STARKE, Fla. (AP) 鈥� A suspected serial killer once scrutinized for a possible link to the O.J. Simpson case that riveted the nation in the 1990s was executed Thursday in Florida for the murder of a woman found dead in a Tampa motel room.
Glen Rogers, 62, received at Florida State Prison near Starke and was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m., authorities said. He was convicted in Florida of the 1995 murder of Tina Marie Cribbs, a 34-year-old mother of two he had met at a bar.
He also had drawn a separate death sentence in California for the 1995 strangulation killing of Sandra Gallagher, a mother of three whom he had met at a bar in Van Nuys in that state. That killing came weeks before the Cribbs murder. Rogers was stopped after a highway chase in Kentucky while driving Cribbs鈥� car soon after her death.
In a final statement, Rogers thanked his wife, who visited him earlier in the day at the prison, according to visitor logs. He also somewhat cryptically said that 鈥渋n the near future, your questions will be answered鈥� without going into detail. He also said, 鈥淧resident Trump, keep making America great. I鈥檓 ready to go.鈥� Then the lethal injection began, and he lay quietly through the procedure.
Rogers was named as a suspect but never convicted in several other slayings around the country, once telling police he had killed about 70 people. He later recanted that statement, but had been the subject of documentaries including one from 2012 called 鈥淢y Brother the Serial Killer鈥� that featured his brother Clay and a criminal profiler who had corresponded extensively with Rogers.
The documentary raised questions about whether Rogers could have been responsible for the of Simpson鈥檚 ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
During a 1995 murder trial that drew intense media attention, the former football star and celebrity Simpson was acquitted of all charges. Los Angeles police and prosecutors subsequently said after the documentary鈥檚 release that they didn鈥檛 think Rogers had any involvement in the Simpson and Goldman killings.
鈥淲e know who killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. We have no reason to believe that Mr. Rogers was involved,鈥� the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement at the time.
Simpson had always professed innocence but was later found liable for the deaths in a separate civil case, and subsequently served nine years in prison on unrelated charges. The 76-year-old in April 2024 after battling cancer.
Rogers, originally from Hamilton, Ohio, had also been labeled the 鈥淐asanova Killer鈥� or 鈥淐ross Country Killer鈥� in various media reports. Some of his alleged and proven female victims had similar characteristics: ages in their 30s, a petite frame and red hair.
Hours before his execution, Rogers awoke at 3:45 a.m. and later received one visitor, said Department of Corrections spokesman Ted Veerman. He said Rogers had a meal of pizza, chocolate and soda.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied Rogers鈥� final appeals on Wednesday without comment.
Rogers鈥� lawyers have filed several appeals with state and federal courts, none successful. One argument was that newly enacted state legislation authorizing the death penalty for trafficking in young children makes clear that the abuse he suffered as a child is now taken seriously and should result in a life prison sentence for Rogers. That argument was rejected.
Florida uses a three-drug cocktail for its lethal injection: a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Corrections Department.
Rogers became the .
Anthony Wainwright is the next Florida inmate scheduled for execution 鈥� on June 10 鈥� under a signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. Wainwright, 54, was convicted of kidnapping a woman from a supermarket parking lot in Lake City in 1994 and raping and killing her.
Curt Anderson, The Associated Press
