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World's Most Evil Killers S05E08 Dayton Leyroy Rogers
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00:00On the 31st of August, 1987,
00:04in an area known as the Malala Forest near Portland, Oregon,
00:08a hunter scouting out a good vantage point
00:11made a horrific discovery.
00:13The ferns are brown and obviously dead.
00:16He takes a foot and sweeps the dead ferns apart,
00:20and there's a dead body.
00:23But this was the first of many.
00:27One led to two, and then three, four, five, six, and seven.
00:31What really was significant was the discovery of the severed feet.
00:35Many of the deceased had their feet totally cut off.
00:40All seven victims had been hogtied and most were mutilated.
00:45Their killer was a 33-year-old mechanic named Dayton Leroy Rogers.
00:51After he'd raped and murdered women,
00:53he was able to just switch back into that normal,
00:57respectable, average Joe family life.
01:00And the reason that he's able to do this
01:02is because he feels no remorse.
01:04Rogers was already in custody.
01:07Witnesses had seen him brutally stab a woman to death
01:10in a parking lot just three weeks earlier.
01:13He did this to these women while they were still alive,
01:15and they were screaming and pleading
01:18and responding to the pain that he was inflicting upon them.
01:22Dayton Leroy Rogers, dubbed the Malala Forest Killer,
01:27had carved his name out as one of the world's most evil killers.
01:52On the 7th of August, 1987,
01:55when Dayton Leroy Rogers was arrested
01:58for the brutal murder of Jennifer Smith
02:00in the parking lot of a family restaurant,
02:03it seemed police were dealing with an open and shut case.
02:07Little did they know that Jennifer was the last of many women
02:11whom this depraved killer had slaughtered.
02:13The discovery just weeks later
02:16of a further seven victims in the Malala Forest
02:19meant that the true horror of what this man was capable of
02:23would be revealed once and for all.
02:26Scott Healy is one of the prosecutors
02:28who's worked on the case.
02:31Dayton Leroy Rogers, over the course of about two and a half months,
02:36killed at least eight women that were aware of.
02:39Having examined all of the evidence,
02:42Scott was able to build up a clear picture
02:45of the man they were dealing with.
02:47Dayton Leroy Rogers is a perfect example
02:49of a classic sociopath.
02:51They basically are only concerned about themselves,
02:54their own needs, their own desires.
02:57They want what they want when they want it,
02:59and they don't care, you know,
03:01what it takes to get what they want.
03:02He ultimately escalates to killing multiple, multiple women
03:06after brutally and horrifically torturing them,
03:09you know, sometimes for hours.
03:14This killer's story begins in Moscow, Idaho.
03:19Dayton Leroy Rogers was born on the 30th of September, 1953,
03:25one of seven children to parents Ortiz and Jasper-El.
03:31Roger's father had some very fixed views on women and sex.
03:35He thought that women who had sex before they were married
03:38were whores, essentially,
03:40and you get this kind of dichotomy emerging
03:43between the Madonna figure, who is your mother,
03:46who is virtuous, who cares for you and nurtures you,
03:48and then on the other hand, you have this whore figure,
03:51which, you know, all other women are placed into.
03:54So it's very black and white.
03:56There's no gray area.
03:58You are either an acceptable woman or you're not.
04:02But Dayton's father was abusive.
04:07He was randomly violent to his children.
04:10It was all, I'm doing this for your own good.
04:13The trouble was, it bred in Dayton Rogers a rebellious attitude.
04:18Roger's first encounter with the law
04:20was for shooting at cars with a BB gun
04:22whilst he was in junior high school.
04:25He was beginning to push the boundaries,
04:27but as he reached adolescence, his thoughts turned to the opposite sex.
04:32He's grown up in a very conservative, very religious family
04:36where the women in the family, his sisters,
04:39they probably would have covered up in terms of their dress,
04:42so their feet would have been one of the parts of the body
04:45which he would have seen.
04:47He becomes fixated on this.
04:51He would watch his sisters undress.
04:53He would obsess over their feet,
04:54and naturally enough, probably masturbate over them.
04:58By 1972, 18-year-old Rogers was working as a painter
05:03and had recently married a girl two years his junior.
05:07But it wasn't long before he was looking outside of his relationship
05:12to satisfy his sexual urges.
05:15He's just driving around Eugene, Oregon area,
05:18and he comes upon the young 15-year-old girl
05:21and picks her up, she's hitchhiking at the time.
05:25They ultimately end up having sex in a field.
05:28Rogers dropped the girl home,
05:30but not before asking if he could see her again the following day.
05:36They're back in that same field, in that same area.
05:39They've just gotten done having sex again outside,
05:42the weather's nice,
05:43and they're kind of just looking up at the sky,
05:46kind of talking.
05:47And that's when he, for no apparent reason,
05:51just plunges a knife into her belly.
05:54And she literally just comes up with the knife
05:56and she grabs hold of it.
05:58And she looks at him.
06:00And she says that she kind of sees these coal-black eyes
06:04and this kind of thousand-yard stare.
06:07And she realizes that at that moment in time,
06:10even as a 15-year-old,
06:11that the next words that she speaks or utters
06:14could, you know, decide whether or not she lives or dies.
06:18Rogers told the girl he'd stabbed her
06:21because she didn't love him.
06:23She's looking right into his eyes
06:25because, you know, she's trying to save her own life.
06:28And she says, no, I do love you.
