Jerome Rogers is found guilty of the murder of 86-year-old Wanda Paulin and the murder and sexual assault of 76-year-old Mary Beth Blaskey. The jury’s April 23 conviction came after just one day of deliberation. Rogers is facing a second trial, for which he could receive the death penalty.
The jury convicted him on two counts of felony murder and one felony count of sexual penetration against a victim, with enhancements for burglary, rape and prior convictions.
Prosecutor Justin Crocker brought the charges to trial, arguing that all the evidence pointed toward Rogers’ guilt. Rogers’ counsel, Daniel Mangan, argued that the murder scenes were inconsistent with each other, that the evidence pointed toward multiple people participating in Blaskey’s murder and burglary, that police did not properly investigate either case, and that investigators relied on improper DNA testing in determining Rogers’ guilt.
“There’s an awful lot of not there,” Mangan said during closing arguments, referencing a lack of Rogers’ DNA at Blaskey’s house.
Paulin’s murder occurred Dec. 12, 2010, and Blaskey’s Nov. 14, 2012.
Read about closing arguments here.
Read about a denied mistrial motion in the case here.
