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Thread: Leeroy Wilbert Rogers Sr. Sentenced to Life With the Chance of Parole in 2015 OH Murder of Kimberly Clupper and Kendra Carnes

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    Leeroy Wilbert Rogers Sr. Sentenced to Life With the Chance of Parole in 2015 OH Murder of Kimberly Clupper and Kendra Carnes


    Kimberly Clupper


    Kendra Carnes





    Man charged with two Massillon murders also accused of threatening to shoot another person


    The man charged with murdering two women was arrested early this week after he threatened to shoot someone.

    Related:

    Woman found in creek ID'd as Kendra Carnes of Waynesburg
    Kendra Carnes remembered as 'happy, loving person'
    Coroner rules gunshot caused Kimberly Clupper's death
    Vigil held for woman found dead in Massillon park

    The man charged Friday with the murders of two women in separate incidents also was arrested earlier this week after he threatened to shoot someone, police say.

    Massillon police were called to a southeast side address on Wednesday for a domestic dispute involving Leeroy Wilbert Rogers Sr., 58, of 742 Sunset Place SE.

    When police arrived, they found a loaded .380 handgun in the residence.

    Rogers was arrested and charged with domestic violence, a fourth-degree misdemeanor, and having weapons under disability, a third-degree felony.

    He was arraigned the same day and entered a not guilty plea to the domestic violence charge.

    On Friday, Massillon police charged Rogers will two counts of felony aggravated murder in the deaths this year of Kimberly S. Clupper and Kendra Carnes.

    Detective David McConnell said Rogers had an extensive criminal history. Rogers, who is originally from the area, had lived in Texas for some time before returning to Massillon in 2013.

    Clupper, 47, of Massillon, was found dead from gunshot wounds April 11 in South Sippo Park.

    Carnes’ body was found Aug. 5 in Newman Creek by teenagers fishing in the creek. The 23-year-old was from Waynesburg. Police had not released the cause of her death.

    Investigators from the police department and Bureau of Criminal Investigation, who assisted in both cases, had acknowledged the similarities in the murder but would not say at the time if they were related.

    Both woman had tattoos and both were found in or near water.

    Police released no further details on Friday. Officials thanked the BCI for their help in the investigations.

    According to Stark County court records, Rogers also was charged Thursday with second-degree misdemeanor criminal damaging in a separate incident.

    Bond was set at $10,000 and he was released to the Massillon Police Department.

    He was to be booked into the Stark County Jail.

    A hearing on the murder charges and other charges is scheduled for 10 a.m. Oct. 14.

    http://www.cantonrep.com/article/201...829/10973/NEWS
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Mom “at peace” but still has questions after arrest

    By Christina McCune
    CantonRep

    A week after police arrested a man and charged him with murdering two women in Massillon, the mother of one of the women said she feels “at peace” but she has “a lot of questions I need answers to.”

    City police arrested Leeroy Wilbert Rogers Sr., 58, of 742 Sunset Place SE, on Oct. 2 and charged him with two counts of felony aggravated murder in the deaths this year of Kimberly S. Clupper and Kendra Carnes.

    Carnes’ mother, Tammy Bailey of Waynesburg, said when news about the arrest spread everybody around her was happy, but she still would like to find out the details and why he killed her 23-year-old daughter.

    “Everybody’s happy,” she said. “I’m very happy if he is the person. I hope they have enough evidence. We can’t convict somebody without knowing details.”

    Carnes’ body was found Aug. 5 in Newman Creek by teenagers fishing in the creek. Clupper’s body was found April 11 in South Sippo Park. The Stark County Coroner’s Office ruled both women died from gunshot wounds.

    Both Bailey and Clupper’s sister, Debbie Weaver, have said this week they are thankful to investigators. The Massillon Police Department and the Bureau of Criminal Investigation worked on the cases.

    “I feel at peace; I can’t explain why,” Bailey said. “I know if it was him, he won’t be able to do it to somebody else. I want to forgive but I want to know the details. I didn’t know this man and I don’t know how the girls knew him.”

    Bailey said she is interested in following the trial so she can learn about the details and evidence to charge the man.