06:31Why do you think I don't love you, Dayton?
06:33And he says, well, because you have a boyfriend.
06:36And, I mean, she literally had just met him the day before.
06:39She's able to convince him to carry her to the car
06:43and ultimately convinces him to take her to a hospital.
06:47Rogers was convicted of the violent assault,
06:50but instead of being sent to prison,
06:53he was placed on probation for four years.
06:55It left him free to further explore his sexual fantasies.
07:00It's as if he's emerging from some kind of chrysalis.
07:04He's becoming something.
07:07Only the trouble is that that something is utterly terrifying.
07:12Rogers starts developing fantasies about hurting women,
07:15about raping women.
07:17This is the stuff that gets him sexually aroused.
07:20And this is very much built on that value system
07:23that he's learned from his father.
07:25Men are superior.
07:26Women are inferior.
07:28Men have a right to do whatever they want to women.
07:31In 1976, while still on probation for the knife attack,
07:3622-year-old Dayton Leroy Rogers
07:38decided to act out his dark fantasies.
07:42He spotted two schoolgirls.
07:44A 15- and a 16-year-old.
07:46They're walking in the rain.
07:48They're skipping school.
07:49He pulls up in his vehicle and entices them to get in.
07:53He encourages them to drink alcohol.
07:55He encourages them to smoke marijuana.
07:58And this is really interesting for me
08:00because he wants them to be blamed
08:02for the violence that he inflicts on them.
08:04He wants people looking at this in the aftermath to go,
08:08wow, they kind of were asking for it.
08:10He parks the vehicle.
08:12It's raining pretty good outside.
08:14And ultimately, the vehicle gets stuck in the mud there,
08:16and that becomes important later on.
08:18But they're kind of, you know, talking, drinking.
08:21He seemed really nice and really friendly.
08:24And then they talk about how all of a sudden
08:27his demeanor changed.
08:28He kind of snapped.
08:30He reaches into the glove box and grabs a knife.
08:34Holding them at knife point,
08:36Rogers hogtied the girls.
08:38Rogers is a sadomasochist.
08:41And so what sexually arouses him actually is the violence,
08:45not necessarily the sexual touching.
08:48He has sex with one of them in front of the other,
08:51and he's threatening them with a knife.
08:53Of course, they're extremely scared.
08:56But ultimately, he realizes he's stuck in the mud,
08:59and he cuts them loose to help push the vehicle
09:05actually out of the mud.
09:07Of course, they, once they're free and outside that vehicle,
09:10they take off running.
09:12Dayton Leroy Rogers was cleared of rape,
09:15but convicted of coercion.
09:17He'd also broken his parole.
09:19This time, he was not going to escape jail.
09:22But just five years later, he was back out and re-offending.
09:26After a string of violent rapes,
09:28he was sent back to prison several times.
09:32However, on his release in 1982,
09:35he appeared determined to turn his life around.
09:39Dayton Leroy Rogers seemed to be, you know, doing everything right.
09:42He had gotten remarried, you know, had a child,
09:46was involved in, you know, the local Baptist church.
09:50Roger started a business with his father-in-law,
09:53repairing garden machinery.
09:55It was a trade he'd learned during one of his stretches in prison.
09:59The new workshop was very successful.
10:02He seemingly was doing the things that he was supposed to be doing.
10:06But you always have an exit interview at the end of your parole,
10:10and as soon as you're done with that interview,
10:12you walk out the door, and you're off parole, you're done.
10:15And so the parole officer says,
10:19So Dayton, knowing everything that you know now,
10:22you know, is there anything, you know,
10:24that you've done in your past that you would do differently?
10:27And he sort of just sits there
10:30and just basically stares straight into her eyes
10:34and says, Yeah, there's something I'd do differently in the future.
10:38Because next time, I'm not going to leave a witness.
10:42And she said, Oh, my gosh.
10:44And there's nothing I can do at this point
10:46because he's been released from parole.
10:50From the outside, it appeared that Dayton Leroy Rogers
10:53had turned his life around.
10:55But inside, he still had an unhealthy appetite for young women.
11:00In the past, he'd let his victims get away.
11:03It was a mistake he wasn't going to make again.
11:14At 3 a.m. on the 7th of August 1987,
11:18customers at Denny's restaurants in Portland, Oregon
11:22were alerted to a commotion going on outside.
11:26Desperate screams and cries of rape had been heard
11:29coming from the parking lot of the all-night diner.
11:32Local Portlander Charles Gates had stopped for a hot chocolate
11:37on his way home after a night out.
11:41Two guys came in.
11:42Hey, there's something going on outside.
11:45And everybody's rushing out.
11:47You know, this is...
11:49Well, yeah, I'm curious.
11:51I didn't even take time to find the ramp.
11:53Pulled a wheelie on my chair and jumped the curb.
11:56The first I saw were the backs of people,
12:00the backs of their heads.
12:01And then I looked down and I saw her.
12:07She wasn't wearing any clothes.
12:09She didn't respond.
12:11She didn't move.
12:13What was going through my mind was,
12:15I have to do something.
12:18The victim was 25-year-old mother of two, Jennifer Smith.
12:23It was immediately obvious that she'd been attacked with a knife.
12:28Having recently trained in first aid, Charles wanted to help.
12:33Her heart wasn't functioning.
12:36And she had a deep gash on her throat.
