Hoogland Convicted of Voluntary Manslaughter in Roommate’s Death

A 27-year-old Fullerton man who used a “battered-person-syndrome” defense was convicted of voluntary manslaughter Wednesday in the death of his former roommate.

Rodney Scott Hoogland, 27, not only admitted that he planned the murder of David Wayne Alexander, a 28-year-old health spa instructor, but led authorities two years ago to an abandoned mine shaft in Kern County where he had dumped the man’s body.

But Hoogland’s attorney, Gregory W. Jones, convinced jurors that Alexander had a dominant emotional hold on Hoogland and that the defendant killed him “because he feared he was in imminent danger” from the victim.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Melvin L. Jensen was highly disappointed that the jury did not return a first-degree murder verdict.

“With the evidence we had, I don’t see how it could have been anything less,” Jensen said.

Alexander was killed at his Garden Grove apartment on Dec. 10, 1985, and his body found Jan. 26, 1986.

Hoogland and Alexander had been roommates who were involved in a couple of business ventures together, one involving a writing project and the other the marketing of a belt buckle they had made.

Prosecutors said Hoogland and a 17-year-old juvenile planned Alexander’s murder. The juvenile, who pleaded guilty to an accessory to murder charge and is now in Juvenile Hall, testified that he and Hoogland planned to kill Alexander. But Alexander came home before the plans were completed, so the juvenile hid in the bathroom with a sheet and a hammer, according to testimony.

Hoogland testified that he and the juvenile planned Alexander’s murder. But he claims that he backed out a short time before Alexander walked into the apartment.

Hoogland said he then killed Alexander because he feared Alexander would retaliate when he found out what they were doing.

“There’s no question my client conspired to commit first-degree murder,” Jones said. “But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He backed out of the conspiracy about a half an hour before the killing.”

Hoogland clubbed the victim with a tire iron, then used a knife to slit his throat. He then tried to suffocate the victim. Hoogland explained to the jury that he was trying to put the victim out of his misery.

But prosecutor Jensen shot back: “Did you ever hear of paramedics?”

Hoogland kept the body in a pickup truck for two days, then transferred it to a motel for a day, then took the body to the abandoned mine shaft. The body was found with the head detached.

Hoogland was arrested six weeks after the killing when a girlfriend in whom he had confided called the police.

Hoogland, who will be sentenced June 5, faces a sentence of three to 12 years. He would have faced 25 years to life if the jurors had found him guilty of first-degree murder.

Jones called Hoogland a victim of “battered person syndrome.”

“It was not a homosexual relationship, but it was similar in that the victim was very dominant, and Mr. Hoogland was very submissive,” Jones said. “He just didn’t see any way to get out of this relationship.”