Christopher Erin Rogers, Jr.

Palmer machete killer's sentences now total 498 years

Christopher Erin Rogers Jr. was sentenced Tuesday to an additional 189 years in prison for the Palmer portion of his 2007 murder binge that began when he entered his father's bedroom swinging a machete.

Rogers sentenced to 309 years

Christopher Erin Rogers Jr. was sentenced today to 309 years in prison for his 2007 rampage in Anchorage that resulted in the murder of a UAA graduate student and the wounding of two other strangers.

Jury finds Rogers guilty of murder, attempted murder

Past coverage of Christopher Erin Rogers

Rogers' fate still in jury's hands

Jurors in the Christopher Erin Rogers trial went home Tuesday without reaching a verdict and will continue to deliberate today.

Jury finds Rogers guilty of murder, attempted murder

Wednesday's verdicts were the end of a month of courthouse waiting for the strangers who found themselves in Christopher Erin Rogers Jr.'s path that day in December 2007.

More coverage on the trial

Jury to begin deliberations in Rogers murder case

The jury began deliberating late Monday in the murder trial of Christopher Erin Rogers who is charged with killing one man in Anchorage and wounding two other people.

Voices in his head led him to kill, Rogers tells court

Christopher Erin Rogers prowled through backyards in Spenard on a dark December morning, leaping fences and rifling sheds. Unearthly voices echoed in his head, telling him he had to kill, he told a jury Thursday.

Defense in Rogers murder trial suffers setback

A judge dealt a blow to the defense in the Christopher Erin Rogers murder trial on Tuesday, refusing to allow attorney David Weber to introduce news broadcasts in an attempt to convince jurors that Rogers based his confession on facts he'd gotten from the media.

Rogers murder trial nearing final arguments

The trial of Christopher Erin Rogers for a shooting rampage through Anchorage in December of 2007 rolled along slowly Wednesday, mired in legal arguments over details.

Accused murderer Rogers blamed aliens for 2007 attacks

The jury in the Christopher Erin Rogers murder trial sat through nearly two hours of his videotaped confession Thursday.

Victim recalls events leading up to being shot 3 times

When the time came for Elizabeth Rumsey to testify in the Christopher Erin Rogers murder trial Wednesday, she left a group of girlfriends in the gallery, walked up to the witness stand, hooked her hair behind her ears and settled down to business.

Judge rejects Rogers' attempt to fire lawyer

Day two of Christopher Erin Rogers' murder trial Wednesday started with Rogers trying to fire his lawyer. Later, the trial returned to the subject of aliens.

Rogers murder trial begins with tales of aliens

Yes, he confessed, but Christopher Erin Rogers didn't actually kill anyone in Anchorage in December 2007, defense attorney David Weber told a jury Tuesday as Rogers' murder trial got under way in Anchorage.

Trial begins for suspect in multiple shootings

Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of Christopher Erin Rogers Jr., accused of a two-day shooting rampage in Anchorage in 2007 that left one person dead, two seriously injured, and ended with a police chase and a shot fired at an officer.

Surviving victim of machete attack testifies

Elann Moren walked into a courtroom Wednesday with the kind of composure one wouldn't expect of a woman facing a man accused of hacking her with a machete.

Machete attacker found guilty of murder

A Superior Court jury in Palmer has convicted Christopher Erin Rogers Jr. of murder, after a wild, bloody machete attack a year ago that left Rogers' father dead.

Jury weighs whether machete slaying was intentional

Shackles requested for suspect in machete murder trial

For the second time in the machete murder trial of Christopher Erin Rogers Jr., the prosecution has requested he be shackled.

150-pound dog takes edge off grim details in murder trial

Bear, a 150-pound mastiff mix with legs as thick as baseball bats and a head the size of a holiday turkey, strode into the courtroom on a leash Monday in the murder trial of Christopher Erin Rogers Jr.

Machete slaying trial opens with 911 call, photos

The jury listened intently and grim-faced as the state laid out its case against Christopher Rogers, 29, in a Palmer courtroom. Their attention intensified when they heard the sounds and saw the images they were warned about.