12:41Me and another person began performing two-person CBR.
12:45I was giving breaths.
12:47The other person was giving a heart massage.
12:49And we're trying to stop as much of the bleeding as possible
12:51because there was blood everywhere.
12:54Amongst the commotion, hardly anybody noticed a man getting into his truck.
12:59I was absolutely focused on saving her
13:02until I saw a truck speed out of the parking lot.
13:06Just missed us by feet.
13:09I made the assumption that that was probably him.
13:13And then I saw a second car speed out after him.
13:16One sharp-eyed witness had spotted the man
13:19and had the foresight to follow the speeding truck.
13:23Just a few minutes later, the paramedics arrived
13:26and took over Jennifer's care.
13:29My only thought going through my mind at that time was,
13:33did she make it?
13:34Did she make it?
13:36That was the only thing I really cared about.
13:40As Jennifer was being taken to hospital by ambulance,
13:44Detective Jim Strovinck was woken by the phone ringing.
13:49At that time, we had a female that was a rape victim, stabbing.
13:53Upon arrival at the crime scene, it was rather hectic,
13:56as you can imagine.
13:57We had a lot of medical personnel materials
14:01that were on the pavement.
14:02We had blood.
14:04We had the items of evidence.
14:06The attacker had left in such a hurry,
14:09there were items of evidence strewn across the parking lot.
14:15A forensic investigator, he ended up locating the knife.
14:21He looked under a bush and he was able to find that knife
14:23that had been discarded at the crime scene.
14:26Some of the more prominent pieces of evidence
14:28that were discovered were the shoelaces,
14:32one tennis shoe that was there, only one.
14:37The meticulous search of the crime scene
14:39also revealed discarded miniature bottles of vodka
14:43and orange juice, which would later prove significant.
14:47We had a number of witnesses that needed
14:49to be interviewed immediately,
14:51and that was one of my responsibilities.
14:54The witnesses had vital information,
14:57but perhaps the most crucial witness of all
15:00was the gentleman who'd followed in hot pursuit
15:02of the speeding truck.
15:04He just about ran out of gasoline
15:06in the pursuit of that suspect vehicle,
15:08but he was able to get to Oregon City.
15:11We were so fortunate because the light on the license plate
15:14wasn't operating, so he had to get up real close,
15:17and he was able to read the rear license plate.
15:22This single piece of information
15:24was a huge lead for Jim and the team.
15:27There was a possibility it could take them
15:30straight to the door of Jennifer Zetaka.
15:33We obtained the name of the registered owner,
15:36which was Dayton Leroy Rogers,
15:37who resided in South Clackamas County,
15:40North Marion County area.
15:42We sent two uniforms to that residence.
15:47The truck was nowhere to be seen.
15:50When officers knocked on the door,
15:52it was answered by Rogers' wife, Sherry.
15:56Sherry revealed that Dayton Rogers was still working
16:00or reported to be working in his shop in Hubbard.
16:05Investigators immediately made their way
16:07over to Rogers' workshop.
16:10Deputy District Attorney Andreas Eglaitis received a call.
16:15I got in a car with my investigator,
16:17and we went to the shop in Hubbard.
16:20Before we got there, Detective Turner had been there,
16:23and knowing that this may be the guy
16:26that we're looking for,
16:27he held his hand over the hood
16:29of this little pickup truck,
16:31and it was very, very warm.
16:33This truck had been recently run pretty hard.
16:36And then as he approaches the shop,
16:38he notices on the doorstep
16:40a couple of drops of blood.
16:42He looks in the window,
16:44and there's Dayton Leroy Rogers
16:46with a hacksaw,
16:48apparently trying to slice a bolt in half.
16:52And his hand was bandaged.
16:55The detectives asked Rogers
16:57about his movements that night.
17:00Well, I've been here all night.
17:02Well, your truck is warm.
17:04Oh, and I went out to get a cup of coffee.
17:07Well, there's your coffee machine,
17:09and it's purkling right now.
17:12How about your hand?
17:13Oh, I cut myself
17:15while I was cutting this bolt.
17:17And that was about it.
17:19That was about it.
17:20Now we're pretty sure this is the guy,
17:23and Detective John Turner says,
17:25you're under arrest.
17:27And I saw that happen.
17:28I saw the handcuffs go on him.
17:30And for some reason,
17:32at that point in time,
17:34it occurred to me,
17:36this is not your ordinary case.
17:38This is something different.
17:44Despite the extensive efforts
17:46from the witnesses and medical team,
17:48shortly after arriving
17:50at the Emanuel Hospital in North Portland,
17:5325-year-old Jennifer Smith
17:54was pronounced dead.
17:56If the detectives' initial investigations
17:59proved correct,
18:01she'd been murdered
18:02by Dayton Leroy Rogers.
18:05On the surface,
18:07Rogers is ordinary,
18:09living an ordinary life,
18:10wife, son.
18:13And yet, under the surface,
18:15something far darker
18:17is going on.
18:19He would go home,
18:21have supper with
18:22Sherry and their son,
18:24and then he would go out again.
18:27His wife thought
18:28that he had so much business
18:31that he would spend
18:32all night working in the shop
18:34and then arrive home exhausted,
18:36fall asleep,
18:37and then go back to the shop
18:39at night to work.
18:40What she didn't know, of course,
18:42was what he was doing those nights.
18:44He would go out in his truck
18:47and he would trawl
18:49the red-light district of Portland.
