10x14 - A Leg Up On Crime

[bunniefuu]

[music playing]

NARRATOR: One man's
fascination with ladies

of the evening
terrorized a community.

Had it not been for his
arrogance, an old running shoe,

and an unusual
b*llet fragment, he

might never have been caught.

[theme music]

Farming is big business in
Bakersfield, California.

The area boasts warm
weather, flat terrain,

and a sophisticated canal
system for irrigation.

In 1986, some hikers
found evidence of a crime

in one of those canals.

It was the decomposed
body of a young woman.

MIKE LAGE: I thought it was
possible that the body had been

dumped into the
canal further up,

and it had floated down to the
place where it was discovered.

NARRATOR: The body had been
in the water for several days,

and any trace evidence
had been washed away.

JOHN SOLIZ: No physical
evidence other than the clothing

that she was wearing when
the body was retrieved.

NARRATOR: An autopsy
left no doubt.

She had been m*rder*d.

ARMAND DOLLINGER,
M.D.: There were

multiple g*nsh*t wounds
that were discovered.

One, the b*llet was
recovered from the spine,

from the spinal canal.

And the other one,
the b*llet was

recovered from the chest wall.

NARRATOR: The b*ll*ts were
from a .38 caliber p*stol.

MIKE LAGE: And
these two b*ll*ts we

recovered, but
there was one hole.

So both of those b*ll*ts
entered through the same hole.

And that would lead me
to believe that it was

a type of an assassination
going on here.

NARRATOR: Decomposition
made visual identification

impossible, so the
medical examiner

relied on her fingerprints.

ARMAND DOLLINGER, M.D.: You
can use the dusting powder,

like they use for picking
up latent fingerprints,

and the prints can be
developed that way.

NARRATOR: Her fingerprints were
compared to thousands on file

in the California
State database,

and there was a match.

The victim was


who had an earlier
arrest for prostitution.

A background check revealed she
had grown up in Los Angeles,

was an A student in school,
an accomplished horseback

rider and dancer.

Her aunt, who asked
not to be identified,

said Kay was
destined for success.

KAY BRADLEY'S AUNT: She was
very artistic and loved to sing,

loved to dance as a child,
and never misbehaved.

I don't think she was
ever grounded or punished.

She was always very
close to her family.

NARRATOR: In the years
after high school,

Kay made some
unfortunate choices.

MIKE LAGE: A young
girl that had become

involved with the wrong
crowd, with dr*gs,

and which led to her being
involved with certain people

that were not really what I
would say the type of people

I would want my daughter
to hang out with.

KAY BRADLEY'S AUNT:
The whole family

was devastated, because you try
to figure out how this could

happen, or why this happened,
or if someone was responsible.

NARRATOR: Prostitution
may have been

how Kay financed her drug habit.

Unfortunately, none of the
other Bakersfield prostitutes

recalled seeing her around
the time she disappeared.

After several months and
hundreds of interviews,

the trail of Kay's
k*ller turned cold,

but investigators
didn't give up.

Eventually, they got a break,
but it came with a price, when

the body of a second
young woman was

found in the very same canal.

GREG LASKOWSKI:
And at that point,

you start thinking maybe
it's a serial k*ller.

Maybe there's something in
the calendar or something

or the moon that causes
a person to-- to do this.

NARRATOR: One year after
the m*rder of Kay Bradley,

the body of a second
young woman was discovered

in the same irrigation
canal on the outskirts

of Bakersfield, California.

She appeared to be a
teenager, but there

was no identification
on the body.

MIKE LAGE: It was a, "who
done it?" "Who is it?"

Which is one of the hardest
ones in homicide to work.

NARRATOR: The autopsy revealed
the girl was k*lled by three

sh*ts from a .38 caliber w*apon.

ARMAND DOLLINGER, M.D.:
She received several wounds

from the right
front and was down.

And while she was
down, the final shot

would have been the
one in the back.

-On the cement
curbing of the canal,

we noticed that
there was more blood.

And so in reading
the crime scene,

we know that the vehicle pulled
off, parked on the shoulder,

that there was some activity.

The victim was hurt.

The victim was bleeding.

We're assuming that it
was the victim's blood.

And somebody, in the end,
dragged the victim over

to the canal and pushed her in.

NARRATOR: Police found three
different shoe impressions

in the soft dirt near the canal.

