Kelly Lamont Rogers

Case information

Kelly Lamont Rogers was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on March 23, 2000.

Timeline

• December 19, 1990 — Karen Marie Lauffenburger delivered a pizza to the apartment of Audra Lynn Todd, Rogers’s girlfriend, and was later found dead in her apartment.
• December 20, 1990 — Rogers was charged by Information with first degree murder for Lauffenburger’s death.
• December 26, 1990 — The court declared Rogers indigent and appointed counsel.
• January 29, 1991 — Rogers was charged by Information with two counts of robbery by force, first degree rape, and larceny of a motor vehicle.
• December 18, 1991 — Rogers was convicted by jury; he was sentenced to death for the murder conviction.
• January — The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Rogers’s final appeal; his final appeal was denied in January.
• March 1, 2000 — The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board held a clemency hearing for Rogers and rejected his clemency bid in a 4-0 vote.
• March 23, 2000 — Rogers was executed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary; he was pronounced dead at 12:27am.

Background

Karen Marie Lauffenburger was a 21-year-old interior design student at Oklahoma State University. She worked part-time delivering pizzas for Buy 'N Bye Pizza.

Kelly Lamont Rogers was from Bartlesville. Rogers was a Payne County death row inmate.

Rogers’s girlfriend was Audra Lynn Todd. Todd had been charged with second degree murder in connection with Lauffenburger’s death and agreed to testify against Rogers in exchange for the murder charge against her being dropped. Todd was sentenced to 10 years for a conviction of robbery in the case.

Lauffenburger’s boyfriend was the person who found her dead in her apartment.

The offence

On December 19, 1990, Rogers and Todd ordered a pizza from Pizza Express. Karen Lauffenburger, a student at Oklahoma State University, delivered the pizza to Todd’s apartment.

After receiving the pizza, Rogers followed Lauffenburger and robbed her of her $40.00 Pizza Express “bank” and demanded more money. Rogers then took her to her apartment where she got her automatic teller machine (ATM) bank card.

Rogers and Lauffenburger drove to a nearby ATM. Lauffenburger inquired about her bank balance and withdrew all her money. Later narrative reported she was forced to withdraw $175 from her bank account at an automated teller machine.

Afterward, Rogers returned Lauffenburger to her apartment. Lauffenburger was raped at some point during the evening. She was murdered by stabbing; investigators and trial evidence described nine stab wounds in the chest, neck and abdomen. At trial, prosecutors said Rogers raped Lauffenburger while she was alive and again after she was stabbed.

In trial proceedings, the jury convicted Rogers of kidnapping, rape and murder charges.

Investigation

Sperm consistent with Rogers (but inconsistent with Gilmartin) was found on vaginal swabs, Lauffenburger’s panties and jeans. Lauffenburger had peri- or postmortem vaginal injuries consistent with nonconsensual sexual intercourse.

Investigators found bank records showing that Lauffenburger’s bank account had practically been emptied at an ATM machine between the time she left to deliver the pizza and when her body was found.

Lauffenburger’s fiancee Peter Gilmartin found her nude at approximately 10:00 p.m. dead from nine stab wounds in the chest, neck and abdomen.

Arrest and questioning

Rogers was subsequently arrested and questioned. He eventually admitted stabbing Lauffenburger but insisted that they had consensual sexual intercourse.

Trial

Rogers was tried by jury before the Honorable Donald L. Worthington in the District Court of Payne County.

In Case No. CRF-90-412, Rogers was convicted of First Degree Malice Aforethought Murder in violation of 21 O.S.1991, § 701.7.

Rogers was convicted in CRF-91-26 and CRF-91-27 of First Degree Robbery, 21 O.S.1991, § 801. Rogers was convicted in CRF-91-28 of First Degree Rape, 21 O.S.1991, §§ 1111. Rogers was convicted in CRF-91-29 of Larceny of a Motor Vehicle, 21 O.S.1991, § 1720.

The jury found:

1. the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel;
2. there was a probability that Rogers would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society; and
3. Rogers had previously been convicted of a felony involving violence.

A short-time later, Lauffenburger’s boyfriend found her dead in her apartment. Todd testified that Rogers told her he was going to rob the person delivering the pizza. Todd told the court that Rogers bought crack cocaine and drank wine after telling her he had just killed “a pizza girl.”

