Defendant Says He Did Not Kill Woman

The man authorities call the Cross-Country Killer told his story for the first time Tuesday, calmly but adamantly denying that he killed a woman he met in a Van Nuys bar.

“I did not kill Sandra Gallagher--absolutely not!” Glen Edward Rogers said, testifying in his own defense in Los Angeles Superior Court.

He admitted accepting a ride from the 33-year-old mother of three, who was celebrating a $1,200 lottery win at a San Fernando Valley bar called McRed’s on Sept. 28, 1995. And he acknowledged that she accompanied him to his Van Nuys apartment early the next morning.

As for what happened after that, Rogers said, “I think I drank a couple more beers and passed out. Then I woke back up. When I woke up, weren’t nobody there.”

Gallagher’s charred body was found soon afterward in her burning truck on nearby Victory Boulevard. Prosecutors say her slaying launched Rogers’ cross-country killing rampage targeting red-haired women. Authorities are seeking the death penalty.

As he took the witness stand Tuesday afternoon, Rogers’ appearance had changed dramatically from the day he was arrested after leading Kentucky state police on a chase. The wild blond locks that were his signature are brown now, and he wears his hair closely cropped and parted in the middle; his beard is neatly trimmed. Nearly four years in prison have left him pale and slightly pudgy.

Rogers has already been sentenced to die in Florida’s electric chair for the 1995 stabbing murder of Tina Marie Cribbs, whose body was found in the bathtub of a Tampa motel room. Authorities say that he is suspected of killing a woman in Louisiana, but he has not been charged in that case.

Questioned by his lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Jim Coady, Rogers spent about half an hour denying any involvement in Gallagher’s slaying. The defense had suggested that the crime was committed by an associate of Rogers’, but a ruling by Superior Court Judge Jacqueline O’Connor kept Rogers from pointing the finger at anyone else.

However, he did suggest in his testimony that someone else “might have gone off with” Gallagher when he passed out.

The afternoon’s peak drama came during cross-examination, when Rogers attempted to fend off pointed inquiries by Deputy Dist. Atty. Pat Dixon. In his questioning, the prosecutor attempted to portray Rogers as a volatile barroom braggart who had no car and spent his nights in beer joints trying to impress and pick up women.

The prosecutor repeatedly asked Rogers whether he “hit on” Gallagher or hoped to “get lucky” with her. He said he merely was being sociable.

“What does it mean to you to hit on women?” the prosecutor asked.

“I just flirt with them and buy them a drink,” Rogers said. He added, “To get lucky is to pick up a woman and take her home with you.” He denied that was his plan on the night he met Gallagher, although he acknowledged that she sat on his lap and danced with him.

“Most of the time I just go out to drink,” he said. As for the evening in question, he said it was his roommate’s birthday. “It wasn’t my plan to take this woman home,” he testified.

In his questioning, Dixon attempted to show the jury that Rogers turned his attentions to Gallagher after being rebuffed by a female bartender who had caught his eye. Rogers testified that he and the bartender were on the cusp of a romantic relationship after he patronized the bar six times to talk to her, bought her a pink rose and made weekend plans with her. But he denied flashing a badge and bragging about being a government agent to impress her.

Rogers’ testimony resumes today.