Conference to Discuss Suspect Glen Rogers Fails to Agree on Timetable

An extraordinary three-day conference hosted by federal officials to co-ordinate prosecution strategy against alleged serial killer Glen Rogers ended Friday with no recommendation as to which of six states should try him first.

“A final determination of where Mr. Rogers will be sent was not made,” said Dave Kohl, special agent in charge of Kentucky for the FBI, which convened the conference.

Rogers has been accused of killing four women in a spree that allegedly began with the slaying of a Santa Monica woman in Van Nuys, followed by killings in Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida.

He has been held in jail in Richmond, Ky., since he was arrested after a high-speed car chase in November, and is scheduled for trial there early next month on felony charges of wanton endangerment and criminal mischief. Local prosecutor Thomas J. Smith III told reporters that he intends to proceed with that trial.

The conference involved about 40 officials representing 14 law enforcement agencies in five states--Ohio is also investigating a slaying in which Rogers is a suspect--FBI specialists from Quantico, Va., and Kentucky officials. They met privately to exchange information on killings in which Rogers is a suspect.

The FBI organized the meeting to exchange information and begin development of a time-line of Rogers’ whereabouts over the past few years.

Investigators in many jurisdictions have been looking into old, unsolved murders to determine whether Rogers should be considered a suspect. Kohl declined to put any number on how many slayings Rogers may eventually be charged with, but hinted that the investigation had expanded overseas. “If . . . we are able to document his travel to a foreign country, he would be considered a suspect,” Kohl said. He would not elaborate.

Only California and Louisiana have presented formal requests for extradition to Kentucky’s new governor, Paul Patton, but the presence of Mississippi, Ohio and Florida officials signaled the seriousness of their interest in prosecuting the charming, blond carnival worker, who was arrested driving the car of a woman who was found dead in Florida.

“The governor has the final decision,” on which state to send Rogers to, said Patton’s spokesman, Mark Pfeiffer, “and he is awaiting the decision of the attorney general.” The new Kentucky attorney general, Ben Chandler, has set no timetable for making his recommendation.

The Kentucky trial scheduled for next month in Richmond delays the usual 90-day deadline for responding to extradition requests, his spokeswoman said.

“It’s not a priority,” said the governor’s spokesman. With a new Legislature convened only last week, “All [Patton] is doing now is concentrating on writing a budget,” Pfeiffer said.