Mothers of Victim and Killer Testify

Four years after her daughter was murdered, 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 said through her 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.”

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

Rogers, who is 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.

Rogers is thus subject to the death penalty in California under the special circumstance of multiple murders. During the guilt phase of his trial, the jury learned about the Florida murder and another slaying in Louisiana that Rogers is accused of committing.

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

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

In court Wednesday, Baxter said her daughter, whom she nicknamed Sammy even before she was born, 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, and how much she loved children.

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

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

With her words, Deputy Dist. Atty. Patrick Dixon rested his case and the defense began.

Deputy Public Defender Jim Coady told the jurors he intends to show them 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.

Early History of Drugs, Abuse

Rogers’ mother testified that her husband was a drunk who beat her regularly for years, who would drink until he passed out, who lost jobs, whom she tried to leave but never could because she was poor and had seven children, who led her to a nervous breakdown.

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

She said Glen Rogers began drinking when he was 12 and started using drugs about the same time.

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

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

The penalty trial continues today.