18:52He was fairly well-known
18:54among the prostitutes in the area
18:57who called him Gambler Steve.
19:00He presented this persona
19:01of being a well-to-do gambler
19:04driving a crappy little pickup truck
19:07and, uh, they would get in the car with him.
19:10In a desperate attempt
19:12to support her family,
19:13Jennifer Smith had turned to prostitution.
19:16She was unfortunate
19:18to encounter Dayton Leroy Rogers
19:20on the 7th of August.
19:22There was another prostitute
19:24that actually saw her
19:26getting into his truck.
19:27He took this little pickup truck
19:29and drove it to the west of the Denny's
19:32into a very poorly lit parking lot
19:35of a small office building.
19:38And then he proceeded to cut on her,
19:42having tied her up
19:43with a pair of shoelaces.
19:46And he would be cutting her
19:48and cutting her.
19:49Ultimately, she managed
19:51to get out of the truck,
19:52out of the bondage,
19:53barefoot and naked,
19:55and run through the parking lot
19:58away from his truck.
20:00Desperately trying
20:00to get away from Rogers,
20:02Jennifer screamed
20:03as loud as she could.
20:05Her cries of rape were heard
20:07and a number of people responded
20:09to see if they could help.
20:12Tragically, Rogers got to her
20:14before they could.
20:15One of the subjects
20:17actually witnessed
20:18the event unfolding
20:19as she had escaped
20:21from the vehicle.
20:22She was trying to elude
20:25Dayton Rogers in the parking lot
20:26and ultimately landed
20:28on top of her
20:29where two other witnesses
20:31then responded to her screams.
20:35He ran around the back
20:37of the office building,
20:39got into his pickup truck
20:41and zoomed out
20:43of that parking lot,
20:44in fact, running over the sidewalk
20:46to get out of the parking lot.
20:4833-year-old Dayton
20:50Leroy Rogers
20:51was indicted
20:52for aggravated murder
20:53during the course
20:55of rape, kidnapping
20:56and torture.
20:57Now, investigators needed
20:59to gather all of the evidence
21:00that would prove Rogers' guilt
21:02at trial.
21:04Shortly after he was in custody,
21:06his father-in-law
21:09got a call
21:11from the Clackamas County Jail
21:14and Dayton asked
21:15his father-in-law
21:15who happened to be
21:16in the shop at that time
21:18and he says,
21:19Dad, did they look
21:20in the wood stove?
21:24And Dad says,
21:25I don't know.
21:26Why do you ask?
21:27Well, he didn't answer
21:28that question.
21:30The detectives had noted
21:31the stove was lit
21:32the night they arrested Rogers.
21:35So what Dayton's
21:36father-in-law did,
21:38he took what we call
21:39a cow magnet.
21:40It's a pill-shaped magnet
21:42about four inches long.
21:44The wood stove is still warm.
21:46He opens up the door
21:48to the wood stove
21:48and with this cow magnet,
21:50starts moving it around
21:51in the ashes.
21:52And lo and behold,
21:54what does he find in metal
21:56sticking to this magnet?
21:57He finds bra clasps,
22:02enough for about 15 bras.
22:05He finds metallic parts
22:08that ultimately prove
22:09to be parts of that shoe,
22:13the partner of the shoe
22:15that was found
22:15at the parking lot.
22:17And he very nicely
22:19bags all of this stuff up
22:21in a brown paper bag
22:22and provides it to the police
22:24as evidence.
22:26And, uh,
22:27we take it from there.
22:29With Rogers safely
22:30behind bars,
22:32investigators could rest
22:33easy in the knowledge
22:34that Jennifer's callous killer
22:36was already in custody.
22:38Now they had the time
22:39they needed
22:40to meticulously prepare
22:42their case against him
22:43for trial.
22:44But little did they know
22:46that a hunter out
22:47in the Malala forest
22:49was about to make
22:50a horrifying discovery.
23:00On the 7th of August, 1987,
23:0433-year-old mechanic
23:06Dayton Leroy Rogers
23:07was arrested
23:09for the brutal murder
23:10of Jennifer Smith
23:11in a parking lot
23:13in Portland, Oregon.
23:16Three weeks later,
23:1830 miles outside
23:19of the city,
23:20in an area known
23:21as the Malala forest,
23:23a gruesome discovery
23:25was about to be made.
23:28There's a hunter
23:30who, at the opening
23:32of deer season,
23:33wants to scout an area
23:34where he wants to be
23:36on opening morning
23:37for the best chance
23:38to get a deer.
23:40And he starts to look around
23:42and he notices
23:43there's this patch
23:44of ferns.
23:45All the other ferns
23:47surrounding this patch
23:48are bright green,
23:49fern color.
23:51This patch,
23:52the ferns are brown
23:53and obviously dead.
23:56So he's enough
23:57of an outdoorsman
23:58where he takes a foot
24:00and sweeps the dead ferns apart
24:02and there's a dead body.
24:05The hunter immediately
24:07reported his discovery
24:08to the police.
24:10Detective Jim Strovinck
24:11was sent to the crime scene
24:13early the next morning.
24:15We started our investigation
24:17and as a result,
24:19moving the debris
24:20that was there
24:20covering the body,
24:21a second body
24:23was discovered.
24:24As I recall,
24:25we broke for lunch
24:26and I was walking around
24:29in just a general vicinity.