In the penalty phase, the jury found three aggravating factors: (1) the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel; (2) Rogers posed a continuing threat to society; and (3) Rogers had previously been convicted of a felony involving violence. The jury recommended the death penalty, and the trial court sentenced Rogers to death for the murder conviction.

The jury of 6 women and 6 men took 80 minutes to convict Rogers in December of 1991.

Sentencing

Rogers was sentenced to death for the murder conviction. He also received additional prison sentences: fifty years and seventy-five years for each robbery charge respectively, one hundred fifty years for rape, and fifty years incarceration for larceny of a motor vehicle.

A separate sentencing account stated that, along with the death sentence, he received 325 years in prison: 150 years for rape, 75 years for robbery, 50 years for robbery of the pizza money and 50 years for stealing her car.

Rogers had been out of prison just five weeks when he murdered Lauffenburger.

Rogers had prior convictions for Forgery and Escape (1988) and Robbery (1986).

Appeals

Rogers perfected his appeal, raising eleven propositions of error.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Rogers’s final appeal in January.

Outcome

Rogers was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on March 23, 2000.

Several of Lauffenburger’s relatives, including her parents, witnessed the execution. A lengthy letter written by the victim’s mother, Pat Lauffenburger, was distributed by death penalty supporters outside the prison walls. The letter read:

“To our misfortune, you never knew our Karen,” “By this letter, I hope to give you a small picture of this girl we were proud to call daughter and what her life was like before Rogers ended it that December.”

Rogers was executed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary shortly after midnight on March 23, 2000, and was pronounced dead at 12:27am.

In the death chamber, Rogers smiled and turned to his family to tell them he loved them. Rogers said:

“To the Lauffenburger family, I just pray you guys will find peace and that God will heal you from the inside out,”

Rogers also said:

“And for those who might not know Jesus, I just ask that you know him, trust him as your Lord and savior. He will get you through.”

Lauffenburger’s parents, Ray and Pat Lauffenburger, issued a statement expressing sympathy for Rogers’s family while calling the execution a “final act of justice.” They said:

“Our family has been constantly reminded of her absence with each passing year during celebrations of holidays, birthdays and special family gatherings,” “We miss her terribly and will continue to do so on a daily basis.”

Aftermath

Several members of Rogers’s and Lauffenburger’s families witnessed the execution.

Prayer vigils and protests were held at various locations around the state.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board held a clemency hearing at 1:00pm on Wednesday, March 1, 2000, at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. The Board rejected Rogers’s clemency bid in a 4-0 vote.

Rogers visited with family members in the hours before his death. He was offered a shower and a fresh set of clothes before he was led to the death chamber.

Rogers’s last meal consisted of five drumsticks, four thighs, mashed potatoes and gravy, slaw, a large Sprite and double chocolate cake. Another description of the last meal stated it was fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, coleslaw and Sprite.

Other details

Rogers was convicted in December of 1991 and was sentenced to death for the Dec. 19, 1990, murder of Lauffenburger at her apartment in Stillwater.

Lauffenburger was found dead in her Stillwater apartment a short time after delivering a pizza to Rogers’s girlfriend’s apartment.

One account stated she had been stabbed 9 times in the chest, neck and abdomen.

Rogers was described as having admitted to killing Karen Lauffenburger in 1990.

Eric Zanotelli was the manager of the pizza restaurant where Lauffenburger worked. He attempted to locate her by retracing her route and drove to the location of her last delivery, an apartment rented to Audra Lynn Todd. Todd told Zanotelli that Lauffenberger had delivered the pizza and left.

It was stated that Peter Gilmartin was Lauffenburger’s fiancee.

A bank account withdrawal event was described as occurring at 7:52 p.m.

After the murder, Rogers was described as driving in Lauffenburger’s car. Lauffenburger’s 1984 Toyota Tercel, keys and identification were found at 5:15 a.m. the next morning.

A legal citation was included: Rogers v. State , 890 P.2d 959 (Okl.Cr. 1995) (Direct Appeal). Rogers was convicted of first-degree murder in violation of 21 O.S.1991, § 701.7, and additional convictions under 21 O.S.1991, § 801, 21 O.S.1991, §§ 1111, and 21 O.S.1991, § 1720.