DAYTON, Tenn. – Len Rogers’ testimony in his murder trial Thursday sounded like a country song, full of lonely hearts, lost lovers, gospel meetings, “cowboy guns” and deer hunting.
But his story didn’t include what state prosecutors said was threatening behavior toward his ex-wife, Vanessa Collett, and Gregory Keith Brown, a Ringgold, Ga., electrician she was dating when he was killed on July 29, 2007.
Brown was hit in the head by a bullet fired through Collett’s bedroom window in Dayton.
Rogers is charged with first-degree murder, felony murder and first-degree attempted murder.
On the stand, Rogers described himself as a broken-hearted single father of twin boys who wanted to win back the woman he described as his “soul mate” and “everything I wanted in a wife.”
Rogers’ alibi relies heavily on the testimony of family friend Daniel Withrow, who claims he was on the phone with Rogers at the time of the shooting.
Withrow testified he heard an oscillating fan – one he believed was located in Rogers’ bedroom – during the phone call, placing Rogers almost 10 minutes away from the scene.
From there, details get messy. Prosecutors said phone records show Rogers not answering calls to his landline, meaning the cell phone call was made from somewhere other than his home.
Prosecutors also note 10 “factual coincidences” that indicate Rogers’ guilt, including two 9 mm shell casings matching the semiautomatic handgun used in the crime that were found in Rogers’ home. The actual weapon has not been recovered.
Rogers’ explanation for the casings throws suspicion on another man, Terry Janow, who was Collett’s brother-in-law. Rogers said Collett and Janow had an affair, but Collett denied the accusation in testimony Thursday.
Rogers said Janow came to his home one day and offered to sell him a 9 mm pistol. Rogers said he fired the gun and decided he didn’t want it. But he picked up and kept the shell casings for his twin sons to play with, he said.
Rogers testified in front of about 15 of Brown’s family members, most of whom sat teary-eyed and silent throughout the final day of the trial.
Timeline
* December 2006: Rogers and Collett marry.
* March 2007: Collett leaves Rogers and takes her daughter.
* June 2007: Collett and Brown start dating.
* July 29, 2007: Phone records show Rogers calling Brown multiple times.
* July 29, 2007: Brown is shot through Collett’s bedroom window around midnight.
* July 29, 2007: Shortly after midnight, Rogers’ brother Rusty, a Rhea County deputy, calls Rogers’ home phone and gets no answer.
* July 30, 2007: Rogers is taken into custody.
* Aug. 6, 2007: Rogers is indicted on first-degree murder charges.
* Aug. 2007: Police search turns up two shell casings at Rogers’ home.
Source: Court testimony