    “I have a lot of questions I need answers to,” she said. “I’m happy for the other family because they had to wait longer than I had to. I do want to thank everyone who helped on the case for all their hard work.”

    Massillon Detective David McConnell said evidence still is being processed.

    Rogers has a criminal record from when he lived in DeSoto, Texas. “We’re communicating with authorities in Texas for more information,” McConnell said.

    A deputy assistant clerk with the Dallas County District Clerk’s Office said according to court records Rogers had been charged in 2002 with aggravated sexual assault, a first-degree felony. The charge was reduced and he was convicted in 2004 of felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony.

    Preston Johnson, district clerk’s deputy with the Felony Records Department in the Dallas County District Clerk’s Office said records show Rogers was sentenced in August 2004 to 10 years in a penitentiary for the aggravated assault with deadly weapon conviction.

    Rogers was arrested earlier last week by Massillon Police and charged with domestic violence, a fourth-degree misdemeanor, and having weapons under disability, a third-degree felony, after he threatened a woman with a gun, according to a police report. The report states a woman reported she had been living with Rogers for about two years and he was packing his clothes to move out. The woman told police that Rogers pulled a revolver out of his pants in a threatening manner.

    Rogers remains in the Stark County Jail on a $2 million bond.

    http://www.cantonrep.com/article/201...NEWS/151009358
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Sister of murder victim: 'They’ve caught the right man’

    MASSILLON - The gun used to kill two women was found in the home of the man now charged with their murders, police say.

    That was one of the startling new details revealed Wednesday morning during a court hearing for Leeroy Wilbert Rogers Sr.

    The details helped shed light on how city police were able to arrest the 58-year old for the murders of Kimberly Clupper and Kendra Carnes, whose bodies were found in Massillon.

    Rogers, who was arrested Oct. 2, wore a red jail jumpsuit during his hearing on charges of aggravated murder before Judge C. Roland Centrone in Municipal Court. He was quiet and calm throughout the hearing.

    Family members and friends of both victims were in the courtroom. Some people in the audience waved to Rogers as he appeared, but they declined to comment after the hearing.

    “I feel that they’ve caught the right man,” said Kendra Carnes’ sister, Kayla, of Canton, following the initial hearing. “I’m happy he can’t do this to anyone else.”

    A city police officer who spoke during the proceedings said that both Clupper and Carnes died of gunshot wounds to the head.

    In response to questions posed by Massillon Chief Prosecutor John Simpson, Detective David McConnell told the court that a .38-caliber revolver was recovered from Rogers’ home. Police responded to a domestic dispute Sept. 30 involving a woman who also lived at the residence. The woman told police that Rogers had a gun. Rogers also faces criminal damaging charges from an incident the previous day.

    The gun found at Rogers’ home was tested by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Special agents from BCI have assisted Massillon Police in both murder cases. Results from the BCI lab show that the gun was an “absolute match” to the weapon used to shoot both women, McConnell said.

    Investigators also found that zip ties that were used to bind Clupper’s hands behind her back matched ties found in and on Rogers’ Nissan Sentra. Cable ties were used to keep a headlight attached to the vehicle, McConnell told the court.

    Clupper’s body was found April 11 in South Sippo Park and Carnes’ body was discovered Aug. 5 in Newman Creek. Both women were found naked.

    Clupper’s wrists and ankles had been bound with zip ties. Carnes had been shot in the head twice.

    Cellphone records confirmed that Rogers’ phone was in the area of the park the night before two people walking in the park noticed Clupper’s body and called authorities, McConnell said. A blue rubber glove was found downstream from where Clupper’s body was discovered, he said.

    During their search for evidence, investigators also collected a pair of blue rubber gloves in jeans that belonged to Rogers, according to McConnell.

    Other evidence collected, including DNA and forensic evidence, is still being processed through BCI, McConnell said.

    Rogers, of 742 Sunset Place SE in Massillon, also faces charges of having weapons under disability, a third-degree felony, and misdemeanor domestic violence from the Sept. 30 incident. He’s accused of threatening a woman with a revolver. The woman told police that Rogers was packing to move out at the time.

    The aggravated murder counts and all of the other charges against Rogers were sent to a Stark County grand jury, which will determine if there is enough evidence to send the case to trial.

