State rests its case in ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ capital murder trial

MORGAN COUNTY, Ala. ( WHNT ) — After watching the interrogation video, the state rested its case in the capital murder trial of Frederic Rogers who is charged, along with John Legg, with killing seven people in Valhermoso Springs in June 2020.

News 19’s Chief Investigative Reporter Brian Lawson tweeted about the next steps now that the state has rested its case.

“Next step will be whether defense puts on its own case. Defense said at trial opening Rogers was guilty, but they hope to spare his life. If he’s found guilty, the trial goes into a penalty phase where sides argue over Rogers should get death penalty.”

Rogers, 26, could face the death penalty if he is convicted. Legg does not yet have a trial date.

The judge told the jury, who was sworn in on August 16, that the trial was likely to last into mid-September.

On Friday, News 19’s Kayla Smith was in the courtroom as forensic evidence was examined. Forensic Biology Section Chief Gina Peterson from ADFS and Nicholas Drake, a firearms examiner with the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences were called to the stand.

Drake explained the guns and how they have uniquely identifiable marks on a bullet when fired. Peterson described the DNA swabs she took from several items at the scene, including firearms and a gas can.

News 19’s Investigative Reporter Dallas Parker is in the courtroom today to provide live trial coverage.

The day opened with the state recalling special agent Christopher Hendon to the stand. He is expected to introduce another interrogation video to the gallery. In the video, Rogers is being read his rights. He says “You already caught me. I’m going to do the right thing here.”

He goes on to talk about his relationship with John Legg. He said that he considered Legg his “little brother.” He also said he had known Jeramy for three years and he said he wanted to be part of the club.

Jeramy then moved all of his stuff into Rogers’ house a month before, “all this happened.” Rogers said he, John and Jeramy were the ones to start the club but things started going south when Jeramy robbed a guy named Byron, who was part of the Aryan.

After Jeramy robbed Byron, Byron started threatening Jeramy’s family. From here, Rogers said Jeramy took all the guns in the house and shot up Byron’s house. Byron then started threatening Jeramy’s people.

Rogers said once he learned Jeramy was going to blame him and Legg, he was scared the Aryans were going to come for their families. From this point, Rogers said, “we loaded up some guns, we went over there for dinner that night (the house on Talucah Road), and we took out everybody in the house.”

Rogers said in the interrogation that the plan was to “bs for about 5-10 minutes.” Roger then said he pulled out his gun and shot Jeramy, James and one other in the garage.

He said John shot Tammy, Roger (and one other). Rogers said he then went in and shot Dakota. From there, they burned down the house because “we thought we were going to end up dead or in jail. And we ended up here still.”

Rogers said after shooting everyone, he told Legg to grab everyone’s phones. He said he ran out to the car and grabbed the gas can, threw some torches down and “lit the house on fire and we left.”

In the video, Rogers was then asked about a knife that was found on the scene. He said they didn’t use knives, only guns.

Rogers said as soon as Legg heard his shots, he shot Roger first then Tammy. He then walked through the kitchen and didn’t see Dakota and then shot Emily. By this time, Rogers said he was already walking into the house.

“I feel like all of them were a threat to me,” Rogers said. “Zane was Aryan… Dakota was a girl Tammy was pimping out. I still feel bad about James because he was innocent. If Dakota and James hadn’t been there I wouldn’t have killed them.”

Rogers said after everything happened, he went and saw his mom and siblings. He then went to John’s dad’s house and dropped some of the guns off. He said they were going to go up to Oregon and that they were going to stay with his grandmother for a couple of weeks.

In the video, Rogers talked about the hierarchy with the club. He said the club was called ‘Seven Deadly Sins.’ “I [Rogers] was the president, John was the VP and Jeramy was our enforcer.” He goes on to say there was a guy named Lucas who was supposed to be in the club but he was still in jail.

He said he created the club because he wanted to build a family after he lost his family with his marriage.

Rogers said, “this is my first major gang sh*t type deal.” He said Roger was a prospect and Lucas was supposed to be the sergeant at arms.

Going back to Jeramy, Rogers said the club found out about Jeramy’s mess two days before everything went down.