24:32Walked around
24:33some shrubs
24:34and I found
24:34a third deceased victim,
24:37body number three.
24:40And as a result,
24:42that's where
24:43we really became concerned,
24:45recognized that we had
24:46a serial murderer
24:47on our hands.
24:49The first victim
24:50was missing a foot
24:52and the second
24:53had both feet removed.
24:55It appeared
24:55they'd been sawn off
24:56just above the ankle.
24:58All three were naked.
25:01As the investigation
25:03intensified,
25:04we realized that
25:05we had to make it
25:06more or less
25:06an archaeological site.
25:08We gridded off the area
25:09in 25 by 25 foot squares
25:12and each was identified
25:13by a letter.
25:14And then we conducted
25:15a shoulder-to-shoulder search
25:18of that area
25:19and collected
25:20every piece of evidence.
25:22If it didn't grow,
25:23you picked it up
25:24and we logged it
25:25as evidence.
25:26And we did find
25:27miniature bottles
25:30of vodka
25:31and other items
25:32that were key
25:34to the investigation,
25:36restraints
25:36and things of that nature.
25:38And body number four
25:40was discovered
25:41just northwest
25:42of that initial location
25:45that we were investigating.
25:46And then
25:47an additional body
25:49was soon discovered.
25:50The day had started
25:53with a single body,
25:54but by sunset,
25:56it was apparent
25:57this was the work
25:58of a sadistic serial killer.
26:01Five victims
26:02had been found
26:03in various states of decay.
26:05What really was significant
26:07was the discovery
26:07of the severed feet
26:09that were found.
26:10Many of the deceased
26:12had their feet
26:13totally cut off.
26:16Once again,
26:18Deputy DA
26:18Andreas Eglaitis
26:20paid a visit
26:21to the crime scene.
26:23The smell was horrible
26:24because these bodies
26:26in a state
26:27of putrefaction
26:28and when the body
26:29was removed,
26:31that odor
26:32just rose up
26:33and filled the air.
26:36A couple of days
26:37into the investigation,
26:38two of the detectives,
26:40Turner and Machado,
26:42they are now sick
26:44of the smell.
26:44So they say,
26:46Mike, let's go
26:46have a cigarette.
26:47They walk
26:48almost a quarter mile
26:49up a dirt road
26:51and Turner
26:52is about to light
26:53a cigarette.
26:54You smell that, Mike?
26:56And they were 20 feet
26:58from yet another body.
27:00The whole forest
27:01was a potential crime scene,
27:03so we had a great deal
27:04of area to cover,
27:06acres and acres
27:07and acres.
27:08Everybody that was available
27:10had to respond.
27:11We had Explorer Scouts,
27:13Reserve Deputies,
27:14anybody that was breathing,
27:17we've got them out there
27:18to help us search.
27:19With the body count
27:21mounting,
27:21investigators needed
27:23to know who
27:24these poor women were
27:25and that wasn't
27:26going to be easy.
27:28We have to identify,
27:29beyond a reasonable doubt,
27:31who these people are.
27:33And the faces
27:35are essentially
27:36non-existent.
27:40Body parts are missing,
27:41feet are missing.
27:43Whilst the forest
27:44was raised to the ground
27:45in the search
27:46for victims and evidence,
27:48on the 7th of September,
27:50a week after
27:51the hunter's
27:51gruesome discovery,
27:53the first of the bodies
27:54was positively identified
27:56as that of a local
27:58sex worker.
28:00Lisa Marie Mock
28:01was a married woman.
28:02Both her and her husband
28:04had experienced
28:04some substance misuse issues,
28:07so their lifestyle
28:08was quite a transient one.
28:09But there were periods
28:11where she really wanted
28:12to get her life
28:13back on track.
28:14Her father has spoken
28:15about a particular time
28:17when she had a job
28:17as a secretary.
28:18She had her own apartment.
28:19She had her own car.
28:21She was nearly there.
28:2323-year-old Lisa
28:25was about to inherit
28:26a large sum of money,
28:28which could have been
28:29life-changing.
28:30The second body
28:32to be discovered,
28:33she was initially identified
28:35by her distinctive tattoos,
28:37later confirmed
28:38by dental records.
28:41He'd removed both
28:42of her feet,
28:43so she, for him,
28:45is simply an object
28:46to dismember,
28:48to humiliate,
28:49to dehumanize.
28:50This is the part
28:51of her body
28:52that I think
28:52has the highest value
28:54for him.
28:56Whilst there seemed
28:57to be a clear M.O.
28:58in the way the victims
29:00had been restrained,
29:01killed,
29:02and their feet amputated,
29:04one had been subjected
29:05to something quite different.
29:07The freshest of the bodies
29:10with the least putrefaction
29:11was a woman named
29:12Noni Cervantes.
29:13And she was unique
29:15in that her feet
29:16weren't cut off,
29:17but she had been opened up
29:20from the pubis bone
29:21to her breastbone,
29:22and her internals
29:24had been, like, thrown about.
29:27Nonda Cervantes,
29:29or Noni,
29:30was 26 years old.
29:32Her body
29:32had been eviscerated.
29:34This was really brutal.
29:37This was quite distinct
29:38from what he'd done
29:39to the other victims.
29:40So this suggests to me
29:42that he held this particular victim
29:43with quite a degree of contempt.
29:46There was something
29:47about this murder
29:48that distinguishes it
29:50from the others.