They were identified as
Adidas brand running shoes.

Forensic expert Greg
Laskowski analyzed the b*ll*ts

from the victim's
body, specifically,

for lands and
grooves created when

the b*llet passes
through the barrel.

These are unique to every g*n.

He compared them to the b*ll*ts
recovered from Kay Bradley.

They lined up perfectly.

GREG LASKOWSKI: The b*ll*ts
from the first homicide victim

and the b*ll*ts from the
second homicide victim

had the same class
characteristics.

That is, they had the same
caliber, same make, and type.

They also had rifling
characteristics on the them

that were identical.

NARRATOR: The m*rder w*apon
was a Colt .38 caliber handgun.

-I'm very familiar with those
because I own one myself.

NARRATOR: The amm*nit*on
was unusual too.

GREG LASKOWSKI: They were
a lighter weight caliber

than normal .38
calibers at the time.

There were 110-grain,
semi-jacketed, hollow points,

which are typical of law
enforcement amm*nit*on.

-It did occur to me
at that time, again,

we're possibly looking for
someone in law enforcement,

security work, a prison
guard, that type of thing.

Because the perpetrator hadn't
disposed of that w*apon.

They kept it.

NARRATOR: The first task
facing investigators

was to identify the young girl.

Her description
didn't match anyone

listed in missing
persons reports.

And her fingerprints
didn't match any on file

with the California
State database.

Since there was a condom
wrapper near the victim's body,

and because of the
way she was dressed,

investigators suspected she
was working as a prost*tute.

JOHN SOLIZ: We started
showing this Polaroid

photograph of our victim's face.

And on that first night
that we were out there,

we actually, by luck,
found this prost*tute

who recognized the photograph.

prost*tute: I think
she was here--

And she said that she
recalled seeing the victim.

NARRATOR: She was identified
as 15-year-old Tracy Clark,

a runaway from
Seattle, Washington.

Tracy's friend, a
fellow prost*tute,

last saw her leaving
with a customer

driving an unusual vehicle.

MIKE LAGE: She seen Tracy
Clark get into this vehicle,

and that was the last
time she was seen alive.

She described this vehicle as
a light-colored pickup truck

with a camper shell with
bubble windows on the side.

NARRATOR: But there
were thousands

of similar trucks in California.

But the m*rder w*apon, the
type used by law enforcement,

was a definite clue.

On a hunch, Bakersfield
Police looked

inside their own
community and discovered

one of their colleagues
owned a pickup

truck matching that description.

It belonged to Sheriff's
Deputy Dave Rogers.

Ironically, Rogers was Detective
Soliz's former partner.

JOHN SOLIZ: We
worked side by side

for, I don't know, I'm
guessing, you know,

two or three years
on the same beat.

He would back me up on calls,
and I would back him up.

We would have coffee together.

NARRATOR: Deputy Rogers, an


was well liked and
highly respected.

To see if Rogers' truck was
the one Tracy got in to,

investigators tried
an unusual experiment.

MIKE LAGE: I went and
picked up the witness.

And I told her, I'm going
to take you for a drive,

and I want you to see if
you recognize any vehicles.

NARRATOR: Investigator
Lage showed her

a number of similar-looking
vehicles in Bakersfield.

But the one she
identified was the one

parked outside
Deputy Rogers' house.

MIKE LAGE: She immediately
started hollering,

that's the truck,
that's the truck.

Go arrest him.

Go arrest him.

And I says, are you sure?

And she said, I'm positive.

NARRATOR: When
questioned, Rogers

denied any involvement
in the murders.

His service revolver, a
Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum,

was clearly not
the m*rder w*apon,

and there was no
record Rogers ever

owned a Colt .38
caliber handgun.

Both investigators
and prosecutors

needed much more than
just their suspicions

that Rogers was
somehow involved.

SARA RYALS: My job is to present
enough evidence to satisfy

the standard of beyond
a reasonable doubt.

There's a jury instruction
on what reasonable doubt is.

And it's not just any doubt,
but it's not beyond any doubt.

It's just a reasonable doubt.

That is, it really couldn't
be anybody else but this man.

NARRATOR: Bakersfield detectives
had two unsolved murders,

a suspect who was a
member of law enforcement,

but little else.

So investigators went
back to the witness who

saw the second
victim, Tracy Clark,

getting into a
light-colored truck

and asked her if she
could identify the driver.