    Defense attorney Barry Wakser declined comment following Wednesday’s hearing.

    Rogers remains in the Stark County Jail on a $2 million bond.

    http://www.cantonrep.com/article/201...19696/?Start=2
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Prosecutors to seek death penalty for Massillon man

    Leeroy W. Rogers faces trial on murder charges stemming from the shooting deaths of two women in Massillon.


    CANTON - Stark County prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a Massillon man accused of murdering two women earlier this year.

    A grand jury found enough evidence this week to indict Leeroy Wilbert Rogers Sr., 58, of 742 Sunset Place SE, Massillon.

    Rogers faces two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of kidnapping, and three weapons-related charges.

    The grand jury added two death penalty specifications to each aggravated murder charge. The specifications allege Rogers committed more than one aggravated murder, and that he killed each woman during a kidnapping.

    Both the aggravated murder and kidnapping charges have repeat violent offender and firearm specifications, according to the indictment made public Friday.

    Rogers is charged with killing Kimberly Clupper, 47, whose body was found April 11 in South Sippo Park in Massillon, and Kendra Carnes, 23, whose body was discovered Aug. 5 in Newman Creek. Both women died from gunshot wounds to the head.

    Rogers was arrested Oct. 2.

    During a hearing last month in Massillon Municipal Court, Massillon Detective David McConnell said a gun used to kill the women was found in Rogers’ home. Police responded to a domestic dispute Sept. 30 involving a woman who also lived at the residence. The woman told police that Rogers had a gun and threatened her with it.

    Special agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation assisted Massillon police in both homicide cases. Results from the BCI lab showed that the gun was an “absolute match” to the weapon used to shoot both women, according to court testimony.

    Investigators analyzed other evidence and found plastic ties used to bind Clupper’s hands and ankles matched ties found in and on Rogers’ Nissan Sentra, McConnell testified.

    The repeat violent offender specifications stem from a June 2002 attack in Texas.

    According to Dallas County, Texas, court records, Rogers was sentenced in August 2004 to 10 years in prison for two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

    Records show attempted capital murder, aggravated sexual assault, and aggravated robbery were dismissed as part of a plea bargain agreement.

    http://www.cantonrep.com/article/201...960/10973/NEWS
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Ashley Grinnan


    Massillon murder suspect has decades-long criminal history

    Leeroy Wilbert Rogers Sr., 58, of Massillon, who is charged with killing two women in 2015 in the city, has a criminal history in Texas and Missouri

    Leeroy W. Rogers Sr. has an easygoing demeanor that puts those who have brushed past him in town immediately at ease.

    The 58-year-old man with brown eyes, a friendly smile and graying hair helped a stranger in a wheelchair at the downtown SARTA station. Carla Stringfield Shirosky, a Perry Township resident and Massillon native, remembered how Rogers assisted her one day. It was casual contact with someone she had seen several times on the bus.

    Then she saw the same face in a police mug shot in October and read in the newspaper that Rogers was charged with killing two women.

    “When the picture of him was shown my heart about stopped!” Shirosky wrote in a Facebook message to The Independent. “I couldn’t believe a man (accused of murdering) two women was right there and had interacted with me. Now I’m not as trusting of people as I used to be.”

    The gruesome crimes of which Rogers is accused — shooting to death two women within four months of each other in or near creeks here last year — shocked the community.

    His arrest, though, comes as no surprise to a Texas woman who was raped, shot and left for dead by Rogers in 2002.

    Ashley Grinnan tells an incredible tale of survival following a horrifying summer night in Dallas, Texas, before entering her sophomore year at University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Her strength and determination helped her to get on with her life and realize her dream of becoming an elementary-school teacher and photographer.

    The 32-year-old Grinnan spoke to The Independent by phone Tuesday from Texas. She was aware of the new charges against Rogers filed in Massillon because her father keeps up to date on the man convicted of trying to kill his daughter.

    Rogers is scheduled to appear in Stark County Common Pleas Court this morning for a pretrial hearing. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial on two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of kidnapping and weapons-related charges. He could get the death penalty if convicted.