29:51And I think it is perhaps
29:53the fact that this young woman
29:55perhaps put up a fight,
29:56perhaps stepped outside
29:58of that role
29:59of subservient femininity,
30:01and that made him
30:02incredibly angry.
30:04The Malala Follest investigation
30:06was on a scale
30:08never before seen
30:09in Oregon.
30:10The meticulous search
30:11of the vast crime scene
30:13took nine days
30:14and involved 200 individuals.
30:17By the end,
30:18seven female victims
30:20had been recovered
30:20and almost 500 items
30:23of evidence.
30:24Some of these
30:25seem familiar.
30:27It was readily apparent
30:29that, hey,
30:30we got items of evidence here.
30:32A lot of similarity
30:32between what was that
30:34Jennifer Lisa Smith's crime scene
30:36and what we had
30:37at the Malala Forest
30:38crime scene, too.
30:40The bodies in the forest
30:42were littered
30:43with miniature
30:44Smirnoff vodka bottles.
30:46We also found
30:48miniature orange juice bottles
30:51and Regency Sheffield knife.
30:54Identical in make and model
30:56to the one found
30:58behind the small office building
31:00the knife that killed
31:02Jenny Smith.
31:03You can't eliminate anybody.
31:04We went forward
31:05with thousands of leads
31:07and information
31:08that came forward,
31:08but it poured in
31:09and it all pointed
31:10to Dayton Rogers.
31:13Yet again,
31:1433-year-old Rogers
31:16was the prime suspect.
31:18Jennifer Smith
31:19and the seven victims
31:20found in the Malala Forest
31:22meant he was responsible
31:24for snuffing out
31:25at least eight lives.
31:27But over the coming weeks,
31:29surviving victims
31:31would come forward.
31:32They had a voice
31:33where others had been silenced
31:35and their testimony
31:37would fill in the blanks,
31:39revealing the true horror
31:40of what Rogers had done
31:42to these women
31:42before he killed them.
31:52During September 1987,
31:55the bodies of seven women
31:57were found as part
31:58of the largest crime scene
32:00investigation Oregon
32:01has ever seen.
32:03Almost 500 items
32:04of evidence
32:05had been recovered
32:06and it all pointed
32:08in one direction,
32:09to a man already
32:10in custody awaiting trial
32:12for the murder
32:13of sex worker
32:14Jennifer Smith,
32:15a 33-year-old mechanic,
32:18husband and father
32:19named Dayton Leroy Rogers.
32:22Of the seven bodies
32:24discovered in the forest,
32:26six were identified.
32:28Just like Jennifer,
32:29they were all
32:30young sex workers.
32:32Deputy DA Andreas Agleitas
32:34was tasked
32:35with working across
32:36both investigations.
32:39When the bodies
32:41were discovered
32:42in Malala,
32:43the sheriff's office phone
32:45would ring off the hook
32:47with women who said,
32:50I'm a prostitute,
32:51I was with a guy,
32:52and he took me to Malala.
32:54Sex workers
32:55who'd previously
32:56been too scared
32:57to speak up
32:58suddenly felt able to.
33:00These women
33:01identified that man
33:03as Dayton Leroy Rogers,
33:05but their stories
33:06didn't stop there.
33:08Detectives went out
33:09and talked to these women,
33:10and there were about 30
33:12who had been with Rogers.
33:14It was remarkably consistent
33:17among all of the women
33:18that the object
33:20of his erotic fantasies
33:22are women's feet.
33:24And in particular,
33:25he would comment
33:27on their high arches.
33:29He really loved that.
33:31He would rub their feet,
33:34masturbate,
33:35and that would be it.
33:37And obviously,
33:37that's an easy 50 bucks
33:39for a girl on the street.
33:41He would always purchase
33:44miniature bottles,
33:45buy them by the case,
33:46the ones that you find
33:47on an airline,
33:48the 10th bottles,
33:49Smirnoff vodka,
33:50and then he'd buy
33:51the one serving
33:53plastic jug
33:54of orange juice.
33:56And he'd drink some of that,
33:57and then he'd pour the vodka
33:58in,
33:59and he'd drink that
33:59while he was driving
34:00and offer that
34:01to his date.
34:03Rogers would pick up
34:04the same girls
34:05on multiple occasions.
34:07After gaining
34:08their confidence,
34:09he began to push
34:11the boundaries.
34:12Later on,
34:13he started asking them
34:14to remove their clothing,
34:15and so it got
34:16a little more intense.
34:18And after a while,
34:19he got to where,
34:20how about I tie you up
34:22while I do this?
34:23Okay.
34:24And that ultimately
34:26led to the stabbing
34:28and the poking
34:28with the knife
34:29and the cutting.
34:30By reaching out
34:32to the community
34:33the victims had come from,
34:35investigators were starting
34:36to piece together
34:37the true picture
34:38of what these women
34:39had experienced
34:40at the hands
34:41of Dayton Leroy Rogers.
34:44But it seemed
34:45that he'd let
34:46some women live.
34:47After speaking
34:48with Andreas,
34:49one of the surviving victims,
34:51Carol,
34:52asked him
34:52a very specific question.
34:55As we're about to leave,
34:57she suddenly asks
34:59us,
35:00did any of the victims
35:01have their feet cut off?
35:04Now at that point,
35:06that little fact
35:07was rather closely
35:09guarded secret.