In the interrogation video, Rogers said there were four guns in the car they were driving to Oregon. He said they stayed with a woman named Julie in Colorado but didn’t tell her why they were there.

He then describes how they got stopped in Colorado: because of a tail light. Rogers said “Legg told the police he had a gun permit and an ounce of weed in the car. The officers took the amo out of the gun and put it in the trunk. Told him marijuana was legal in the state.”

Rogers said they got rid of their phones and he got a new phone from Walmart. He said the plan was once they got to Oregon, to live there and he was going to stay with his grandmother and Legg was going to stay until his dad sent him money to get back home.

In the video, agents ask Rogers why he killed Dakota and James if they were innocent. He said “There was a no witnesses kind of thing. We didn’t want anyone to be able to tie us back to it. I still feel bad about that because Kota was a kid. James didn’t have anybody.”

Agents said the house didn’t burn down and it was a controlled fire that they were able to put out quickly. Rogers said, “I left my black Nike hat in the house. I know y’all probably have it in evidence.”

The jury was then given a short break. After the break, they resumed the video.

In the video, the agents are asking for context regarding relationships with the victims and the night of the crimes.

He said he and Legg were at the Talucah house the night before the murders. He said before he left, he told a friend to keep his cat because he probably wouldn’t be coming back. The cat’s name was Ducky and had three legs.

Rogers said they wanted to start the club in Hartselle. They, “wanted it to be “legit. And then it all went to sh*t.” He said, at the time of the interrogation, he would be 23 in September and now he might not see 30.

He asked agents to send him to medical so he could cover his eczema sores on his arms. In Oregon, he was scratching so much that agents gave him lotion.

Rogers then signed a document and the agents said if anything needed to be corrected to let then know. He told agents, “Before I am sentenced to death because I know that is coming, I’ve made peace with it all.”

Agents responded saying, “What’s done is done. We’ll meet you downstairs.”

The video shows Rogers being escorted to jail and there is some conversation between him and the agents. He said, “John will cooperate. Just tell him to be honest. He’ll tell you everything.”

Special agent Christopher Hendon then takes the witness stand again and reviews a document. He said it was the Miranda Rights advice document and a written statement signed by Rogers after the interrogation.

When asked if Rogers called the police or FBI to turn himself in, Hendon said, “no.”

Carl Cole then conducts a cross-examination asking what the document was. Hendon said it is a federal receipt of property. It details the things taken off Rogers when he was arrested.

From Rogers person, the receipt says a necklace, two bracelets, shoes, a wallet and debit card, socks, pants, boxers, t-shirt, loose change and an Oregon DMV driver’s license were taken.

The Morgan County list the items taken from Leggs fathers home: 22 spent casings, a letter written by Legg, 38 special round weapon, Rutger weapon, Palmetto weapon, Remington weapon, 16 gauge, Anderson AR-15 Weapon, Palmetto weapon, Anderson MFG weapon and a Rutger weapon.

Cole asked how many weapons were found in Legg’s bedroom and Hendon said it, “Looks like seven and a backpack with ammo and a ski mask.”

He said they heard about the traffic stop in Colorado but agents set up cameras in Oregon. Cole then asked about a statement made to the police by a previous witness. Hendon said “we had evidence that showed beef between Jeramy and Byron.”

Toward the end of the interrogation, Cole said Hendon indicated that Rogers was being truthful. When asked if he meant that Hendon said, “Absolutely.” Hendon also confirmed that at no point in the investigation did Rogers ask for a lawyer or refuse to answer questions.

Once the cross-examination was finished, Hendon was asked if he believed the trip to Oregon was to avoid police and he said, “Yes, to get as far away from things as possible.”

After a sidebar conversation, Hendon was excused from the witness stand.

Around noon, the state rested its case against the defendant. Dallas reported that the jury was not in the courtroom and the judge dismissed them until tomorrow morning.

After lunch, counts three and five were dismissed from the indictment. The defense moves to dismiss all remaining counts on the state’s failure to make a ‘prima facie case.’ This means the defense believes the state didn’t present enough evidence to move forward. The judge denied this motion.

The defense said they don’t intend to call any witnesses to the stand tomorrow. The judge asked Rogers if his decision not to testify was his own and he said it was.

The jury is set to return tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.

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