Kentucky Will Extradite Rogers to Florida

The Kentucky attorney general’s office announced Thursday that alleged serial killer Glen Rogers will be extradited to Florida, where prosecutors will seek the death penalty against the man accused of a four-state killing spree that included a woman in Van Nuys.

“The main thing we want to see is justice done,” said Atty. Gen. Ben Chandler. “We want to see that Rogers is convicted and we feel that obviously the state with the strongest case provides the best opportunity of that.”

The Florida case, in which Rogers is accused of first-degree murder in the death of a Tampa woman and then fleeing in her car before being arrested in Kentucky, is “much stronger” than the cases in the other four states seeking extradition, Chandler said.

And Florida was the only state that would seek the death penalty against Rogers, another strong consideration, Chandler said.

Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton signed the extradition order on Thursday, after Chandler submitted his recommendation.

Rogers, who has been held in Richmond, Ky., since his arrest in November, is accused of killing four women, beginning with the slaying of a Santa Monica woman in Van Nuys and followed by slayings in Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida.

Only California, Florida and Louisiana authorities submitted formal extradition requests, but Mississippi, Ohio and Kentucky also were interested in possibly bringing Rogers to trial. Ohio authorities consider him a suspect in the death of a former roommate there.

Chandler said Florida authorities have the strongest case against Rogers: They can place Rogers in a hotel room with a woman he picked up in a Tampa cocktail lounge and physical and forensic evidence link Rogers directly to that killing. Rogers was driving the dead woman’s car when he was caught.

Rogers’ public defender, Ernie Lewis, said he would speak to Rogers today to discuss whether to fight the extradition order; a hearing also could be held today. But Lewis said he was not surprised by the attorney general’s decision.

“We have a governor and attorney general who have both been enthusiastic proponents of the death penalty,” Lewis said. “I’m disappointed when any prosecutor or governor goes along with the death penalty.”

Los Angeles police detectives and prosecutors said they were disappointed by the decision because they believe they have an exceptionally strong case.

“I’m very disappointed he’s not coming to Los Angeles,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Lea Purwin D’Agostino, who attended an extraordinary conference in Kentucky earlier this month for prosecutors from all the states that wanted Rogers.

She said she had hoped to try Rogers here “because it would have been a great opportunity for everyone to see the outstanding work that the Los Angeles Police Department did on this case and because he should be held responsible for the murder he committed here in California.”

“However, the detectives and I do understand Kentucky’s decision and agree that the ultimate goal is to ensure this defendant gets the maximum penalty.”

Los Angeles authorities were not seeking the death penalty against Rogers because they could not assign “special circumstances” to the murder.

Rogers is accused of picking up Sandra Gallagher of Santa Monica at McRed’s Cocktail Lounge in Van Nuys before strangling her in her pickup truck and then setting fire to the vehicle.

A bartender at McRed’s said Thursday that Rogers has been a hot topic of discussion lately because of reports that O.J. Simpson’s attorneys considered linking Rogers to the killings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted of those deaths but still faces a civil wrongful death suit, denied in a televised interview Wednesday that he plans such a defense.

“As long as he [Rogers] is punished, we don’t care if he’s here or there,” the McRed’s bartender said.

Los Angeles police said they believed a California trial would have been quicker and would have allowed other states also to try their cases against Rogers. But if Rogers is convicted in Florida, Los Angeles authorities said, the lengthy death sentence appeals process could keep him in that state for 15 years.

“In that case, nobody else gets to try him and the families [of the victims] have to sit” without the closure of a trial, said Los Angeles Police Det. Steve Fisk. “We’d like to have him here.”

If a Florida conviction is overturned, Fisk said, the case might then return to the other states. But by that time, their cases might be stale and witnesses hard to find, Fisk said.

Under the executive order signed by Kentucky’s governor, Kentucky retains the right to try Rogers on local charges if the death sentence is not imposed in Florida. Authorities in Florida also will pay half of the jail costs until Rogers is extradited.

Shuster is a Times staff writer; Thomas is a correspondent. Correspondent Nicholas Riccardi also contributed to this story.