    SURVIVOR’S STORY

    Grinnan was 19 when she and her then-boyfriend, Michael Grinnan, went off-roading on a hill and were approached by a stranger with a gun.

    Initially, he asked for money, so the couple handed over what they had.

    The incident turned terrifying when, at gunpoint, the man tied up Michael Grinnan in his truck. He lit the truck on fire with a road flare, and took Ashley with him.

    Grinnan had watched “60 Minutes” and similar shows growing up, she said, so she tried everything possible to escape. She made sure to leave fingerprints in the vehicle. She tried to reason with her captor. Rogers’ intention seemed clear. He was going to kill her, Grinnan said.

    He raped Grinnan at one location, and when he took her to a second location to rape her again, she feared she would die.

    She tried to talk her way out of the unthinkable situation.

    “At one point I realized, this isn’t going to work,” Grinnan said.

    Finally, she had an opportunity to make a run for it, but the area was unfamiliar.

    “I remember the brush was a lot thicker than I thought it was going to be,” she said. “I fell and I turned over in a ball position and he shot once and totally missed. He shot again and I remember it burned and I just laid there and pretended to be dead until he left.”

    With blood dripping from her leg, Grinnan walked toward any light she could see. She also had a pain in her stomach.

    She was told later by police that she had walked about a mile from where she had been shot. Somehow she managed to reach a construction site where she asked a man to call for help.

    Because Grinnan had been curled in a fetal position when she was shot in the shin, the bullet exited her calf, entered the back of her thigh and lodged in her stomach area.

    “I had five bullet wounds with one bullet,” she said.

    A part of her intestine was damaged but no bones or major organs were struck. She spent that summer at her parents’ house and then returned to college in the fall to continue pursuing her teaching degree. And she was determined not to live in fear.

    “It’s not going to define me,” she said. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

    Grinnan has told her story several times to the Temple Daily Telegram in Texas and also to a British TV station doing a piece about guns in Texas.

    Michael Grinnan told the Telegram in a 2012 story about concealed handgun classes that he was able to escape and got the attention of a motorist who called 911. He suffered second-degree burns.

    A year later, Rogers was arrested.

    “That was a relief,” Ashley Grinnan said.

    “The way they caught him from my case they basically were watching the same location and vehicle description,” she said.

    Sure enough, he had returned to the same general area. He had taken a woman there.

    According to Dallas County Court Records in Texas, Rogers was charged with attempted capital murder, aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and aggravated sexual assault with a deadly weapon. As part of a plea bargain, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2004 for two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was released in 2013.

    Rogers’ criminal history goes back even earlier in Texas — more than 30 years ago. According to court records, he has been arrested at least 10 times.

    Born Aug. 11, 1957, at Massillon City Hospital, according to his birth record, Rogers was described by posters on social media as “nice” and “friendly.” A couple of people noted that he had attended elementary and junior high schools in Massillon. He does not appear in any Washington High School yearbooks.

    Court records in Texas show that Rogers was convicted of minor crimes in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

    At age 20, Rogers was arrested for theft. His criminal activity escalated from there. Less than a year later, he was arrested for burglary with intent of theft, a felony. In 1982, Rogers was sentenced to two years in prison after he was convicted for burglary of a vehicle, a third-degree felony.

    On May 2, 1984, he was charged with attempted murder.

    In a story in the May 3, 1984, edition of the Baytown Sun in Texas, Rogers, who was 26 at the time, was being held without bond on an attempted murder charge. The charges were expected to be upgraded to capital murder. The story stated that a 7-11 clerk, Denice Kay Smith, 25, had recently died in a hospital after being in a coma since she was shot in the back of the head during a robbery April 20, 1984.

    At the time, a spokeswoman for the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office said the cause of death was “the gunshot wound and terminal pneumonia.” Rogers, who was described as a laborer, was arrested at his home in Baytown, Texas. According to the newspaper account, police were seeking information about the robbery and shooting and were looking for anyone who had seen the suspect or suspects in the case.

    The case was dismissed in August 1984 because of a missing witness, according to Harris County District Court records.

