Slain TV host turned out to have scandalous past

In an Aug. 27, 2014 photo, an Iberville Sheriff's deputy allows an official vehicle to leave the crime scene where investigators work at the home of TV personality Scott Rogers, who was shot and killed there, in St. Gabriel, La. When Rogers, 52, was shot to death in August by his son-in-law Matthew Hodgkinson, who authorities say then took his own life, their adopted hometown was stunned. Hodgkinson, was also Rogers' longtime lover, whose marriage to Rogers' daughter was an immigration sham, Iberville Parish Sheriff Brett Stassi later said. More shocking was the reason authorities gave for what they called a murder-suicide pact: Rogers was under federal investigation, and a dark secret he thought he had left behind years earlier in England was likely to resurface. (AP Photo/The Advocate, Patrick Dennis) MAGS OUT; INTERNET OUT; NO SALES; TV OUT; NO FORNS; LOUISIANA BUSINESS INC. OUT (INCLUDING GREATER BATON ROUGE BUSINESS REPORT, 225, 10/12, INREGISTER, LBI CUSTOM); MANDATORY CREDIT (AP Photo/The Advocate, Patrick Dennis) MAGS OUT; INTERNET OUT; NO SALES; TV OUT; NO FORNS; LOUISIANA BUSINESS INC. OUT (INCLUDING GREATER BATON ROUGE BUSINESS REPORT, 225, 10/12, INREGISTER, LBI CUSTOM); MANDATORY CREDIT In an Aug. 27, 2014 photo, an Iberville Sheriff's deputy allows an official vehicle to leave the crime scene where investigators work at the home of TV personality Scott Rogers, who was shot and killed there, in St. Gabriel, La. When Rogers, 52, was shot to death in August by his son-in-law Matthew Hodgkinson, who authorities say then took his own life, their adopted hometown was stunned. Hodgkinson, was also Rogers' longtime lover, whose marriage to Rogers' daughter was an immigration sham, Iberville Parish Sheriff Brett Stassi later said. More shocking was the reason authorities gave for what they called a murder-suicide pact: Rogers was under federal investigation, and a dark secret he thought he had left behind years earlier in England was likely to resurface. (AP Photo/The Advocate, Patrick Dennis) MAGS OUT; INTERNET OUT; NO SALES; TV OUT; NO FORNS; LOUISIANA BUSINESS INC. OUT (INCLUDING GREATER BATON ROUGE BUSINESS REPORT, 225, 10/12, INREGISTER, LBI CUSTOM); MANDATORY CREDIT (AP Photo/The Advocate, Patrick Dennis) MAGS OUT; INTERNET OUT; NO SALES; TV OUT; NO FORNS; LOUISIANA BUSINESS INC. OUT (INCLUDING GREATER BATON ROUGE BUSINESS REPORT, 225, 10/12, INREGISTER, LBI CUSTOM); MANDATORY CREDIT

By Associated Press November 17, 2014 7 min read

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – With his British accent and precise diction, Scott Rogers might’ve seemed out of place in Baton Rouge, but the Mississippi River city embraced the local TV host and beloved civic booster.

He served as judge for the jambalaya cook-off, raised thousands for at-risk kids and opened his own church. He co-hosted the Baton Rouge Christmas parade and even moderated a 2010 lieutenant governor debate. A 2011 Louisiana Senate resolution took three pages to list his good deeds.

So when Rogers, 52, was shot to death in August by his son-in-law, who authorities say then took his own life, their adopted hometown was stunned.

Then the revelations began.

Rogers’ son-in-law, Matthew Hodgkinson, was also his long-time lover, whose marriage to Rogers’ daughter was an immigration sham, Iberville Parish Sheriff Brett Stassi said. Hodgkinson, one of two young Englishmen who accompanied Rogers and his daughter to Baton Rouge 15 years earlier, lived with Rogers, while his daughter lived separately. Rogers and his daughter both had U.S. citizenship.