Deputy Reportedly Admits Shooting Murder Victim

A Kern County deputy arrested for investigation of the murders of two women has twice admitted to shooting one of the victims, investigators said Tuesday.

“He gave us an admission, not a confession, by which I mean he is indicating there were other circumstances than we are implying that led to the killings,” Sgt. Gary Davis said.

Officials also said they discovered a stolen .38-caliber revolver during a search of an apartment belonging to Deputy David Keith Rogers, 40, which ballistics tests indicate was the weapon used in both shootings.

Rogers, a 10-year-veteran patrol officer, was taken into custody Friday on a double-murder warrant for investigation of the shooting deaths of two women, both of whom may have been prostitutes.

Court Appearance

Rogers appeared for arraignment in Kern County Municipal Court on Tuesday, but it was rescheduled for a plea to 9 a.m today.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen Tauzer said he intends to file charges of first-degree murder with special circumstances, alleging multiple murders. Tauzer has not decided whether to seek the death penalty.

Court documents filed Tuesday allege that Rogers admitted to sheriff’s investigators during questioning last week that he shot an unidentified, 20-year-old woman Feb. 8. The documents also allege that the deputy later made the same admission to a guard in Kern County Jail.

Davis said investigators were led to Rogers as a suspect after a prostitute described his car as the one belonging to a man she saw pick up one of the victims at about 3:30 a.m. on Feb. 8. The unidentified woman’s bullet-riddled body was found later in the day by rabbit hunters in the Arvin-Edison Canal.

Jeanine Benintende, 21, was found shot to death in the same canal in February, 1986.

The witness, whose name is not being released, was able to pick Rogers out of a lineup, Davis said.

Previous Incident

He said investigators began to suspect Rogers because of a previous incident involving a prostitute in 1983.

At that time, Rogers was released from the department for taking a prostitute into a local cemetery, having her strip and then photographing her. Rogers appealed to the state Civil Service Commission, which reduced the firing to a 15-day suspension and reinstated him to the force.