35:10There was no publicity
35:11about that.
35:12My investigator says,
35:13Carol,
35:13what do you ask?
35:14He says,
35:15well,
35:15he started cutting
35:16on my leg.
35:17With what?
35:19Hacksaw.
35:20Really?
35:21Where?
35:21And she shows
35:23on her leg
35:25just above the ankle
35:26a healed wound
35:28with somewhat
35:28ragged edge
35:29that eventually
35:31medical examiner says
35:33that's consistent
35:33with a hacksaw cut.
35:36So that left us
35:37to wonder,
35:38and to this day,
35:40were those victims alive
35:42when he sawed
35:43off their legs?
35:45There's evidence
35:46from Carol Dundon
35:46that maybe they were.
35:48This first-hand account
35:50shed a whole new light
35:52on the depraved acts
35:54of this sadistic killer.
35:56Not only were
35:57these women murdered,
35:58they were tortured.
36:00And why?
36:02Because this guy
36:03thought that was
36:05a sexual thrill.
36:07But one question
36:08remained.
36:09Why did Rogers
36:10let some women live?
36:12Another survivor,
36:14Susan,
36:14had a story
36:15that perhaps
36:16contained the answer.
36:17Susan?
36:18She had been with him
36:20somewhere between
36:2120 and 30 times.
36:24And she was his favorite
36:27until one time
36:29she's out in Malala
36:31and he starts
36:32cutting on her feet
36:33with a knife.
36:35She's tied up
36:35cutting on her feet.
36:38And, like,
36:39why didn't you scream?
36:40Why didn't you fight?
36:42Because I'm
36:44in this wilderness.
36:44No one's going
36:45to hear me scream.
36:46Let's get it over with.
36:48Just kill me.
36:49And that's what
36:50Susan told him.
36:51And he's,
36:51he, like,
36:52the others,
36:52oh, I'm sorry.
36:54I didn't mean to do that.
36:55And he took her
36:56back to Portland.
36:57She got out of the car
36:58walking with blood
36:59sloshing in her shoes.
37:02He was able
37:04to experience
37:04those feelings
37:05of control
37:06with the women
37:07who got away.
37:08With the women
37:09who were murdered,
37:10he felt the need
37:11to kill them
37:11to actually maintain
37:13that control.
37:14And that wouldn't have been
37:15because of anything
37:16that they did,
37:17but this is due
37:18to his choice.
37:19This is his decision.
37:20And, and it's,
37:21it's really
37:22a roll of the dice.
37:24In February, 1988,
37:26Dayton Leroy Rogers
37:28went on trial
37:29for the murder
37:30of Jennifer Smith.
37:32Andreas Eglaitis
37:33was the lead prosecutor.
37:35Dayton took the stand.
37:37He describes
37:39how, yes,
37:40he was a bad husband
37:42and a bad dad.
37:44And, yes,
37:45he would go
37:47downtown Portland
37:48and he'd try
37:48to find prostitutes.
37:50And the bottom line
37:51is saying,
37:52hey, I'm an awful guy.
37:53I'm an awful guy,
37:54but I don't deserve
37:55the death penalty
37:56just for fooling around
37:57on my wife
37:57with prostitutes.
37:5834-year-old Rogers
38:00admitted picking up
38:02Jennifer Smith
38:02and taking her
38:04to the parking lot
38:05where he tied her up.
38:06However,
38:07he had a very different
38:09version of events
38:10for what happened
38:11after that.
38:13Here's the story.
38:14All of a sudden,
38:15she reaches into
38:16the glove box
38:17and pulls out
38:19the little kitchen knife
38:21that his wife
38:21had put in there
38:22so he could
38:23more readily
38:24cut his sandwich
38:25that he was going
38:26to have for lunch
38:27that she had prepared.
38:28So T takes this knife.
38:30Now, mind you,
38:30this woman is buck naked
38:32and she holds
38:33that knife to his throat
38:34and demands
38:36all of his money.
38:38She's got the knife
38:39and he manages
38:41to get a little bit
38:43of the handle
38:44that is protruding
38:45from the bottom
38:45of her hand
38:46and managed to pull
38:48that knife right
38:48out of her hand,
38:49thereby causing
38:50the cuts on her hand.
38:53So that's his defense.
38:56What this is actually doing
38:57is trying to tarnish
38:59the image
39:00of this victim.
39:01He knows that she's
39:02a sex worker.
39:03He knows that's not
39:04going to go down well
39:05with a jury
39:05at this particular time,
39:07but he feels
39:08that he's got to do
39:09something else,
39:09I think,
39:10to victim blame,
39:11essentially.
39:12So if he can present her
39:14as a thief
39:15as well as a sex worker,
39:16then he's hoping
39:17that that's going to
39:18garner some sympathy for him.
39:19It didn't work.
39:21The evidence against him
39:23was so strong
39:24and together with the injuries
39:26he subjected Jennifer to
39:28prove what a callous killer
39:30he really was.
39:31Dayton Leroy Rogers
39:33was found guilty
39:34of aggravated murder
39:35and sentenced
39:36to life in prison.
39:39Charles Gates,
39:40who tried in vain
39:41to save Jennifer's life
39:43on that fateful August night,
39:45will never forget
39:46the woman
39:46whose life Rogers
39:47cruelly snuffed out.
39:50I haven't forgotten
39:52and I will never forget.