    Rogers’ name and birth date also show up in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1987, he was picked up twice by police in St. Louis — once for trespassing, and the other arrest was for rape, assault and having a weapon. Charges were taken under advisement by the circuit attorney but no charges were ever filed and the case is closed, said a spokesman with the 22nd Circuit Court in St. Louis.

    MASSILLON CHARGES

    Murders are not commonplace in Massillon — or even in western Stark County. City police investigate one or two killings each year. Some years go by when not even an attempted murder has been reported to police.

    When the body of Kimberly S. Clupper, 47, was found April 11 in South Sippo Park by two passersby, the news shook area residents.

    Less than four months later, people searching for crayfish in Newman Creek instead came upon a grim discovery that added to the unease in the community. The body of 23-year-old Kendra Carnes was discovered. She had died the same way as Clupper, the county coroner ruled — gunshot wounds to the head.

    The news of a second killing stunned the community and had residents on edge until the beginning of October, when police announced they had made an arrest in both cases — Leeroy Wilbert Rogers Sr.

    On Sept. 30, a woman called 911 from 742 Sunset Place SE, listed as Rogers’ address. According to a Massillon police report, officers responded to a domestic violence call involving a man with a gun.

    The woman told officers that she had been living with the man at the residence for about two years. She said they had been having problems for a while, so the man was packing his clothes to move out. The couple argued and the woman stated that the man pulled a revolver out of his pants in a threatening manner. When the first police cruiser pulled up, the man ran back into the house and hid the gun in a cupboard.

    Police arrested him for domestic violence and having a weapon when he shouldn’t have because of a 2004 aggravated assault with a deadly weapon conviction in Dallas. Police recovered a loaded Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver, according to the report.

    Following the two Massillon shooting deaths, all .38 caliber revolvers that were brought in as evidence to the police station were being tested by the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

    City police Detective David McConnell relayed this and other information Oct. 14 when he was called to testify during a hearing in Massillon Municipal Court. Test results showed the gun from the Sept. 30 incident was an “absolute match” to the gun used to shoot both Clupper and Carnes.

    Investigators also found the zip ties used to bind Clupper’s hands and secure her ankles matched the ties used to secure a headlight to Rogers’ Nissan Sentra. Cell tower records also confirmed that Rogers’ phone was in the area of the park the night before Clupper’s body was found.

    Rogers remains in the Stark County Jail. Bond is set at $2.1 million.

    http://www.cantonrep.com/article/201...19774/?Start=4
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Trial set for next month in Massillon murder case

    A court hearing took place Friday in the Leeroy Rogers case. A Sept. 2 pretrial was scheduled for the Massillon man who is accused of killing two women

    CANTON - A judge continues to review some of the more than 40 motions filed in the case of a Massillon man who is accused of killing two women.

    Leeroy W. Rogers Sr., 59, faces two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of kidnapping and weapons-related charges. He could be sentenced to death if convicted.

    However, Stark County Common Pleas Judge Chryssa Hartnett said at Friday's hearing that she hasn't ruled yet on a defense request to dismiss the death penalty component of the case. She's reviewing the prosecution's response opposing the motion.

    A trial is set to begin on Sept. 20 with jury selection. The next pretrial is Sept. 2. The abundance of motions filed is not unexpected in a death penalty case. Hartnett has ruled on several of them.

    Rogers is accused of killing Kimberly S. Clupper, 47, whose body was found in the spring of 2015 in South Sippo Park in Massillon and Kendra Carnes, 23, who was found dead in August 2015 in Newman Creek. Both women died from gunshot wounds to the head, according to the Stark County Coroner's Office.

    The defense contends that a previous U.S. Supreme Court ruling finds Ohio's "capital sentencing scheme" to be unconstitutional in violation of the Sixth Amendment. The Stark County Prosecutor's Office counters in its filing that the Supreme Court ruling deals with elements of Florida's death penalty law that are not applicable to Ohio's.

    Both the aggravated murder and kidnapping charges have repeat violent offender specifications stemming from an earlier conviction in Texas. In 2004, Rogers was sentenced to 10 years in prison on felony charges in Texas.

    At Friday's hearing, Hartnett briefly discussed the status of various motions, including those related to juror questionnaires, courtroom decorum and what photos will be permitted to be introduced during the trial.

