’s home was burgled, while Paulin’s appeared to be ransacked and only her rings and purse stolen, Mangan said.
Evidence of Rogers’ involvement
Rogers came up as a possible hit for DNA found at the Blaskey murder, Crocker said. After Rogers was arrested for the murder, a dealer told police that Rogers had sold him a Napoleon commemorative coin two weeks after the murder that had been reported stolen by Blaskey’s son. Police also found Blaskey’s cigarette case in Roger’s possession.
Rogers was known to walk around the neighborhood, Crocker said. Investigators found pornographic magazines with older women in it in Rogers’ possession, along with latex gloves, leather gloves and binoculars. He also knew where to find the user’s manual for Blaskey’s stolen Lexus: in a local chop shop. Rogers had said he saw Joe Galindo, the chop shop operator, working on the car, according to Mangan. The car was later found abandoned.
Mangan argued that Rogers was unable to leave the garage in which he lived at night, because the owner of his house let out a dog at night. Crocker said that claim was inconsistent with other statements Rogers had made about meeting people on the street late at night.
DNA testing
Mangan focused most of his defense arguing that the DNA evidence never conclusively proved that Rogers’ DNA was at either crime scene.
Only trace amounts of DNA could be found, with lab results indicating uncertainty that DNA found at the crime scene was his. DNA analysis from Blaskey’s murder indicated that there were multiple unidentified men who participated in the crime, Mangan said.
“Nothing from 2013 remotely identifies Mr. Rogers,” Mangan said.
A DNA swab from the handle of Blaskey’s stolen Lexus definitely came from someone other than Rogers or the chop shop operator, Mangan said. Rogers’ DNA was not found on the Lexus manual, on Blaskey’s phone or on the Lexus’ gear shift.
No male DNA evidence at all was found on Blaskey’s phone, which looked as though it had been thrown across the room, Mangan said.
A DNA lab analyzed the yellow rope used to bind Blaskey. If they assumed four people contributed to the DNA fragments in the rope, Rogers’ DNA was 1 in 230 of a match, Mangan said. If the lab assumed only three people contributed to the DNA, Rogers would be excluded, Mangan said, referencing prior testimony from the lab’s analyst.
The pillowcase used to cover Blaskey’s head was similar: assuming three people contributed to the DNA fragments, Rogers would be excluded. Assuming four people contributed, Rogers had a one in 7 billion chance of being the contributor.
Rogers was also excluded from being a contributor to DNA found on Blaskey’s pink robe, which she was wearing. A second test found his DNA inconclusive, Mangan said.
Mangan also said that the DNA tests done by the Orange County Crime Lab were problematic. The STRmix analysis is done with a GlobalFiler’s private algorithm, unknown to anyone outside of the company, he said.
Gang suspects
Mangan said that investigators did not look into other suspects.
During a police interview, Rogers said he knew a local gang called “G2G” had been casing the Blaskey residence for a burglary, Mangan said. According to Crocker, Rogers had said in an early police interview that he heard a member of the gang had been left alone with Blaskey—implying the sexual assault.
When asked who committed the crime during the interview, Rogers said, “You have the guy in custody.” Mangan said that Rogers only knew the person’s street name, and couldn’t identify their actual name. Crocker said that Rogers was referring to himself.
Selena Necochea, a witness, had said a street gang had committed the Blaskey crime, but redacted that claim later. Mangan said. He said she took it back because she did not want to have a reputation as an informer.
Crocker said that the gang had no history of being rapists, and was unlikely to have committed the assault.
Necochea had named Clyde “Insane 5” Murray and Elmer Estrada as two people involved in the crime, Mangan said. Murray was fatally shot by San Bernardino Sheriff’s Deputies Nov. 29, 2012, two weeks after Blaskey’s murder. He was a suspect for an armed robbery out of Highland, and was a member of Young Black Playa Riders street gang, according to a District Attorney’s report on the shooting.
The evidence pointed toward an organized gang as the perpetrators of the Blaskey murder, Mangan said.