They showed her a
photographic lineup

consisting of six individuals.

MIKE LAGE: I advised the witness
that I was going to show her

a series of photographs that
she may or may not recognize.

Don't be afraid to say that
you don't recognize anybody.

You don't have to.

NARRATOR: It didn't take long.

MIKE LAGE: She said that's
the guy that drove that pickup

truck that I seen Tracy
get into the last time she

was seen alive.

And she pointed to Rogers.

It was Rogers.

JOHN SOLIZ: At that point,
I didn't quite soak in.

Like, you know, I can't
believe that we're

looking at a deputy on the
m*rder of two prostitutes.

NARRATOR: Deputy Dave
Rogers once again

denied any involvement
in the murders.

Since these were his
colleagues, Rogers

may have felt more comfortable
during his interrogation

than others would, and he did
something consistent with that.

He put his foot up on the desk.

And Detective Mike Lage
remembered something.

-And I looked down
and looked over,

and there was the shoe tracks,
the shoe that resembled

the shoe tracks that was
taken at Tracy Clark's scene.

NARRATOR: Was it possible that
Rogers, an experienced law

enforcement officer, would
wear the same shoes to a m*rder

interrogation he wore
to commit the crime?

Detectives sent Rogers' shoes
to forensic analyst Greg

Laskowski.

GREG LASKOWSKI: There was the
center logo, which identified

the shoe as being Adidas, and
the overall size of the shoe

was consistent.

But there was a chunk
out in the tread pattern.

NARRATOR: Laskowski pressed the
tread pattern of Rogers' shoe

into a mixture of
fingerprint powder,

Comet cleanser,
and very fine clay.

And sure enough, Laskowski
saw the same tread patterns

and same nicks and indentations
in Rogers' shoe impression

that he saw in the impressions
found at the crime scene.

GREG LASKOWSKI: I was astounded
to be able to identify David

Roger's shoe as having
been at the crime scene.

NARRATOR: But to prosecutor
Sara Ryals, it wasn't enough.

SARA RYALS: I mean, you can put
the three scoops of ice cream,

and then that's fine, but
it's not a banana split.

But you've got to
add the bananas.

You've got to add the
whipped cream and the cherry.

The whipped cream and
the cherry are the fluff.

They're what makes it look good.

The bananas are
what makes the case.

NARRATOR: In the back
of Rogers' truck,

police found dozens of
pairs of women's underwear,

nude pictures of
prostitutes, and a .38

caliber Colt revolver.

GREG LASKOWSKI: That
was just unbelievable.

It-- you couldn't put words what
one was thinking at that point.

It's-- it's as if, is
this really all true?

Is this a coincidence?

NARRATOR: To see if it
was the m*rder w*apon,

it was fired into a water-filled
t*nk to stop the b*llet.

GREG LASKOWSKI: It
slows down the b*llet.

And relatively quickly, within
a matter of 1 to 2 feet,

the b*llet falls
harmlessly to the bottom

of the t*nk where
it can be collected.

NARRATOR: A comparison of
that b*llet and those found

at both crime
scenes left no doubt

that this g*n was
used in both murders.

Now, Sara Ryals was satisfied.

SARA RYALS: You know, it
was all so clear then.

Once we had all that laid out.

I mean, there was
nothing else it could be.

And it was extremely important.

NARRATOR: And from
the serial number,

investigators
discovered the g*n was

registered to the
owner of a local diner.

Interestingly, several
years earlier, Deputy Rogers

had investigated a burglary
call at that same diner.

Behind the cash
register was the owner's

Colt .38 caliber p*stol.

Apparently, Rogers stole it.

MIKE LAGE: It was Rogers went in
there and picked that thing up

and put it in his pocket.

And he wrote down the
theft report on it.

And he had that g*n
ever since, and he

used it to k*ll two
human beings with.

So that, yeah,
that made me angry.

NARRATOR: Dave Rogers
was arrested and charged

with two counts of
first-degree m*rder.

-When Dave Rogers was identified
and arrested, I was angry.

I was shocked.

You know, I trusted
him with my life.

You know?

Who knows, you know, for
whatever reason, you know,

I could've been the victim.

I mean, those kind of crazy
thoughts, at one point in time,

went through my head.

NARRATOR: Once in custody, he
offered some chilling insights

into why a seemingly-normal
family man could not

control his compulsion to k*ll.