    Harnett recently overruled a defense motion to suppress evidence in the case related to the search of a residence in Massillon. Prosecutors argued that a warrant was not required because officers had received the consent of someone who lived at the home.

    http://www.cantonrep.com/news/201608...on-murder-case

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    Leeroy Rogers trial set for late September

    A trial is scheduled to begin later this month for the Massillon man accused of killing two women. Leeroy W. Rogers faces two counts of aggravated murder and other charges


    By Ed Balint
    cantonrep.com

    CANTON A jury pool of "well over 100" is expected to be called later this month for the trial of a Massillon man accused of killing two women.

    Leeroy W. Rogers Sr., 59, faces the death penalty if he's convicted.

    He appeared Friday in Stark County Common Pleas Court as Judge Chryssa Hartnett reviewed some of the more than 50 motions filed in the case.

    Rogers faces two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of kidnapping and weapons-related charges. The trial is scheduled to begin with jury selection on Sept. 20 and testimony on Sept. 26.

    Questionnaires have been sent to prospective jurors.

    The judge recently overruled a defense request to dismiss the death penalty. A few other motions remain and will be ruled on prior to trial.

    Rogers is accused of fatally shooting Kimberly S. Clupper, 47, whose body was found in the spring of 2015 in South Sippo Park in Massillon and Kendra Carnes, 23, who was found dead in August 2015 in Newman Creek. Both women died from gunshot wounds fired from a Smith and Wesson .38 Special double-action revolver, according to court records.

    Both the aggravated murder and kidnapping charges have repeat violent offender specifications stemming from a Texas case. In 2004, Rogers was sentenced to 10 years in prison for a 2002 case with original charges of attempted capital murder, aggravated sexual assault and aggravated robbery. Rogers pleaded guilty to attempted capital murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated assault with the use or exhibition of a deadly weapon, according to court records filed by the Stark County Prosecutor's Office.

    During Friday's hearing, the prosecution and defense argued their points regarding the potential inclusion of the previous convictions in the upcoming trial.

    Toni Schnellinger, assistant Stark County prosecutor, argued that details of the previous offenses in Texas should be introduced at the trial because they provide a "behavioral fingerprint" when compared to the new charges.

    "The evidence pertaining to (each prior offense), the 2002 case and the present case prove that the defendant engaged in a similar plan or method of conduct with all the victims and proves his motives, intent or plan," the prosecutor's office wrote in the court filing.

    The Texas and Massillon cases involve a total of four women, Schnellinger said. Three of the women were tied up in some manner, she said, adding that all four were strangers to Rogers. All four victims were also found naked or almost naked, Schnellinger said. Firearms also were involved, she said. In Texas, one woman was shot and "played dead" and another woman was threatened with a gun, Schnellinger said. Both women in the Texas cases were raped, according to the prosecutor's office.

    The four women were also "left around water," the assistant prosecutor said, noting that the fatal victims in the new case were "left in water" in Massillon within four months of each other. Victims in Texas were left near lakes, Schnellinger said.

    Defense attorney Anthony Koukoutas countered to the judge that the biggest difference between the Texas and Massillon cases is that the two women in the new case were not sexually assaulted. Rogers is not charged with sexual offenses in the upcoming trial, he said. Additionally, Koukoutas said, one of the Texas cases involved both a man and woman.

    Harnett has not yet ruled on the motion related to prior offenses.

    http://www.cantonrep.com/news/201609...ember/?Start=2
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Leeroy Rogers gets life term for two Massillon murders

    Leeroy Rogers pleaded guilty Friday in the 2015 shooting deaths of two women. The Massillon man was sentenced to life in prison with a chance for parole after 61 years

    By Ed Balint
    Canton Repository

    CANTON Leeroy Rogers will spend the rest of his life in prison, ending what a judge, prosecutors and detectives called a history of violence spreading from Texas to Massillon.

    Rogers pleaded guilty Friday in Stark County Common Pleas Court to two counts of aggravated murder and a slew of other charges. Judge Chryssa Hartnett accepted the plea agreement, avoiding a capital trial and sentencing the 59-year-old Massillon man to life in prison with the opportunity for parole after 61 years. As part of the plea deal, county prosecutors dropped their pursuit of the death penalty.