39:54I had to do something,
39:56even if she didn't survive.
39:59To this day,
40:00I still hear sounds
40:04of her exhaling
40:06when I'm trying
40:07to breathe into her.
40:08I could still hear that
40:10and it's been over 30 years.
40:12I'll never forget it.
40:16On the 30th of March, 1989,
40:19the trial for the
40:20Malala Forest victims began.
40:23There are six murders
40:24I have to prove.
40:25We didn't go on
40:27the seventh one
40:27because we don't know
40:28who she is.
40:29So I have six murders
40:30to prove.
40:32I understand the jury
40:33took six hours
40:34to determine
40:35that he was the killer.
40:39Dayton Leroy Rogers
40:40was sentenced to death,
40:42but since then,
40:43Rogers and his legal team
40:45have fought for his sentence
40:46to be reduced
40:47to life without
40:48the possibility of parole.
40:50They've managed
40:51to overturn
40:52his death sentence
40:53three times.
40:55Senior Deputy DA
40:57Scott Healy
40:58prosecuted Rogers
40:59at two of the retrials.
41:02Those convictions
41:03by that original jury
41:04in May of 1989
41:06have never been overturned.
41:08What has been overturned
41:09is the death sentence portion.
41:11And so each time
41:12it's overturned,
41:13then, of course,
41:14it comes back
41:15for resentencing.
41:16At the retrials,
41:18Rogers took the opportunity
41:20to make a statement
41:21to the jury
41:22who would decide
41:23his fate.
41:25I am sorry.
41:31I'm very sorry.
41:34I don't think this is
41:35a genuine expression
41:37of remorse
41:38or guilt
41:39or anything
41:39of that nature.
41:41I think this is an attempt
41:42to maintain control
41:43of the narrative
41:44and to try and ensure
41:46the best outcome
41:46for himself.
41:48There is never a day
41:56that I don't struggle.
42:02This is a very core
42:04of my heart and soul.
42:07He's, once again,
42:09only concerned
42:09about one person
42:10and his needs,
42:11and he doesn't care
42:13what it takes
42:14for him to satisfy
42:15those needs.
42:16Um, and so, no,
42:19nothing that he said
42:20to that jury
42:21was sincere.
42:22At all three retrials,
42:25the new jury
42:25has come to the same decision
42:27that the original one did,
42:29that they turned
42:30Leroy Rogers
42:31should be put to death
42:32for his crimes.
42:34Think about this.
42:3648 jurors,
42:3848 people
42:39from the community
42:40have heard the evidence
42:42in this case now,
42:43and all 48 of them
42:44have said,
42:44no, this person
42:46deserves to be
42:48sentenced to death
42:49for the conduct
42:50that he engaged in.
42:52In 2013,
42:55modern forensic science
42:56techniques prevailed
42:58where their 1980s
42:59predecessors had failed.
43:0226 years after Rogers
43:04brutally murdered her,
43:05the final Malala
43:07Forest victim
43:08was finally identified
43:09as 18-year-old
43:11Tonya Johnston.
43:12But many of the
43:14investigating team
43:15believe there are
43:16more victims out there.
43:18Why do I think
43:19there are other victims?
43:20I do,
43:21for a very good reason.
43:23after the conviction
43:24in the Jenny Smith case,
43:27his lawyer
43:28came to the district
43:29attorney,
43:30and the offer
43:31was made.
43:32Okay,
43:33we know the Malala
43:34cases are coming up.
43:36If you
43:38choose not to
43:40proceed on the
43:41death penalty,
43:43he'll tell you
43:44where the rest
43:44of the bodies are.
43:46There was even
43:47evidence found
43:48that suggested
43:49there could be
43:50more victims
43:51in the ashes
43:52of the wood stove
43:53at Rogers' workshop.
43:55If you start
43:56to do the math
43:56on all of the
43:59metal that's there
44:00and the clothing
44:02that it was attached to,
44:03it adds up
44:04to a whole lot more
44:05than just eight
44:06people that were killed.
44:08So that's why
44:10we know
44:10that there
44:11are more victims.
44:13He was
44:14more evil
44:15than any of us
44:17could possibly imagine.
44:19Once it came
44:20to light
44:21and all the cards
44:22were on the table,
44:23we could see something
44:25that was just monstrous.
44:27I don't know
44:28what all the serial killers
44:30in this world
44:31have done.
44:34But I tell you,
44:35based on the cruelty
44:38that he showed,
44:39he's right up
44:40there
44:41and the most evil killers.
44:44Only Rogers knows
44:45how many women
44:46he has killed
44:47and it seems
44:48he may take
44:49that secret
44:49to his grave.
44:51His death sentence
44:52still stands
44:53and although
44:54whether he'll ever
44:54be executed
44:55remains to be seen,
44:57he will certainly
44:58spend the rest
44:58of his life
44:59behind bars.
45:00He systematically
45:02groomed at least
45:03eight women
45:03until they were
45:04at their most vulnerable.
45:06Once tied up
45:07and completely helpless,
45:09he tortured
45:09and mutilated them
45:11for no other reason
45:12than to satisfy
45:13his sadistic
45:14sexual fantasies,
45:16making Dayton
45:17Leroy Rogers
45:18one of the world's
45:20most evil killers.
45:23movements of the world's
45:232 million
45:23of the world's
45:24instant
45:24and
45:29say it.
45:44Transcription by CastingWords