Roger Lamont Wheeler

Names and roles

• Roger Lamont Wheeler was the offender.
• Nigel Malone was a male victim.
• Nairobi Warfield was a female victim.

Timeline

• October 2, 1997 — Louisville police discovered the bodies of Nigel Malone and Nairobi Warfield in the apartment the victims shared.
• 1997 — In Jefferson County, Wheeler stabbed Nigel Malone nine times while on parole for 10 counts of Robbery I.
• February 2001 — The trial began.
• 2001 — Wheeler was sentenced to death on each conviction.

The offence

While on parole for 10 counts of Robbery I, Roger Lamont Wheeler killed Nigel Malone and Nairobi Warfield. Both victims were stabbed multiple times.

Nigel Malone

On parole for 10 counts of Robbery I in Jefferson County in 1997, Wheeler stabbed Nigel Malone nine times and left him to bleed to death.

Nairobi Warfield

Nairobi Warfield was three months pregnant at the time of her killing. Wheeler strangled her and stabbed her with scissors, which he left embedded in her neck. The medical testimony determined that she had been stabbed with the scissors after she was already dead.

Investigation and crime scene

On October 2, 1997, Louisville police discovered the bodies in the apartment the victims shared. The male victim was found in a hallway near the bathroom and had suffered nine stab wounds. Two stab wounds to the chest were considered the fatal wounds by the medical examiner.

The medical examiner described the crime scene as having blood spatters on the floor, walls, furniture and appliances. The medical examiner believed the main struggle occurred in the kitchen and progressed to the hallway where the body was found.

The female victim died as a result of manual strangulation. The medical examiner testified that she believed the struggle between the female and her assailant occurred in the bedroom where she was found. The female victim had multiple abrasions on the left side of her neck and lacerations with a bruise on her mouth and several bruises on her lips.

Her body was found in a seated position leaning against a bedroom wall. She was covered with a blanket or quilt and a scissors was protruding from her neck.

A pair of scissors, still in the neck of one of the victims, was discovered. A blood trail leading from the victims to the streets was also found. Blood samples collected at the scene matched Wheeler's blood.

Numerous blood samples were collected at the scene and were subject to laboratory testing. No fingerprints were found on the scissors.

Trial

Roger Lamont Wheeler was convicted by a jury of the intentional murders of Nigel Malone and Nairobi Warfield.

Aggravating circumstance

The trial judge instructed on one aggravating circumstance: intentional killings that resulted in multiple deaths.

Mitigating circumstances

The trial judge also instructed on mitigating circumstances, including that Wheeler was under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance; that his capacity to appreciate the criminality of his actions or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law was impaired as a result of intoxication; and any other circumstances that the jury could consider as mitigating.

Defence and statements

Wheeler denied killing the two victims but changed his story on several occasions. He originally denied ever being inside of the apartment on the night the murders occurred, but later admitted being in the apartment that night.

He claimed that Nigel Malone was already stabbed, but that he did not see Nairobi Warfield. He also asserted that the assailant was already inside the apartment and that he and that person fought, which was why he was wounded.

Sentencing

Wheeler was sentenced to death on each conviction.

Outcome

Wheeler’s convictions were for the intentional murders of Nigel Malone and Nairobi Warfield. The jury determined the aggravating circumstance of intentional killings resulting in multiple deaths, and the trial judge sentenced Wheeler to death on each conviction.