    His trial was scheduled to begin Tuesday with a jury pool of about 100 people. Instead, relatives of the two fatal gunshot victims -- Kendra Carnes, 23, and Kimberly Clupper, 47, -- saw Rogers pause at times when answering the judge before ultimately admitting he killed the two women, dumping Carnes' body at Newman Creek in August 2015 and Clupper's at South Sippo Park in April 2015.

    Both women died from gunshot wounds fired from a Smith and Wesson .38 Special double-action revolver. Rogers' prior criminal record includes a 2004 conviction in Texas and 10-year prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to attempted capital murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated assault with the use of a deadly weapon. Rogers raped two women in Texas, shooting one and threatening the other with a firearm, according to court records filed in the case by the Stark County Prosecutor's Office.

    Grieving loved ones

    Standing at wooden railing, Patricia Carnes, grandmother of Kendra, gazed directly at Rogers whose back was turned. The murder of Kendra leaves her 2-year-old son without a mother to take him to school and make memories, she said

    "It tears our hearts up to have her not with us. She went to church and lunch with us almost every other Sunday," the grandmother said in a powerful voice. "She had her problems, but she was trying very hard to overcome them.

    "You cry for your sentence, but that was way too good for you because we're suffering a lifetime without a child."

    Rick Diehl Sr., Clupper's ex-husband, also addressed Rogers. Next to him in a courtroom pew was the son they had together, Ricky.

    The dad spoke of the sleepless nights Clupper's son has experienced since losing his mother. "His mom was his heart and he now has to live with this for the rest of his life.

    "No one has a right to take someone's life," Diehl said. "Only God does. There's good and evil, and unfortunately, (Rogers is) evil." Then he ended with three words: "I've forgiven him."

    During the plea hearing, Dennis Barr, assistant Stark County prosecutor, explained for the court record how Massillon police officers and detectives compiled firearm and DNA evidence linking Rogers to the two murders. The handgun was found at Rogers' Massillon home. The weapon and ammunition matched that used to kill both Carnes and Clupper, he said.

    Barr handled the case with fellow Assistant Prosecutor Toni Schnellinger as Stark County Prosecutor John D. Ferrero looked on from the gallery.

    During the hour-plus proceeding, Rogers sat between defense attorneys Anthony Koukoutas and Jacob Will, conferring with them at junctures and answering Hartnett in a low, soft voice. At one point, he wiped his eyes, bowing his head and pausing for a long moment before continuing. With family members looking on, Rogers pleaded guilty to the charges of aggravated murder, kidnapping and having weapons under disability. Firearm and repeat violent offender specifications were attached to the charges.

    But earlier, other relatives of the victims expressed sorrow, anger and forgiveness.

    Overcome with tears, Robert Carnes, Kendra's father, handed prepared words to Barr. Reading the letter, the chief criminal prosecutor said, "I will never forgive you for what you did to my little girl, and I know you don't care because of what you are. ...

    You never gave my little girl (or Clupper) the opportunity to live your lives." In conclusion, the father labeled Rogers a "sick monster."

    Tammy Bailey, Kendra's mother, said her family will never be the same. But she added, "I do forgive you as God forgives us for all our sins." Speaking through emotion, she added, "You have one more judge to face, and that's between you and he."

    'Evil person'


    Following the sentencing, Barr said the victims' families supported the plea agreement to ensure Rogers would never be a free man again.

    "This sentence that was imposed by Judge Hartnett is, in reality, a death sentence," Barr said. "He will never get out of prison and he never should get out of prison because, obviously, he is an evil person."

    Massillon Police Department detective David McConnell said he was grateful the victims' families have been provided some measure of closure. He investigated the shooting deaths with fellow detective Jason Gohlike.

    "The public's going to be a lot safer now because he's obviously a habitual violent offender stemming back to (Texas)," McConnell said. "What broke the case wide open was the patrol officers of the Massillon Police Department doing their job. It was the hard work of the patrol division."

    http://www.cantonrep.com/news/201609...sillon-murders
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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