-My-- my head goes crazy.
It spins.

You know what I mean?

I get to thinking
about something--

PRISON PSYCHOLOGIST: Yeah.

-and it-- and it keeps
going and going and going.

And uh--

NARRATOR: The citizens
of Bakersfield

were shocked to learn that a law
enforcement officer was charged

for the m*rder of


Bradley and 15-year-old
Tracy Clark.

Dave Rogers' wife had
difficulty believing it.

DAVE ROGERS' WIFE: Great family
man, um, great human being.

And this was the Dave
Rogers that I knew.

MICHAEL TRIHEY: It's hard to
imagine that a guy like that

is a k*ller and, presumably,
a pretty cold-blooded k*ller.

NARRATOR: But the forensic
evidence was overwhelming.

MICHAEL TRIHEY: When
it came to trial,

this case was not
a "who done it."

The question was, what
motivated this defendant?

And what was his
degree of guilt?

What was his state of mind
at the time of the k*lling?

NARRATOR: In a taped interview
with the prison psychologist,

Rogers admitted
soliciting prostitutes.

-I'm not prejudiced.

I have solicited blacks.

I have solicited whites.

I have solicited Mexicans.

PRISON PSYCHOLOGIST:
Well, that sounds

so formal when you say solicit.

-Well, that's what
I've done, you know.

I've gone out and
solicited prostitutes.

NARRATOR: And eventually,
Rogers admitted

taking Tracy Clark to the canal.

He claimed the two
had a disagreement.

JOHN SOLIZ: She made
some comment to him

that, I've been here too long.

Now you have to give me more
money, or something like that.

-I don't think she called me a
q*eer or a f*gg*t or something

like that, but I think
she brought up me

having different
sexual preferences.

NARRATOR: Rogers claimed he
threw Tracy out of the truck,

but that she stood in front
of it and refused to move.

He also claimed she threatened
to file a police report.

TRACY CLARK: What are going to--

-He was making it sound like
a self-defense, because he

claimed that Tracy Clark
was screaming and hollering

and scratching him and that sort
of thing at the-- at the scene.

NARRATOR: Rogers' mistake
was getting out of the truck

to drag Tracy's
body into the canal,

leaving his shoe impressions
in the soft dirt.

His second mistake was
wearing those same shoes

to his interrogation.

JOHN SOLIZ: As luck
would have it, for us,

as the investigators,
that he was careless.

He was very careless, and
he left a lot of evidence

at the scene.

He left evidence in his truck.

He left evidence at home.

NARRATOR: Rogers
had no explanation

for why he k*lled his
first victim, Kay Bradley.

JOHN SOLIZ: Ah,
he made a comment,

if they did match my g*n,
then I must have done it.

But I don't remember.

NARRATOR: Rogers claimed his
actions were caused by parents

who emotionally and physically
abused him as a child.

SARA RYALS: You know, to say
that he was some sort of really

nice guy who was just reacting
to his childhood, just

kind of makes you
want to throw up.

NARRATOR: Rogers also hinted
he welcomed the death penalty.

-I-- I can't deal with having
k*lled this other person.

I do not believe I should live.

I'm not--

PRISON PSYCHOLOGIST:
Are you saying, though,

in some ways, you-- you
plotted your own demise?

-I just gave them
what they needed.

PRISON PSYCHOLOGIST: So you
knew you-- you had a plan?

-Yes.

NARRATOR: Dave
Rogers went on trial

for the m*rder of Kay
Bradley and Tracy Clark.

It took the jury two
days to find him guilty.

He was sentenced to death.

SARA RYALS: Juries like
to be able to figure

out things for themselves.

They like to play-- not play
detective, but play detective

story writer, in which
they have a lot of clues,

and they can put them
together, and say,

this can only be this man.

-As far as I'm
concerned, he's as

worthless as a-- as there is.

But he'll probably outlive me.

He's sucking my air, and I'm
paying for his room and board

up there as a taxpayer.

MICHAEL TRIHEY: Well, I think
that this case, the thing that

really comes to my mind is how
he really led that double life,

how he seemed to be one
thing and was accepted

as that respectable law
enforcement officer.

And yet at night,
like Jekyll and Hyde,

he'd go out and have a
completely different side.

And how he seemed to have
fooled everybody in his life

until the criminalists and the
forensics caught up with him.