Prospective jurors in machete-murder trial asked what they know

For the garden variety trial, attorneys can wrap up jury selection in a day. The Christopher Erin Rogers murder trial in Palmer is hardly one of those.

Suspect in machete killing won't be cuffed at trial

A couple of touchy matters needed to be settled before jury selection began Wednesday in the trial of Christopher Erin Rogers Jr., accused of hacking his father to death and maiming his father's fiancee.

'Happy-go-lucky' pair recall encountering killer

Liz Rumsey and Tamas Deak talked publicly for the first time about what happened to them. As police tell it, Christopher Erin Rogers Jr. zeroed in on them as victims four and five in a 26-hour rampage.

Rogers indicted on 10 more charges

An Anchorage grand jury on Wednesday indicted Christopher Erin Rogers Jr. on 10 charges including murder, adding to murder and attempted murder charges he already faces in Palmer.

Hero dog heals, needs new home

Bear the dog was asleep on a couch, no longer suffering much from his encounter with a machete-wielding attacker that left his master dead and his master's fiancee seriously injured.

Dog saved woman from death by machete

Machete attack cleanup a grim task

James Moren went to work last week cleaning up a crime scene that included his mother's dried blood -- remains of a Dec. 2 machete attack that killed her fiance, the attacker's father.

Suspect in killing spree is charged with 8 felonies

The man arrested after a rampage from Palmer to Anchorage that left two people dead and three injured earlier this week was indicted Friday on eight felony counts, according to the Palmer district attorney.

Rampage victims begin path to recovery

As police and prosecutors get ready to present evidence to a grand jury next week, local victims of accused killer Christopher Erin Rogers Jr. have fought their way out of intensive care, a first step toward hoped-for recovery.

Man indicted on murder charges in father's machete death

A 28-year-old man accused of killing two people and seriously hurting three others in a series of machete and gun attacks has been indicted on charges stemming from the initial attack.

Promising life cut short in rampage

It's still not real to Jason Wenger's friends and family and colleagues, the fact that someone so cool and interesting and so darned nice was shot and killed, just sitting in his rig on Sunday morning.

Murder suspect yawns as judge reads charges

Judge Brian Clark read the charges at the Anchorage jail court Tuesday: two counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder in the first degree. Christopher Erin Rogers Jr., the defendant, yawned.

Suspect in violent killing spree appears in court

The man arrested in a day-long series of gun and machete attacks that left two dead, including his father, was arraigned on Tuesday, telling the judge he didn't think a lawyer "was really going to help."

Suspect 'just wanted to kill a few more people'

Christopher Erin Rogers Jr. says he hacked his father to death with a machete in Palmer, stole his dad's truck, fled to Anchorage and continued a 26-hour crime rampage that left two dead and three others wounded because he was angry with his family,

Suspect in crime wave no stranger to the law

Christopher Erin Rogers Jr. - Erin to his family - has a lengthy criminal record in Palmer and Anchorage, including attempted arson, driving while intoxicated and domestic violence, according to court documents.

Suspect in wave of crime is no stranger to the law

Christopher Erin Rogers Jr. -- Erin to his family -- has a lengthy criminal record in Palmer and Anchorage, including attempted arson, driving while intoxicated and domestic violence, according to court documents.

Police halt one-man rampage

Christopher Erin Rogers Jr. says he hacked his father to death with a machete in Palmer, stole his dad's truck, fled to Anchorage and continued a 26-hour crime rampage that left two dead and three others wounded because he was angry with his family,

Machete attack kills man in Valley

Alaska State Troopers are searching for a man they believe killed his father and left a woman injured in a Palmer machete attack Sunday morning.

Police chase ends 26 hours of violence

Christopher Erin Rogers Jr. says he hacked his father to death with a machete in Palmer, stole his dad's truck, fled to Anchorage and continued a 26-hour crime rampage that left two dead and four others injured because he was angry with his family, a