Deer Hunter Defends His Fatal Mistake

A man who shot and killed a woman he mistook for a deer took the stand in his own defense today, claiming he saw a deer in the sights of his rifle moments before he fired.

Donald Rogerson described the area where he was hunting on Nov. 15, 1988, as “well traveled” by deer.

“I thought I heard the noise of an animal,” Rogerson said. “I heard a snap. I looked up and there was a buck deer in front of me. Then, I saw the brown of the deer in my scope.”

He said he fired one shot, then saw “two white flags”--the white underside of a deer’s tail--and fired another shot. He ran toward the object.

“Almost simultaneously, I saw the house, I saw the mittens and I saw her,” Rogerson said.

Rogerson, manager of a Bangor supermarket produce department, is charged with manslaughter in the death of Karen Wood, who was shot once in the chest behind her home in Hermon, a Bangor suburb. Wood was wearing white mittens.

Prosecutors contend that Rogerson acted negligently or recklessly when he killed Wood, a 37-year-old mother of twin year-old girls. She was about 130 feet behind her house and Rogerson was about 180 feet from her when he fired.

The case touched off a fierce debate in Maine over hunting safety.

The prosecution rested its case Monday after three days of testimony.

The last prosecution witnesses were three investigators from the Maine Warden Service, who said they searched for signs of deer in the area where Rogerson was hunting.

Only one investigator, district game warden David Crocker, said he found any deer tracks. He said he found tracks about 60 feet to 100 feet behind where he found a spent shell casing, an indication the deer would have been behind Rogerson--not in the direction in which he fired.