Mother Testifies on Loss of Slain Daughter

Nearly four years after her daughter was slain by a spree killer, Jan Baxter took the stand and told a Los Angeles Superior Court jury what it meant to lose her eldest and dearest child.

“It totally destroyed me,” Jan Baxter, dressed in black, said through tears. “When my son-in-law called me and told me that her pickup truck had been found on fire and there was a body in it, I started screaming and I couldn’t stop. I held a pillow on my face, so that everyone wouldn’t hear me.”

The grieving mother’s testimony was offered by prosecutors who say Glen Rogers should be put to death for killing Sandra Gallagher, 33, in Van Nuys on Sept. 29, 1995.

Rogers, accused of killing four women in as many states over six weeks, has already been convicted of murdering a hotel maid in Florida and sentenced to death for that crime.

That conviction makes Rogers, dubbed the Cross Country Killer, eligible for death in California under the special circumstance of multiple murders.

During the local trial, jurors learned about the Florida killing and another slaying in Louisiana that Rogers is accused of committing.

Tuesday, after two days of deliberations, jurors convicted Rogers of intentionally murdering Gallagher after he met her at a Van Nuys bar, where she was celebrating a lottery win.

During the ensuing penalty phase, in which jurors will decide whether Rogers should be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison for Gallagher’s death, the panel learned about a Mississippi slaying the defendant is also accused of committing during the same six-week period.

In court Wednesday, Baxter said Gallagher was her “special one,” a child bubbling with enthusiasm.

“She stole my heart as well as everybody else’s,” Baxter said, recounting stories of how early her daughter began speaking, how smart and sensitive she was, how much she loved children.

Baxter said she feels terrible for her daughter’s three children, one of whom, she said, needs to look at photographs to be reminded of their mother’s face.

“They need their mother,” she said, “and they don’t have her.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Patrick Dixon then rested his case and the defense began.

Deputy Public Defender Jim Coady told jurors he intends to show how a history of physical abuse at home, early drinking and a head injury left Rogers with mental and emotional problems.

“I think the evidence is going to show you another side of the person you see in court,” Coady said. “Not as an excuse, but to give you a full understanding of who it is you sit in judgment of.”

Coady said he will call four doctors to testify about head injuries, alcohol addiction and the genetics of alcohol abuse and the effect of early childhood development in later life.

His first two witnesses Wednesday were the defendant’s mother and an elder brother, who labeled family photos and talked about their home life.

Rogers’ mother, Edna Rogers, testified her husband was a drunk who beat her regularly for years, who would drink until he passed out and who lost jobs and forced the family to leave their neighborhood.

“He had a violent attitude when he was drinking,” Rogers said of her husband.

She said her son began drinking when he was 12 and using drugs about the same time.

“I don’t want my son executed,” she said, looking at the jury for the first and only time before she was excused.

As she walked out of the courtroom, Rogers mouthed to her: “You did OK.”

The trial continues today.